Re: [SLE] Yast gets incorrect hard disk size during install

From: Basil Chupin (blchupin_at_tpg.com.au)
Date: 08/21/05

  • Next message: Michael Behrens: "Re: [SLE] How to detect if a swap partition is available and active?" 
    Date: Sun, 21 Aug 2005 22:26:29 +1000
To: suse-linux-e@suse.com

    john grey wrote:
    >
    > --- Basil Chupin <blchupin@tpg.com.au> wrote:
    >
    >
    >>john grey wrote:
    >>
    >>>--- Andre Venter <andrev@ohwell.co.za> wrote:
    >>>
    >>>
    >>>
    >>>>----- Original Message -----
    >>>>From: "Andre Venter" <andrev@ohwell.co.za>
    >>>>To: <suse-linux-e@suse.com>
    >>>>Sent: Tuesday, August 16, 2005 9:04 AM
    >>>>Subject: Re: [SLE] Yast gets incorrect hard disk
    >>>>size during install
    >>>>
    >>>>
    >>>>
    >>>>
    >>>>>----- Original Message -----
    >>>>>From: "john grey" <greyscale16@yahoo.com>
    >>>>>To: <suse-linux-e@suse.com>
    >>>>>Sent: Tuesday, August 16, 2005 8:53 AM
    >>>>>Subject: Re: [SLE] Yast gets incorrect hard disk
    >>>>
    >>>>size during install
    >>>>
    >>>>
    >>>>>No Partition Magic has been used in this hard
    >>>>
    >>>>disk. It
    >>>>
    >>>>
    >>>>>used to be a Win98 and then became just an extra
    >>>>
    >>>>10 GB
    >>>>
    >>>>
    >>>>>partition for WinXP. So I've never done anything
    >>>>>beyond having a single partition in it.
    >>>>>
    >>>>>I also tried Fedora Core to see if it was a Yast
    >>>>>problem, but it also gets the same reading. So
    >>>>
    >>>>there
    >>>>
    >>>>
    >>>>>is something wrong in how the size gets read by
    >>>>
    >>>>linux,
    >>>>
    >>>>
    >>>>>since for some reason windows can read it
    >>>>
    >>>>properly. So
    >>>>
    >>>>
    >>>>>I'm open to any ideas. You sugested low level
    >>>>
    >>>>format.
    >>>>
    >>>>
    >>>>>Any linux tool that is very good at it?
    >>>>>
    >>>>>The other hard disk with the NTFS partitions will
    >>>>
    >>>>be
    >>>>
    >>>>
    >>>>>left intact. I just mentioned it for
    >>
    >>completeness.
    >>
    >>>>The
    >>>>
    >>>>
    >>>>>hd where suse will be installed already has no
    >>>>>partitions. Before trying suse it used to be a
    >>>>
    >>>>single
    >>>>
    >>>>
    >>>>>10GB NTFS partition. After I saw that problem, I
    >>>>
    >>>>went
    >>>>
    >>>>
    >>>>>to Windows, formated it with FAT32 and when I
    >>
    >>went
    >>
    >>>>>back to the suse install it showed a 10GB FAT32
    >>>>>partition (/hdb1) inside a 2GB disk (/hdb) which
    >>>>
    >>>>of
    >>>>
    >>>>
    >>>>>course makes no sense at all.
    >>>>>
    >>>>>Thanks for the help
    >>>>>
    >>>>>
    >>>>>
    >>>>>Make sure LBA Mode is anable for this disk in the
    >>>>
    >>>>CMOS
    >>>>
    >>>>
    >>>>Enabled, Typo, Sorry
    >>>>
    >>>
    >>>
    >>>I forgot to mention that. LBA has always been
    >>
    >>enabled,
    >>
    >>>so I even tried disabling it. No success.
    >>
    >>I hope I am responding to the right person (the
    >>beginning of the msg has
    >>me a bit confused), if operating in Linux have a
    >>look at the Manual
    >>entries for fdisk, cfdisk and sfdisk to get an idea
    >>of the sort of mess
    >>one can get from DOS and DRDOS (on command line do-
    >>man cfdisk or man
    >>sfdisk, eg).
    >>
    >>You didn't say what brand of HD you are trying to
    >>install but there
    >>should be a utility on the manufacturer's website
    >>which will low level
    >>format as well as partition the HD. For my
    >>Maxtors/Quantums I used
    >>MaxBlast4 and for my Seagates I have the Disk
    >>Manager.
    >>
    >>Cheers.
    >>
    >
    >
    > The brand is a Maxtor. I got MaxBlast 4 and did a low
    > level format to it. The problem remained. So I tried
    > fdisk and sfdisk. They tell me that
    > BLKGETSIZE/HDIO_GETGEO reports 4091 cylinders. When I
    > tell fdisk to change it to 19590 (As reported by
    > MaxBlast, not the previous 19950 I used that I got
    > from Dell info) and save it, nothing happens. I tried
    > sfdisk using /dev/hdb -C19590, and even added -f to
    > force it and a buffer overflow happens.

    I may state something below which is already bleeding obvious to you so
    just pass over it or I may state something which may be just me flapping
    my ears so tell me that I am wrong :-).

    Linux wants the BIOS to be in control of the hardware but what almost
    everybody who installs M$ does is answer YES to the question in the BIOS
    setup which asks if a PNP System is installed. Go to your BIOS and
    change that to NO if it is set to Yes. Windows is too stoopid to know
    any different and just goes and works anyway.

    You mentioned that the HD was used with Win98. Am I to assume that it is
    being/to be used on an older machine (of the Win98 era)? This may or may
    not be relevant of course but still interesting to be aware of. How is
    the HD setup- as a Master, Master with Slave or as Cable Select (CS) in
    which case is it connected to the correct connector on the IDE cable?

    Is the BIOS able to auto detect the drives and if so how does it read
    the HD (correct size, CHS?).

    I pointed you at the fdisk, cfdisk and sfdisk in Linux not really to
    have you trying to use them to alter the geometry of the HD but for you
    to read what a dog's vomit DOS and DRDOS fdisk can do to the partitions
    and that if you are going to format with Linux then you have to zero out
    the first 256 bytes of the (new) partition. And as it is stated, best to
    format the HD with DOS fdisk for Windows OS and use Linux fdisk for
    Linux OS.

    What I suggest you do is this-

    you have already low level formatted the HD with PowerMax (which is
    inside MaxBlast4) so no need to do this again - unless you want to;

    put the HD into the XP setup, making sure first that it is jumpered
    correctly as M or S or CS, and using Start/Control Panel/Administrative
    Tasks/Disk Management select the HD and DELETE all partitions on that
    drive then CREATE a new EXTENDED partition out of the whole 10GB and
    make that a LOGICAL DRIVE;

    once this is done FORMAT it while still in Disk Management as Fat32;

    reboot and see what is showing up back in Disk Management.

    When you go to install SuSE (which version, BTW? I cannot install 9.2 on
    my computer :-( ), at the beginning of the installation, where you have
    to select the Language and the Partitions and Software, in the
    Partitioning section select 'Expert' mode and when the table of all the
    partitions comes up select (?)Expert (bottom RH) and choose REREAD THE
    PARTITION TABLE. When this is done highlight the 10GB partition just
    created and formatted in XP, DELETE it and then CREATE it and do the
    normal thing about choosing to have it formatted as reiserfs (or ext3 if
    that's your scene) and being the / partition. Then carry on with the
    normal install routine.

    Oh, there is one other thing - to do with the BIOS. For reasons only
    known to itself the BIOS sometimes gets into a flap and causes no end of
    headaches which may take ages to solve or, more likely, not get solved
    at all. What I suggest - as was suggested to me a while ago and it
    works! - is to reset the BIOS to its STANDARD DEFAULT SETTINGS not the
    Optimised Settings, reboot, DEL back into the BIOS, reset some of the
    essential parameters (like using AGP vs PCI, activating USB etc) and see
    if this fixes the problem.

    I should have stated this earlier above I think but you mentioned that
    you used Linus fdisk to reset the number of cylinders. This is where the
    BIOS comes in. If you use MaxBlast4 and examine your HDs you will see
    that there are 2 figures given for CHS (?or at least for CH). One of the
    set of figures are INTERPRETED by I think the BIOS (or is it by the
    chipset onboard the HD?) and this interpreted figure is what shows up in
    the first GENERAL menu when you bring up the BIOS at boot time. Using
    fdisk you probably were trying to feed in the wrong cylinder count - I
    wouldn't mess around with this approach as you could do some permanent
    damage to your HD.

    See how you go with the above.

    Cheers. 

    -- 
The first myth of management is that it exists.
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