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Date:      Wed, 22 Apr 1998 18:58:03 +0200 (SAT)
From:      Johann Visagie <wjv@cityip.co.za>
To:        matts@easynet.net (Matt Saunders)
Cc:        freebsd-questions@FreeBSD.ORG
Subject:   Re: Problems overwriting old BSDI disks?
Message-ID:  <E0yS2qR-0003pc-00@ns.cityip.co.za>
In-Reply-To: <19980420134031.21892.qmail@omega.noc.easynet.net> from Matt Saunders at "Apr 20, 98 02:40:31 pm"

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Matt Saunders wrote:
> 
> We've upgraded a number of our machines to FreeBSD 2.2.(5|6) from
> BSDI BSD/OS 3.1.  Each and every time we do this (reusing the old BSDI
> hard disk) sysinstall hangs shortly after it runs, at the "probing
> devices" screen.

Oh, I had the same problem just last week (with 2.2.6).  But I was reusing a
disk which had been in a Linux box before, not BSDI.  (And I seem to remember
also having the same problem a long time ago with an earlier FreeBSD, and I
think it might also have been an ex-Linux disk.)

> This is on pretty standard IDE-only hardware.

Ditto.

> The only solution seems to be to completely wipe out the old system
> with something like DOS fdisk which works, but is a pain.

Not even that worked for me.  :-(

Check the drive geomoetry as reported by the BIOS.  Then check the geometry
as reported by the FreeBSD kernel while the floppy boots.  If they differ,
then see if you can set the BIOS's view of the drive geometry to suit
FreeBSD's.  Also, when using sysinstall, use 'G' while disklabeling to set
the geometry to the same values.

I assume that most of these problems are due to the BIOS geometry
translations, and different things ending up believing different geometries.

-- V

Johann Visagie | Email: wjv@CityIP.co.za | Tel: +27 21 419-7878

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