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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.

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