Date: Sat, 11 Jan 2003 16:56:20 -0800 (PST) From: "James J. Ramsey" <jjramsey_6x9eq42@yahoo.com> To: freebsd-bugs@freebsd.org Subject: Semirandom bug in FreeBSD's ATA querying Message-ID: <20030112005620.10542.qmail@web10703.mail.yahoo.com>
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Background: I had bee trying to switch from Linux to FreeBSD; however, the last time I tried, FreeBSD couldn't get the disk geometry correct; the cylinder count from FreeBSD was wildly inflated and inconsistent from install attempt to install attempt. This was for version 4.5 of FreeBSD. When I posted to comp.unix.bsd.freebsd.misc asking if FreeBSD 4.7 had the same problem, someone suggested that I attempt an install from boot floppies, and if there is still a problem, abort before committing to the install. Ever since then, I've been experimenting with the boot floppies, trying to see if I could find ways of either making the problem disappear or diagnosing it. Current problem: Almost every time I attempt to install FreeBSD, it complains that the disk geometry is bad, reporting a wildly inflated cylinder count that changes from install attempt to install attempt. A few times, FreeBSD reads the cylinder count correctly, but upon the next install attempt, the inflated count is back. There appears to be no consistent condition that allows FreeBSD to read the geometry correctly. This has been true for FreeBSD versions 4.5, 4.7, and 5.0-RC2 I have been repeated told that this is a hardware problem. I disagree for two reasons: 1) The problem has never occured under Linux, Windows, or an OpenBSD 3.1 snapshot (although the last one had other problems). 2) The kernel messages from Linux indicate that it is correctly querying the hard drive. Here's what I mean. The following kernel message is from a FreeBSD install. I captured it by pressing Scroll Lock and pressing the Page Up key to get to the text: ad0: 8866663634010175MB <?U}O|U}!~IEzA~M~!|M~1.5?!?!~!~!?!?!~!?!> [16955114026566160/17/63] at ata0-master PIO4 The garbage between the angle brackets should be the name of the hard drive, "QUANTUM FIREBALLP". Compare this with the kernel message from Linux: hda: QUANTUM FIREBALLP LM20.5, ATA DISK drive The name of the disk drive is reported correctly. Considering that the disk drive name only comes as a result of a particular ATA command, it is clear that Linux is reading the results of the command correctly. It is simply doing something correctly that FreeBSD is not. That is not indicative of a hidden hardware bug. This is a problem at FreeBSD's end. __________________________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? Yahoo! Mail Plus - Powerful. Affordable. Sign up now. http://mailplus.yahoo.com To Unsubscribe: send mail to majordomo@FreeBSD.org with "unsubscribe freebsd-bugs" in the body of the message
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