Hi,
I have examined kernel logs (from dmesg) obtained with different Linux/kernel versions
on my IBM Thinkpad R50, where I still want to install Sarge using d-i.
Here is what I found:
######################################################
* Knoppix 3.4/Kernel 2.4:
uname -a: Linux Knoppix 2.4.23-xfs #1 SMP Mi Dez 10 22:25:03 CET 2003 i686 GNU/Linux
dmesg:
hda: host protected area => 1
hda: 78140160 sectors (40008 MB) w/1740KiB Cache, CHS=5168/240/63
* Knoppix 3.4/Kernel 2.6:
uname -a:
dmesg:
hda: Host Protected Area detected.
current capacity is 70984690 sectors (36344 MB)
native capacity is 78140160 sectors (40007 MB)
hda: Host Protected Area disabled.
hda: 78140160 sectors (40007 MB) w/1740KiB Cache, CHS=65535/16/63
* d-i/Kernel 2.6 (daily build from 31 Aug 2004):
uname -a: Linux notebook-mz 2.6.7-1-386 #1 Thu Jul 8 05:08:04 EDT 2004 i686 unknown
dmesg:
hda: Host Protected Area detected.
current capacity is 70984690 sectors (36344 MB)
native capacity is 78140160 sectors (40007 MB)
hda: 70984690 sectors (36344 MB) w/1740KiB Cache, CHS=65535/16/63, UDMA(100)
* d-i/Kernel 2.4 (daily build from 31 Sep 2004):
uname -a: Linux notebook-mz 2.4.27-1-386 #1 Fri Sep 3 06:24:46 UTC 2004 i686 unknown
dmesg:
hda: Host Protected Area detected.
current capacity is 70984690 sectors (36344 MB)
native capacity is 78140160 sectors (40008 MB)
hda: 70984690 sectors (36344 MB) w/1740KiB Cache, CHS=70421/16/63, UDMA(100)
d-i/Kernel 2.6 (daily build from 13 Sep 2004):
uname -a: Linux notebook-mz 2.6.8-1-386 #1 Mon Aug 16 03:02:48 EDT 2004 i686 unknown
dmesg:
hda: Host Protected Area detected.
current capacity is 70984690 sectors (36344 MB)
native capacity is 78140160 sectors (40007 MB)
hda: 70984690 sectors (36344 MB) w/1740KiB Cache, CHS=65535/16/63, UDMA(100)
###################################
Apparently different kernel versions treat this protected partition on the disk in a
different way (it is the Windows recovery partition which seems to exist on all
Thinkpads).
The partition table as seen by fdisk is the following (d-i/Kernel 2.6, daily build
from 13 Sep 2004):
Disk /dev/discs/disc0/disc: 36.3 GB, 36344161280 bytes
240 heads, 63 sectors/track, 4694 cylinders
Units = cylinders of 15120 * 512 = 7741440 bytes
Device Boot Start End Blocks Id System
/dev/discs/disc0/part1 * 1 2349 17758408+ 7 HPFS/NTFS
/dev/discs/disc0/part2 4695 5168 3583440 41 PPC PReP Boot
/dev/discs/disc0/part3 2350 3321 7348320 c W95 FAT32 (LBA)
/dev/discs/disc0/part4 3322 4694 10379880 5 Extended
/dev/discs/disc0/part5 3738 3805 514080 82 Linux swap
/dev/discs/disc0/part6 3806 4694 6720808+ 83 Linux
/dev/discs/disc0/part7 3322 3737 3144928+ 83 Linux
Parted fails/refuses to use the existing partition table apparently because it uses
the "current", not the "native" capacity of the disk, and then sees a partition
(part2) going past the end of the disk.
Since parted does not work in this case, the installation cannot be done using d-i.
So again my same question:
What can I do to install Sarge (except install Woody and dist-upgrade)?
Thank you for your patience,
Matthias
--------------------------------------------
GN Otometrics -- Hortmann
Dipl.Phys. Dr. Matthias Zenker
Entwicklung / Development
Auchtertstraße 4, D-72770 Reutlingen
Tel. ++49(0)7121/99435-60, Fax -79
eMail: mzenker at gnotometrics dot de
http://www.hortmann.de
