Date: Tue, 22 Dec 2015 20:01:33 +0000 From: John McDonnell <mcdonnjd@pcam.org> To: FreeBSD Questions <freebsd-questions@freebsd.org> Subject: RE: POS system trashing hard drives during install Message-ID: <BLUPR07MB3213D184EEAD09ED144C0F1BAE50@BLUPR07MB321.namprd07.prod.outlook.com> In-Reply-To: <alpine.BSF.2.20.1512221240390.94396@wonkity.com> References: <BLUPR07MB321C9B805585AB5A6456D0ABAE00@BLUPR07MB321.namprd07.prod.outlook.com> <alpine.BSF.2.20.1512172208100.4409@wonkity.com>, <BLUPR07MB3216D5F435ACE02480752CBBAE40@BLUPR07MB321.namprd07.prod.outlook.com> <A09B69E6B9C91963.1-0f9df8ab-2681-4d43-8ca6-2b8a2979e123@mail.outlook.com> <BLUPR07MB3215DC6A24C81D223FD6EA3BAE40@BLUPR07MB321.namprd07.prod.outlook.com> <BLUPR07MB32104F7060C5274DB841958BAE50@BLUPR07MB321.namprd07.prod.outlook.com> <alpine.BSF.2.20.1512221240390.94396@wonkity.com>
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> From: Warren Block > On Tue, 22 Dec 2015, John McDonnell wrote: >=20 > > I just downloaded and booted from the NetBSD install disk and was > presented with a screen I haven't seen in FreeBSD in some time. NetBSD wa= s > unable to match my hard drive to one detected by the BIOS. I remember > when pretty much every install of FreeBSD would prompt me with that > message about the reported geometry not matching. I can't recall why the > prompt no longer shows up in FreeBSD, but perhaps it could be behind the > issues I'm having? > > > > For comparision, here is what I have found about the geometry: > > > > NetBSD reports: > > Cylinders: 1023 > > Heads: 255 > > Sectors: 63 > > > > The BIOS by default is set to autodetect the mode for the hard drive an= d > reports these settings: > > Cylinders: 19158 > > Heads: 16 > > Sectors: 255 >=20 > None of this has really mattered since drives became larger than... I wan= t to > say 4G. The MBR spec said that partitions had to be specified in round C= HS > numbers, but that also is meaningless any more. Although gpart enforces > that for compatibility, but it is rare that a BIOS cares. It seems that the BIOS on these machines is one of those rare cases where i= t cares. While I'm not sure what gparted reports the drive as after doing t= he FreeBSD install as I didn't make note of it other than just checking tha= t the sector size was 63. But with the BIOS at least set to LBA mode for th= e hard drive, even if it differs from what the BIOS reports, it is compatib= le enough that the computer doesn't lock up and does boot. > If an MBR partition layout created by bsdinstall does not work, I would c= lone > the original drive partitioning with gpart (backup and restore). > Then install FreeBSD bootcode and format the first partition with UFS. > Then try to get bsdinstall to see that partition and install to it. I'm not sure if the partitioning in bsdinstall is working or not as I usual= ly end up using your guide on setting up hard drives for FreeBSD. So once again, thank you for to everyone for your time. And a special thank= you to Warren for your guides. I've used several of them over the years an= d often refer back to them when looking something up. It also helps that yo= ur domain name is somewhat easy to remember. --=20 John McDonnell mcdonnjd@pcam.org
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