Date: Sun, 25 May 2008 23:52:06 -0300 From: "Carlos A. M. dos Santos" <unixmania@gmail.com> To: "FreeBSD Stable" <freebsd-stable@freebsd.org> Subject: Why does sysinstall still limits cylinders to 65535? Message-ID: <e71790db0805251952uffce552ycaf7941eb81a8601@mail.gmail.com>
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[-- Attachment #1 --]
Hello,
I have been struglling with sysinstall, attempting to make it handle
the geometry of some large SATA drives. After a lot of effort I
decided to stop suffering and modified the program in order to
circumvent the outdated limit of 65535 cylinders (see attached patch).
I'm thinking about submitting a PR with a change request but I'd like
to get some additional opinions first. I did not test it in "batch"
mode, so it would be great if any kind soul did this.
Thanks in advance for your comments and/or suggestions.
--
Carlos A. M. dos Santos
[-- Attachment #2 --]
diff -durP sysinstall.orig/disks.c sysinstall/disks.c
--- sysinstall.orig/disks.c 2008-02-01 18:28:44.000000000 -0200
+++ sysinstall/disks.c 2008-05-25 23:43:36.000000000 -0300
@@ -106,6 +106,47 @@
static daddr_t Total;
static void
+check_geometry(Disk *d)
+{
+ int sg;
+
+#ifdef PC98
+ if (d->bios_cyl >= 65536 || d->bios_hd > 256 || d->bios_sect >= 256)
+#else
+ if (d->bios_cyl > 65536 || d->bios_hd > 256 || d->bios_sect >= 64)
+#endif
+ {
+ dialog_clear_norefresh();
+ sg = msgYesNo("WARNING: It is safe to use a geometry of %lu/%lu/%lu for %s on\n"
+ "computers with modern BIOS versions. If this disk is to be used\n"
+ "on rather old machines, however, it is recommended to ensure that\n"
+ "it does not have more than 65535 cylinders, or more than 255 heads\n"
+ "or more than "
+#ifdef PC98
+ "255"
+#else
+ "63"
+#endif
+ " sectors per track.\n"
+ "\n"
+ "Would you like that to keep using the current geometry?\n",
+ d->bios_cyl, d->bios_hd, d->bios_sect, d->name);
+ if (sg == 1) {
+ Sanitize_Bios_Geom(d);
+ msgConfirm("A geometry of %lu/%lu/%lu was calculated for %s.\n"
+ "\n"
+ "If you are not sure about this, please consult the Hardware Guide\n"
+ "in the Documentation submenu or use the (G)eometry command to\n"
+ "change it. Remember: you need to enter whatever your BIOS thinks\n"
+ "the geometry is! For IDE, it's what you were told in the BIOS\n"
+ "setup. For SCSI, it's the translation mode your controller is\n"
+ "using. Do NOT use a ``physical geometry''.\n",
+ d->bios_cyl, d->bios_hd, d->bios_sect, d->name);
+ }
+ }
+}
+
+static void
print_chunks(Disk *d, int u)
{
int row;
@@ -119,24 +160,6 @@
Total = 0;
for (i = 0; chunk_info[i]; i++)
Total += chunk_info[i]->size;
-#ifdef PC98
- if (d->bios_cyl >= 65536 || d->bios_hd > 256 || d->bios_sect >= 256) {
-#else
- if (d->bios_cyl > 65536 || d->bios_hd > 256 || d->bios_sect >= 64) {
-#endif
- dialog_clear_norefresh();
- msgConfirm("WARNING: A geometry of %lu/%lu/%lu for %s is incorrect. Using\n"
- "a more likely geometry. If this geometry is incorrect or you\n"
- "are unsure as to whether or not it's correct, please consult\n"
- "the Hardware Guide in the Documentation submenu or use the\n"
- "(G)eometry command to change it now.\n\n"
- "Remember: you need to enter whatever your BIOS thinks the\n"
- "geometry is! For IDE, it's what you were told in the BIOS\n"
- "setup. For SCSI, it's the translation mode your controller is\n"
- "using. Do NOT use a ``physical geometry''.",
- d->bios_cyl, d->bios_hd, d->bios_sect, d->name);
- Sanitize_Bios_Geom(d);
- }
attrset(A_NORMAL);
mvaddstr(0, 0, "Disk name:\t");
clrtobot();
@@ -341,6 +364,9 @@
/* Set up the chunk array */
record_chunks(d);
+ /* Give the user a chance to sanitize the disk geometry, if necessary */
+ check_geometry(d);
+
while (chunking) {
char *val, geometry[80];
@@ -916,21 +942,24 @@
record_chunks(d);
cp = variable_get(VAR_GEOMETRY);
if (cp) {
- msgDebug("Setting geometry from script to: %s\n", cp);
- d->bios_cyl = strtol(cp, &cp, 0);
- d->bios_hd = strtol(cp + 1, &cp, 0);
- d->bios_sect = strtol(cp + 1, 0, 0);
- } else {
+ if (!strcasecmp(cp, "sane")) {
#ifdef PC98
- if (d->bios_cyl >= 65536 || d->bios_hd > 256 || d->bios_sect >= 256) {
+ if (d->bios_cyl >= 65536 || d->bios_hd > 256 || d->bios_sect >= 256)
#else
- if (d->bios_cyl > 65536 || d->bios_hd > 256 || d->bios_sect >= 64) {
+ if (d->bios_cyl > 65536 || d->bios_hd > 256 || d->bios_sect >= 64)
#endif
- msgDebug("Warning: A geometry of %lu/%lu/%lu for %s is incorrect.\n",
- d->bios_cyl, d->bios_hd, d->bios_sect, d->name);
- Sanitize_Bios_Geom(d);
- msgDebug("Sanitized geometry for %s is %lu/%lu/%lu.\n",
- d->name, d->bios_cyl, d->bios_hd, d->bios_sect);
+ {
+ msgDebug("Warning: A geometry of %lu/%lu/%lu for %s is incorrect.\n",
+ d->bios_cyl, d->bios_hd, d->bios_sect, d->name);
+ Sanitize_Bios_Geom(d);
+ msgDebug("Sanitized geometry for %s is %lu/%lu/%lu.\n",
+ d->name, d->bios_cyl, d->bios_hd, d->bios_sect);
+ }
+ } else {
+ msgDebug("Setting geometry from script to: %s\n", cp);
+ d->bios_cyl = strtol(cp, &cp, 0);
+ d->bios_hd = strtol(cp + 1, &cp, 0);
+ d->bios_sect = strtol(cp + 1, 0, 0);
}
}
diff -durP sysinstall.orig/sysinstall.8 sysinstall/sysinstall.8
--- sysinstall.orig/sysinstall.8 2007-06-25 13:37:16.000000000 -0300
+++ sysinstall/sysinstall.8 2008-05-23 22:53:28.000000000 -0300
@@ -249,6 +249,12 @@
.Bl -tag -width findx
.It geometry
The disk geometry, as a cyls/heads/sectors formatted string.
+The word "sane" instructs
+.Nm
+to calculate a safe (not necessarily optimal) geometry if the
+current one has more than 65535 cylinders, more than 256 heads or
+more than 63 sectors per track (255 sectors on the PC98
+architecture).
Default: no
change to geometry.
.It partition
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