All of your problems will be solved if you install Linux on the first
partition. It likes having the first 1024 cylinders.
Wayne
On Tue, 14 Mar 2000, you
wrote: > Hi all,
>
> I had my system with Windows 98 and Mandrake Linux (1 GB. for W98 and 0.5 Gb. for
>Linux). I tried to install Suse Linux 6.3 onto the 0.5 Gb partition, and accidentaly
>turned off the computer. From that moment, I was not able to boot the system. (A K-6
>II 450Mhz) Itried to reinstall W98 and Linux from scratch both, but the computer
>wouldn't run Lilo properly, due to (I thought in that moment) master boot record
>problems.
>
> However I now think that the problem is a drive geometry one, as you can see in the
>following details (they are very long: I tried to add all the informationn I could)
>
> *******My question is:**************
>
> In linux FDISK I have the following possibilities to chane geometry:
>
> b: move beginning of data in a partition
> c: change the number of cylinders
> d: print the raw data in the partition table
> e: list the extended partitions
> h: change the number of heads
> m: print this menu
> p: print the partiton table
> q: quit without saving changes
> r: return to main menu
> s: change the number of sectors
> v: verify the partition table
> w: write table to disk and exit
>
> **May I use these to restore the geometry of my drive?**
> ***************************************
> Now there goes all the information of my HD:
>
> The BIOS only sees 1,057 MB, the HDD auto-detection sees a 1,614 MB Hard D rive,
>which iscorrect. I had to install *only* W98 and it works quite nice, but with FDISK
>it only saw 500 MB in my drive, although when I formatted the disk, I obtained 1.5GB.
>
> ZERODISK (a Quantum utility) informs of the following data for my hard drive:
>
> Cyl 781
> Heads 64
> Sectors 63
> MB 1612.3
> (apparently, these data are correct, at least of what I remember before having the
>�disgrace� with my HD)
>
> When I set LBA mode in my BIOS and run MSDOS FDISK it only reads 1057 MB. That is
>why I ran Linux FDISK, which gives more details: It says that "the number of
>cylinders is set to 1564(?). This is larger than 1024, and may cause problems ..."
>Afterwards, it says "Verifying the partiton table: 62 unallocated sectors"
>
> When I boot the computer, the information given by the BIOS is:
>
> PRI MASTER DISK: lba, udma 2, 1057 MB
>
> When I format (W98) the hard drive I get this (translating from Spanish):
>
> Verifying format of the disk
> saving the wrong clusters...
> Complete
> Verifying 1.007.96M
>
> After formatting: 1054846976 bytes capacity with NO errors
>
> If I run Scandisk, I obtain 257.532 clusters and no errors.
>
> After DOS Formatting, it says C: is 1540 MB but total space on disk is 1008 MB =
>1048...etc bytes
>
> After this, I think that the problem with my disk is related to the geometry
>settings (the BIOS sees my disk through these settings)
>
> I installed first Windows, and Linux RedHAt 6.0. No proble with W98, but when
>installing Linux, I could not install LILO inte MBR, so I decided to make a bootable
>floppy: I could use both systems well. The problem is that when I tried to isntall
>manually lilo (editing lilo.conf) and, after executing /sbin/lilo as root, I got this:
>
> Warning: device 0x0303 exceeds cylinder limit
> geo_comp_addr: Cylinder number is too big (1024>1023)
>
> After this, I could not reboot (W98 nor Linux). Typing FDISK/MBR didn�t help, nor
>asigning the DOS partition a bootable flag in DOS FORMAT.
>
> At first I thought the problem was in a misconfiguration of my MBR. I thought my HD
>was completely lost: although nowadays a 1.5 GB drive is not much, it cost me 120
>euros two years ago, and don�t feel like spending more money (even though with that
>money you can get now a 10 GB drive... I�ve had expenses lately!)
>
> I�ve been trying all possible configurations:
> Hda1�Linux
> Hda2�swap
> Hda3�Windows98
>
> Hda1-Windows98
> Hda2�Linux
> Hda3�Swap
>
> Etcaetera, but without results.
>
> W98 FDISK did not allow me to erase the VFAT partition�I don�t know how, its name
>(whish was before �disco-c�) was now �Stop thinki�, I guess it was �Stop thinking�. I
>could not write the partition�s name, so I could not erase it. After all this, I
>erased everything with linux FDISK, and with W98 FDISK created a 900 MB for W98, and
>with Linux FDISK a 600MB for Linux and 38 MB for swap. I install everithing again and
>--- crashes again when I try to install lilo
>
> ==========================
> I found the following data on the sticker attached to the HD:
>
> 1 6AT P/N ST16A011 REV 02-C
>
> I also have the BIOS details:
>
> Award Modular BIOS 4.51 PG
>
> (At boot time appears this:
> ROM PCI/ISA BIOS (2A5LEH2B)
> Standard CMOS Setup
> Award Software Inc.)
>
>
>
> According to my BIOS (HDD autodetect) my HD configuration is the following:
>
> If I select NORMAL mode,
>
> Size: 1614
> Cyls: 3128
> Head: 16
> PRECOMP: 65535
> LANDZ: 3127
> Sector: 63
> Mode Normal
>
> If I select LBA mode (suggested by the BIOS)
>
> Size: 1614
> Cyls: 782
> Head: 64
> PRECOMP: 0
> LANDZ: 3127
> Sector: 63
> Mode LBA
>
> Both of them give lilo problems.
>
> My partition table according to FDISK20 of SUSE6.3 is (NORMAL mode in HD)
>
> Start End Start Number
>
> of
>
>
>
> Part Bootable Head Cyl Sector System Head Cyl Sector Sector Sectors
>
>
> MB
>
>
>
>
>============================================================================================
>
>
>
> 1 yes 1 0 1 0Ch 15 1023 63 63
> 18453869
>
> 900
>
>
>
> 2 no 0 0 0 00h 0 0 0 0 0
>
>
> 0
>
>
>
> 3 no 0 0 0 00h 0 0 0 0 0
>
>
> 0
>
>
>
> 4 no 0 0 0 00h 0 0 0 0 0
>
>
> 0
>
> And this is what FDISK says:
>
> Info: partition table inconsistency
>
> FIPS has detected that the 'physical' start or end sector (head/cylinder/sector) do
>not match with the 'logical' start/end sector. This not an error since the 'physical'
>values are redundant and not used anyway. There are many configurations where the
>values differ. This message is only meant to inform you that FIPS has adapted the
>'physical' values according to the current drive geometry. So don't be alarmed by an
>unexpected cylinder range.
> -----------------------------
> Warning: partition does not end on a cylinder boundary: partition 1
> All partitions should end on a cylinder boundary
> OK
> Boot sector:
> Bytes per sector: 512
> Sectors per cluster: 8
> Reserved sectors: 32
> Number of FATS: 2
> Number of root directory entries: 0
> Number of sectors (short): 0
> Media descriptor byte: F8h
> Sectors per FAT: 1799
> Sectors per track: 63
> Drive heads: 16
> Hidden sectors: 63
> Number of sectors (long): 1843569
> Physical drive number: 80h
> Signature: 29h
> Checking boot sector...
> Warning: Number of drive heads incorrect: 16 instead of 32.
> The number of drive heads in the boot sector does not match the actual drive
>geometry reported by the BIOS
> Do you want to correct this? (y/n) ---> I type y
> -----------------------------------
> OK
> Checking FAT ... OK
> Searching for free space
> Do you want to make a backup copy of your root and boot
> sector before proceeding? (y/n) ---> I type y
> Writing a file a:\rootboot.000
> Enter start cylinder for new partition (361-914):
> Use the cursor keys to choose the cylinders, <enter> to continue
>
> Old partition Cylinder New partition
> 355.4 361 545.3 MB
>
> (Here it tries to shrink hda1) I type <enter>
> ------------------------------------
> First cluster: 90512
> Last cluster: 229991
> Testing if empty ... OK
> New partition table:
>
> Start End Start Number
>
> of
>
> Part Bootable Head Cyl Sector System Head Cyl Sector Sector Sectors
>
>
> MB
>
>
>
>
>============================================================================================
>
>
>
> 1 yes 1 0 1 0Ch 31 360 63 63
> 727713
>
> 355
>
>
>
> 2 no 0 0 0 00h 15 914 63 727776
> 1115856
>
> 544 0
>
>
>
> 3 no 0 0 0 00h 0 0 0 0 0
>
>
> 0
>
>
>
> 4 no 0 0 0 00h 0 0 0 0 0
>
>
> 0
>
> Checking root sector ...
> Warning: Partition does not end on cylinder boundary: partition 2
> All partitions should end on a cylinder boundary
> Press any key
> ------------------------------------------
> OK
> Do you want to continue or reedit the partition table? (c/r)
> (As I don�t see it ver clear, I type �r� and it CRASHES)
> ====================
> I changed to LBA mode, and with Linux FDISK, I get this:
>
> Device Boot Start End Blocks Id System
>
> /tmp/hda1 * 1 915 921784+ c Win95 FAT32(LBA)
>
> Partition 1 does not end on a cylinder boundary:
>
> phys=(1023,15,63) should be (1023,31,63)
> ====================
>
> When trying to install linux with Suse 6.2, I get this table (it�s in Spanish, but
>easy to understand):
>
> Bloques Inode Formato Tipo fs Pto. anclaje Part
>
> dev/hda1 921784 no vfat W95 FAT32
> dev/hda2 614400 4096 no ext2 / Linux
>
> With virtual console alt-F4, I get this message when formatting the linux partition
>(there are others, but this one is most alarming):
>
> EXT2-fs error (device ide0(3,2)):
> ext2_check_inodes_bitmap: Wrong free inodes count in superblock
> stored=109778, counted=107754
> ======================
>
> Results of a Quantum diagnose utility:
>
>
>
> i------------------------------� Find-ATA v1.0 �-------------------------------�
>
>
> � �
>
>
> � Drive: QUANTUM FIREBALL ST1.6A Port: Primary (01F0h) �
> � Serial #: 851716531365 CMOS Type: 46 Unit: 0 - Master �
> � �
> � Hardware DOS Current Max ECC: 4 bytes �
> � Cylinders: 3128 1024 3128 �
> � Heads: 16 32 16 �
> � Sectors: 63 63 63 �
> � Capacity: 1,614,348,288 1,056,964,608 1,614,348,288 �
> � �
> � Available Information �
> � R/W Multiple Mode: Yes 16 sectors Max Current: 16 sectors/block �
> � LBA Mode: Yes 3153024 �
> � DMA Mode: Yes Single: 0 (0111) Multi: 0 (0111) 480 nsec �
> � Advanced PIO Mode: Yes (0011) +,-IORDY: 120 nsec, 120 nsec �
> � �
> � Default PIO Mode: 2, 240 nsec, up to 8.33 MB/Sec �
> � �
> � Buffer: 81 KBytes Type: A dual ported multi-sectored buffer capable of �
> � simultaneous transfers with a read caching capability. �
> � �
> �-------� Copyright 1994 Seagate Technology, Inc. All rights reserved. �-------�
>
>
>
> Drive : 0 BIOS CHS : 1024 32 63 = 1,056,964,608 bytes (1057.0 MB)
> PROBLEM: Partition is defined larger than the current BIOS support.
> The Partition record calls for 1614.32 MBytes, however,
> the BIOS Int13 shows only 1056.96 MBytes are supported.
>
> Partition # : 1
> Partition Type : 0Ch - Unknown
> Active Status : YES
> Start CHS : 0 1 1
> End CHS : 1023 31 63
> Sectors offset : 63
> Number of Sectors : 3,152,961 = 1,614,316,032 bytes (152.7% of bios)
>
> DOS boot record is not valid using start sector number 1818566753
>
> First partition Bios Parameter Block on Drive 0
> Vendor : � D �
> Bytes Per Sector : 21010
> Sectors Per Cluster : 0
> Reserved Sectors : 0
> Fat Copies : 190
> Root Entries : 3
> Total Sectors-1 : 17,408 (8.91 MB)
> Media : 00h
> Sectors Per Fat : 4762
> Sectors Per Track : 89
> Heads : 0
> Hidden Sectors-1 : 958
> Hidden Sectors-2 : 0
> Total Sectors-2 : 312,279,108 (159886.90 MB)
> Physical Drive Number : 70h
> Extended Boot Signature : 00h
> Volume Serial Number : 0003-BE00
> BPB Volume Label : D � � 5%, (root dir volume: DISCO-C)
> File System ID : � -
> Named System Files : $ M . l, � $ � �.
> ID Code : 0000h
> ===============================
> ______________________________________________________
> Get Your Free Email at http://mail.euroseek.com
--
*******************************
*******************************
Wayne Petherick
Criminology Department
Humanities and Social Sciences
Bond University
Gold Coast, Australia
*******************************
*******************************
