From owner-freebsd-questions@FreeBSD.ORG Thu Jan 22 14:56:06 2004 Return-Path: Delivered-To: freebsd-questions@freebsd.org Received: from mx1.FreeBSD.org (mx1.freebsd.org [216.136.204.125]) by hub.freebsd.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 5E6C116A4CE for ; Thu, 22 Jan 2004 14:56:06 -0800 (PST) Received: from smtpout.mac.com (A17-250-248-84.apple.com [17.250.248.84]) by mx1.FreeBSD.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 383F843D1D for ; Thu, 22 Jan 2004 14:56:05 -0800 (PST) (envelope-from cswiger@mac.com) Received: from mac.com (smtpin08-en2 [10.13.10.153]) by smtpout.mac.com (8.12.6/MantshX 2.0) with ESMTP id i0MMu54O001239; Thu, 22 Jan 2004 14:56:05 -0800 (PST) Received: from [192.168.1.6] (pool-68-161-129-47.ny325.east.verizon.net [68.161.129.47]) (authenticated bits=0)i0MMu3Xg010568; Thu, 22 Jan 2004 14:56:04 -0800 (PST) In-Reply-To: References: <200401222044.i0MKi5a27869@clunix.cl.msu.edu> Mime-Version: 1.0 (Apple Message framework v609) Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII; format=flowed Message-Id: <2BB15265-4D2E-11D8-95B0-003065A20588@mac.com> Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit From: Charles Swiger Date: Thu, 22 Jan 2004 17:56:10 -0500 To: Keith Kelly X-Mailer: Apple Mail (2.609) cc: freebsd-questions Subject: Re: FDisk won't detect or accept correct disk geometry from BIOS X-BeenThere: freebsd-questions@freebsd.org X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.1 Precedence: list List-Id: User questions List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: List-Post: List-Help: List-Subscribe: , X-List-Received-Date: Thu, 22 Jan 2004 22:56:06 -0000 On Jan 22, 2004, at 5:24 PM, Keith Kelly wrote: > I already tried (with both 4.9 and 5.1) letting the FreeBSD install > proceed > with fdisk's geometry value assumptions, and what I always get is a > non-bootable hard drive that gives the "Missing operating system" > error at > boot. Sufficiently old motherboards and BIOS versions don't understand the LBA addressing mode used by modern drives, and are limited to seeing approx 8.4 GB using the classic C/H/S values. See whether the BIOS lets you configure the drive to LBA mode rather than "automatic", "C/H/S", or "extended C/H/S" mode. If it doesn't, check to see whether there is a BIOS update available for your hardware. It may be the case that this doesn't resolve the issue. You can try to create a small (say 32MB) DOS partition using classic MS-DOS 6.x or a utility from the drive manufacturer, and verify whether you can boot into that. If you can't and still get the "missing OS" error, you've got hardware issues and should consider replacing your MB. If you can boot to a DOS partition on the hard disk, then try installing FreeBSD to the remaining space, leaving the DOS partition intact. This will give you a better shot of using a geometry that your BIOS is able to boot. [ The only hardware I've seen which required that kind of thing was a no-name P133 grade machine... ] -- -Chuck