From owner-freebsd-questions@FreeBSD.ORG Tue Aug 19 09:14:19 2003 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 2933716A4C2 for ; Tue, 19 Aug 2003 09:14:16 -0700 (PDT) Received: from mail.rz.uni-ulm.de (gemini.rz.uni-ulm.de [134.60.246.16]) by mx1.FreeBSD.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id C92B843F93 for ; Tue, 19 Aug 2003 09:14:15 -0700 (PDT) (envelope-from Siegbert.Baude@gmx.de) Received: from gmx.de (lilith.wh-wurm.uni-ulm.de [134.60.106.64]) by mail.rz.uni-ulm.de (8.12.9/8.12.9) with ESMTP id h7JGECWK000406; Tue, 19 Aug 2003 18:14:12 +0200 (MEST) Message-ID: <3F424CC1.6010000@gmx.de> Date: Tue, 19 Aug 2003 18:13:53 +0200 From: Siegbert Baude User-Agent: Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Windows NT 5.1; de-DE; rv:1.5b) Gecko/20030723 Thunderbird/0.1 X-Accept-Language: de-de, de-at, de, en-us, en MIME-Version: 1.0 To: stickney@ece.arizona.edu References: <200308191308.h7JD80P9019500@clunix.cl.msu.edu> In-Reply-To: <200308191308.h7JD80P9019500@clunix.cl.msu.edu> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii; format=flowed Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit X-DCC-NIET-Metrics: gemini 1080; Body=2 Fuz1=2 Fuz2=2 cc: freebsd-questions@freebsd.org Subject: Re: Fdisk disagreas with BIOS over 120GB drive. 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: Tue, 19 Aug 2003 16:14:19 -0000 Hi, >>Fdisk (using /stand/sysinstall) disagrees with the values my bios is >>reporting. My BIOS reports that my 120GB drive has this geometry: 59131 >>Cylendars, 16 Heads, and 255 sectors. The drive is an IBM deskstar. When i >>try to enter the correct geometry, Fdisk gives me the message below. >> >>---------start message--------- >> Message >> WARNING: A geometry of 59131/16/255 for ad2 is incorrect. Using >> a more likely geometry. If this geometry is incorrect or you >> are unsure as to whether or not it's correct, please consult >> the Hardware Guide in the Documentation submenu or use the >> (G)eometry command to change it now. >> >> Remember: you need to enter whatever your BIOS thinks the >> geometry is! For IDE, it's what you were told in the BIOS >> setup. For SCSI, it's the translation mode your controller is >> using. Do NOT use a ``physical geometry''. >> (100%) >> [ OK ] >> Press enter or space >>----------end message---------- >> >> Sorry, i just had a closer look at the CHS numbers 59131/16/255 fdisk spits out and it is completely correct, this is no valid geometry! For all the glory details read: http://www.ata-atapi.com/hiwchs.htm#T5 In short, the number of sectors should be <=63. I remember, that I had the same problem with an Samsung SV1204H (also 120GB) and an Abit-BX133. I had to manually insert the correct numbers there. The disk reports 232632/16/63, but due to a small bug in the BIOS, I couldn't choose a cylinder value of 232632. So I used the 14596/255/63 mode. Note, that the sector number in both cases is <=63. The number of cylinders can slightly vary for your IBM disk. So I suggest to erase the partition table as I described before and then force the BIOS to use either the 16/63 (if possible) or 255/63 mode. Ciao Siegbert