Date: Sun, 24 May 1998 02:45:33 +0200 From: Eivind Eklund <eivind@yes.no> To: Mike Smith <mike@smith.net.au> Cc: hackers@FreeBSD.ORG Subject: Re: Weird behaviour in BootEasy Message-ID: <19980524024533.60246@follo.net> In-Reply-To: <199805231606.JAA00949@antipodes.cdrom.com>; from Mike Smith on Sat, May 23, 1998 at 09:06:36AM -0700 References: <19980522223552.03137@follo.net> <199805231606.JAA00949@antipodes.cdrom.com>
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On Sat, May 23, 1998 at 09:06:36AM -0700, Mike Smith wrote: > > I just switched my system to use a different bootdrive (a DPT RAID > > array, actually) than I had before, and got the following behaviour: > > > > On a standard boot, BootEasy won't go to BSD, displaying 'F?' when I > > select the BSD partiton. > > This typically means that the disk geometry is messed up, ie. the > geometry used when constructing the disk layout is different to the > geometry that the BIOS is using when BootEasy attempts to load the MBR. I know. However, it doesn't look like that's happening (though I haven't really debugged this yet, so it might well be it.) > > However, if I select F5 for booting to > > another drive (even though I don't have another bootable drive), then > > reboot, and _then_ press F2 when booteasy appears, it boots and works > > fine. > > Sounds like the DPT is playing games changing its reported geometry > based on what's on the drive. The fact that F5 appears indicates that > it's reporting more than one BIOS disk, which suggests that there's > some ugly stuff going on. F5 doesn't appear. Originally, I had another bootable disk as the first disk on an Adaptec in the machine. F5 didn't appear, but when I pressed it I got the other bootblock. This no longer happen - I get 'F?' when I press F5. Then I reboot, and F1/F2 appears again, with F5 as default. If I press F5 here, it boot correctly. > > 4. Continue until I reach booteasy > > 5. Press F2 > > 6. Boot normally from the FreeBSD bootblocks. > > > > If I reboot after this, I again get the F? when it tries to > > auto-select the BSD partition (or if I press F2 without having pressed > > F5 first). > > The FreeBSD driver probably nukes some state in the DPT that tells it > that it's changed its mind about the geometry. That's possible; I don't know the details of how the DPT handles this. > > Any clues? Or should I just re-install BootEasy and see if it goes > > away? (It seems like such an interesting little problem... :-) > > Reinstalling BootEasy won't change anything - it contains no geometry > state at all. The situation basically results from you having moved > the disk from one controller with one BIOS translation to another. The > fact that the DPT learns the disk geometry and lets you boot at all is > an added bonus; normally you wouldn't be able to do that. I have _NOT_ moved the disk from one controller to another. I have re-built the partitions on the same drive, not changing the geometry at all. Everywhere that report geometry report the same. I was thinking it might be an old version of BootEasy, and that a new version might handle this differently. I don't think it is more than 6 months old (and I can't remember any changes in BootEasy in that time), but I didn't originally install the disk, so I don't really know. Eivind. To Unsubscribe: send mail to majordomo@FreeBSD.org with "unsubscribe freebsd-hackers" in the body of the message
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