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Date:      Mon, 6 Oct 2008 10:01:04 -0700
From:      Jeremy Chadwick <koitsu@FreeBSD.org>
To:        Don O'Neil <lists@lizardhill.com>
Cc:        freebsd-questions@freebsd.org
Subject:   Re: Can't add new 1TB disk in FreeBSD 6.1
Message-ID:  <20081006170104.GA25818@icarus.home.lan>
In-Reply-To: <20081006164552.GA25629@icarus.home.lan>
References:  <20081006161221.GB70792@gizmo.acns.msu.edu> <4C2FBF89DECE47FC8C5AA51B62FF8710@mickey> <20081006164552.GA25629@icarus.home.lan>

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On Mon, Oct 06, 2008 at 09:45:52AM -0700, Jeremy Chadwick wrote:
> There is one thing about later FreeBSDs which I am aware of: 48-bit LBA
> addressing.  I'm left wondering if what you're running into is a bug or
> a problem with older FreeBSD (6.1) not supporting this.  I would have to
> go back through CVS commit lots for ata(4) to find out when 48-bit LBA
> was added.  I think 48-bit LBA support is required for disks >500GB.

The issue I'm referring to has been touched on many times.

First and foremost, 6.1-RELEASE was released in May 2006.  Keep that
date in mind when reading the below.

The first incident, according to CVS commit logs, was adding 48-bit
LBA support, supporting disks >137GB.  That would've been in
RELENG_4, dated 2002/01/05.  FreeBSD 6.1 should have this.

Next, we have a commit dated 2003/01/19, affecting 48-bit LBA support
on Promise 66/100 controllers.  FreeBSD 6.1 should have this.

Next, 2004/12/09, talking about disk firmware bugs affecting 48-bit LBA
addressing, which was affecting a significant number of users.  That was
applied to HEAD and RELENG_5, so FreeBSD 6.1 ("HEAD" at that time)
should have this.

Next, 2005/04/14, something about "read back the real taskfile
register values when in 48-bit mode".  Committed to HEAD, which would've
been during days shortly before RELENG_6 was tagged (6.0).

Next, 2005/08/17, "support for working around controllers that can't
do DMA in 48-bit LBA mode", forcing the disk to use PIO mode allowing
the disk to address >137GB.  This was added to HEAD and RELENG_6, so
this should also exist in 6.1.

Next, 2007/12/13, "also fix 48-bit LBA addressing issues, apparently
newe chips need 16-bit writes and not the usual FIFO thing".  This
was committed to HEAD first, RELENG_7 on 2008/01/09, and RELENG_6
on 2008/01/09.

This is one which FreeBSD 6.1 *would not* have fixes for.

I do not know if this is the problem -- I'm just speculating.

Because dmesg output was not provided ("nothing interesting"), we can't
tell what sort of controller your disks are hooked to, yadda yadda.
This is explicitly why I asked for that information.

If you could please try 7.0-STABLE or 7.1-PRERELEASE, that would be
highly recommended.  It would at least allow us to determine if you're
being affected by a bug in older FreeBSD, or if this is something that
is unique to your environment or applies to present-day FreeBSD.

-- 
| Jeremy Chadwick                                jdc at parodius.com |
| Parodius Networking                       http://www.parodius.com/ |
| UNIX Systems Administrator                  Mountain View, CA, USA |
| Making life hard for others since 1977.              PGP: 4BD6C0CB |




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