Date: Fri, 07 Jan 2000 01:27:25 GMT From: Salvo Bartolotta <bartequi@nojunk.com> To: "Conni" <conni@dr-computer.com> Cc: freebsd-questions@FreeBSD.ORG Subject: Re: Installation of freebsd on Harddisk > 8GB Message-ID: <20000107.1272500@bartequi.ottodomain.org> References: <NBBBIGDDNKPOABGJBGDDCEIBCBAA.conni@dr-computer.com>
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>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Original Message <<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<
On 1/7/00, 12:12:07 AM, "Conni" <conni@dr-computer.com> wrote regarding
Installation of freebsd on Harddisk > 8GB:
> Hello,
> there is a problem installing freebsd on Harddisks > 8GB. Unfortunatel=
y
it
> is nearly impossible to buy a new harddisk smaller than 13GB. I found
a
> workaround in creating more than one slice each of them smaller than
8GB but
> this workaround ends at 32GB. I use actually on my win98 machine in my=
> Hardware-Shop the huge IBM 37GB Harddisk and hopefully look forward
that
> there will be a way to use such a disk under freebsd...
> Conni
Dear Conni,
the "8 GB problem" is NOT related to FreeBSD as such.
It is due to the limitations of most BIOS.
They cannot load your kernel if it is outside the "8 GB boundary".
Workaround: your root partition, which is "/" (and NOT " /root "),
must reside within the first 8 GB of your hard disk. The rest of the
system may go wherever you like.
N.B.
FreeBSD slice =3D partition (in DOS parlance).
Within one FreeBSd slice, you can have further subdivisions.
These subdivisions are called "partitions"; of course they are NOT the
same as DOS partitions.
Typically, you define one *slice* containing the following FreeBSD
*partitions*:
1) " / "
2) swap
3) /var
4) /usr
If you have installed more than one operating system, you have to
arrange things so that your FreeBSD " / " partition may lie within the
first 8 GB boundary.
To make sure this is the case, you might want to define even more than
one slice, and place your " / " within the 8 GB forbidden limit.
One concrete example.
I had once a harddisk already containing three operating system.
I had almost reached the 8 GB limit.
So I defined one small slice containing " / " and the swap space
(aka "virtual memory"), without overcoming the 8 GB deadly limit; I
put the rest (" /var " and " /usr ") into another slice on another
disk.
Dear Conni, this is more difficult to say than to understand :-)
I hope you will get a clear picture.
Some BIOSes may require that the kernel should lie on the first two
IDE disk. These are usually labeled "disk 0" and "disk 1".
However, more modern BIOSes do NOT have this limitation.
Personally, I am able to boot my Linux OS with no problems, albeit it
resides *entirely* on my third IDE disk ("disk 2").
Cave canem :-)
As to the 32 GB issue, this has already been discussed at some length.
You might want to search the archives an retrieve a lot of
information. As a starter, I'll include this little piece of wisdom
for you:
------- Forwarded Message
Return-Path: phk
Return-Path: <phk>
Date: Tue, 4 Jan 2000 20:15:01 +1100 (EST)
From: Bruce Evans <bde@zeta.org.au>
X-Sender: bde@alphplex.bde.org
To: Peter Jeremy <peter.jeremy@ALCATEL.COM.AU>
Cc: hardware@FreeBSD.ORG
Subject: Re: wanna buy an EIDE harddisk ... 5400 or 7200 for home use
(noise)
In-Reply-To: <00Jan4.121107est.40331@border.alcanet.com.au>
Message-ID:
<Pine.BSF.4.10.10001041938400.2300-100000@alphplex.bde.org>
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; charset=3DUS-ASCII
Sender: owner-freebsd-hardware@FreeBSD.ORG
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On Tue, 4 Jan 2000, Peter Jeremy wrote:
> SCSI went though it's `disks are too big to use' stage at ~1GB - the
> original SCSI DA read/write commands only allowed a 21-bit LBA. The
> next problem will occur at 2^32 blocks (about 2TB), which is still a
> few years off for bare disks, though it may be a problem for RAID
> controllers before then.
There are also some PC BIOS-related problems.
There are lots of critical sizes for ATA disks:
0.5284GB (C/H/S =3D 1024/16/63) (limit for MFM disks and old software)=
8.4557GB (C/H/S =3D 1024/256/63) (1024-cylinder limit for old software)=
8.4552GB (C/H/S =3D 16383/16/63) (the ATA standard was changed in 1997
to require the default C/H/S for
large drives to be precisely
16383/16/63 instead of a geometry
that actually allows access to the
entire drive.
In other words, the firmware is
required to be specially broken to
limit the damage caused by old
software.
This broke non-broken software like
the 1996 FreeBSD wd driver.)
33.8228GB (C/H/S =3D 65536/16/63) (the FreeBSD wd driver now converts
from C/H/S =3D 16363/16/63 to
actual_C/16/63.
This is horribly broken when
actual_C > 65536. The hardware only
supports 16-bit cylinder numbers, and
writing to cylinder 65536 actually
writes to cylinder 0.)
136.9020GB (C/H/S =3D 65536/16/255) (limit of CHS addressing)
137.4389GB (LBA mode) (limit of 28-bit LBA addressing)
Notes: 1GB =3D 10^9 bytes. All sizes are rounded down. The sector size=
is assumed to be 512.
Bruce
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------- End of Forwarded Message
Best regards,
Salvo
N.B. myjokingdoamin =3D=3D=3D> neomedia.it to e-mail to me.
*******************************
* *
* Windows: brain-dead limits *
* BeOS: limited apps *
* Linux: unlimited (mindset) *
* FreeBSD: no limits *
* *
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