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Date:      Fri, 5 Feb 1999 22:06:26 -0600 (CST)
From:      Avalon Books <avalon@advicom.net>
To:        Tony Overfield <tony@dell.com>
Cc:        FreeBSD Hackers <freebsd-hackers@FreeBSD.ORG>
Subject:   Re: Unable to newfs HD >10G with 3.0
Message-ID:  <Pine.BSF.4.05.9902052158260.25614-100000@vespucci.advicom.net>
In-Reply-To: <3.0.6.32.19990204214937.00879b20@bugs.us.dell.com>

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On Thu, 4 Feb 1999, Tony Overfield wrote:

> Well, have you seen a "newer PC" that doesn't implement INT 13 
> extensions, or are you confusing what I said with some other problem 
> that you've seen?

   I am well aware that the INT 13 spec has been essentially obsolete for
a long time. And it appears that we are in agreement regarding its use (or
rather, its lack of use considering the newer drive interfacing).

> I was assuming the devices are not known to be defective.  All bets are 
> off for any *standardized* behavior of broken devices.

   Also correct. Rest assued, we give our supplied eight kinds of hell
when what they send us isn't up to spec.

> Then they must have really bunged it up.  I've not seen such a problem 
> with any of the drive suppliers we use.

   We stopped seeing most of the screwy drive firmware about six months
ago, though we do still see such things very occasionally.
 
> There's no excuse for busted drive firmware, but you can't blame the 
> "8.4 GB solution" which, as I said, works correctly if implemented 
> properly.  

   Again, you and I are in agreement.
 
> You implied that there are a bunch of nonstandard solutions to this 
> problem, but that isn't true.  I don't consider a bug in a particular 
> drive's firmware to constitute a "nonstandard implementation."  In my 
> mind, and probably yours too, it is simply broken and needs to be 
> replaced.

   Well, this is best clarified by saying that "non-standard" isn't really
a dirty word anymore, espcially when manufactures and programmers are
willing to hammer out the details to make it work. But in the beginning,
it was a real chore to find combinations of drives and BIOS's that worked
properly. Luckily, these problems continue to diminish in magnitude--and
this is a good thing (for us hardware types, in particular).

--R. Pelletier
Sys Admin, House Galiagante
We are a Micro$oft-free site
 


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