From owner-freebsd-questions@FreeBSD.ORG Mon Apr 3 15:35:16 2006 Return-Path: X-Original-To: freebsd-questions@freebsd.org 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 9E81816A401 for ; Mon, 3 Apr 2006 15:35:16 +0000 (UTC) (envelope-from a@jenisch.at) Received: from srvdmz13.oekb.co.at (srvdmz13.oekb.co.at [143.245.5.103]) by mx1.FreeBSD.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id B661A43D48 for ; Mon, 3 Apr 2006 15:35:14 +0000 (GMT) (envelope-from a@jenisch.at) X-SEF-Processed: 5_0_0_816__2006_04_03_17_35_01 X-SEF-EB89CDFD-460A-478E-BCAC-B017B9EC121B: 1 Received: from Unknown [143.245.2.187] by srvdmz13.oekb.co.at - SurfControl E-mail Filter (5.0); Mo, 03 Apr 2006 17:35:01 +0200 Received: from aurora.oekb.co.at ([143.245.9.16]) by MAIL1.oekb.co.at with Microsoft SMTPSVC(6.0.3790.2499); Mon, 3 Apr 2006 17:35:01 +0200 Received: from aurora.oekb.co.at (localhost.oekb.co.at [127.0.0.1]) by aurora.oekb.co.at (8.13.4/8.13.1) with ESMTP id k33FZ1F0001396 for ; Mon, 3 Apr 2006 17:35:01 +0200 (CEST) (envelope-from a@jenisch.at) Received: (from ej@localhost) by aurora.oekb.co.at (8.13.4/8.13.1/Submit) id k33FZ0Mk001395 for freebsd-questions@freebsd.org; Mon, 3 Apr 2006 17:35:00 +0200 (CEST) (envelope-from a@jenisch.at) X-Authentication-Warning: aurora.oekb.co.at: ej set sender to a@jenisch.at using -f Date: Mon, 3 Apr 2006 17:35:00 +0200 From: Ewald Jenisch To: freebsd-questions@freebsd.org Message-ID: <20060403153500.GA1317@aurora.oekb.co.at> Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Disposition: inline User-Agent: Mutt/1.4.2.1i X-OriginalArrivalTime: 03 Apr 2006 15:35:01.0472 (UTC) FILETIME=[2BFF8600:01C65734] Subject: Asus P3B-F MoBo -> Invalid partition table (5.x, 6.x) X-BeenThere: freebsd-questions@freebsd.org X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.5 Precedence: list List-Id: User questions List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: List-Post: List-Help: List-Subscribe: , X-List-Received-Date: Mon, 03 Apr 2006 15:35:16 -0000 Hi, I ran into an interesting problem installing FreeBSD on the following hardware: MoBo: Asus P3B-F, latest BIOS CPU: PIII, 500MHz HD: Maxtor 90871U2 (9GB) = primary IDE master CD: Sony CDU 4811 = secondary IDE master 256MB RAM Boot Sequence: Floppy, CD, HD FreeBSD is to be installed into two slices on the HD - one slice for everything except /home, the other one for /home. The problem: When installing FreeBSD (doesn't matter 5.x or 6.x) the PC can't be booted off the HD after installation. When trying to boot I get an error message saying "invalid partition table". Digging further into the problem I've found out a workaround: When I change the BIOS-parameters for the HD to "User Defined Harddisk" and "LBA" booting is possible. Even more: during initial installation of FreeBSD it doesn't matter if the setting for the HD in the BIOS is Auto or User-defined/LBA - however when trying to boot off the HD this setting does very well matter. To cross-check I've installed FreeBSD with a HD-setting of Auto, then changed the BIOS to User-defined/LBA and was able to boot the PC from the HD. Please note that this happens with both 5.4, 6.0 and 6.1-Beta4. When checking the BIOS-settings I found out that Auto and User-defined/LBA show different values: Auto-setting: (PC cannot boot from HD with these settings) Cylinders 1024 Heads 16 Sectors 63 CHS capacity 528MB Maximum LBA Capacity 8700MB User-defined HD / LBA: (PC can boot from HD) Cylinders 1024 Heads 255 Sectors 63 CHS capacity 8422M Maximum LBA Capacity 8700MB Here are my questions: o) Has anybody else experienced this behavior - possibly also on a PC with Asus P3B-F motherboard? o) Why does this happen? (I suppose something weird with HD-geometry, i.e. the BIOS not reflecting the correct HD-parameters) o) Is there a way to boot with the HD-parameters in the BIOS left to default (Auto)? Thanks much in advance for your help, -ewald