Re: Debian 3.02r doesn't boot off HD
From: Oliver O'Boyle (o.oboyle_at_celerica.ca)
Date: 02/08/04
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Date: Sun, 8 Feb 2004 02:26:22 -0500
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> Marking the /boot as bootable shouldn't make a difference. More
> important is which boot loader are you using? You need one
> installed to the MBR.
using LILO installed in the MBR not the boot sector of the partition.
> If everything works OK, this again points to an improperly
> installed boot loader.
that's what i thought, so i reinstalled several times, each time
making sure i installed LILO to the MBR.
> The size of your disk could be causing the BIOS to hiccup.
> Assuming you have the 3.24GB disk from info below re: CHS. Double
> check that jumpers are set correctly. Did you try cable select?
jumpers set correctly on 3.24GB HD. i didn't try cable select. when i
tried this on the 1GB a while back the BIOS didn't recognize the
disk. i'll give it a shot though.
> Is the previous hd with FBSD still installed? Primary or secondary
> controller? Tried new disk solo?
new disk set as master. CDROM on as slave (hasn't changed since 1GB
disk). only 1 IDE controller on motherboard.
>
> > difference of two cylinders compared to the specs from the link
> > above. The BIOS set it as 6294 cylinders as opposed to 6296. I
> > tried
>
> This is not unheard of with some older BIOSes; some wasted 1 cyl,
> some 2.
>
yes. i've seen this once before.
> My experience with Compaqs is that you very rarely succeed
> deviating from the auto-detect. What exactly "goes wrong" when you
> try to boot from hd? Have you ever gotten beyond the blinking BIOS
> tell-tale
> cursor?
>
yes. blinking cursor in top right hand corner finishes, then a small
cursor in top left hand corner appears ona blank screen. that's where
it stops. the HD light stays on (solid, no sign of real activity) for
a bit, then goes out.
> Due to the age and differing means of calculating CHS, you may
> never be able to get the BIOS and hd's on-board controller to
> agree. Have you run the Compaq diagnostic utilities to see what
> they say?
no. which utility would do this?
> Linux
> makes no use of the BIOS for hd access except to start the boot
> loader. Just where were you "setting" the CHS in Linux?
>
during install, specifically as I was creating the partitions. at
first, this partition utility had a complely different CHS. 128 heads
and a really low number of cylinders. i tried the install with these
settings also. when they didn't work, i tried to match the BIOS
settings (both at 6294 and 6296 cylinders with 16 heads).
>
> You can pick up some manuals here if you need 'em:
> http://h20000.www2.hp.com/bizsupport/TechSupport/Home.jsp?locale=en_
> US&prodTypeId=12454&prodSeriesId=96437&lang=en&cc=us&image.y=-58&ima
> ge.x=5
>
> When I reach this point, I double check all jumper settings -- in
> your case, be sure write cacheing at the hd is turned off
i don't believe it is. why is this necessary?
> -- and using
> auto-detect with just the new hd in place, try re-installing a boot
> loader one more time (since it runs OK from floppy, don't think
> there's anything to gain by reloading the whole distro).
>
ok. i reinstalled mostly because i was playing around with the
partition sizes and CHS during the install.
> You might want to use grub for your boot loader and a grub boot
> disk in case you have problems -- the grub boot disk will give you
> limited access to the hd to poke around and see if you can
> "manually" load Linux. The tab completion feature is especially
> handy to tell you what grub thinks of your setup.
>
sorry, i'm new to linux, how would i do this exactly? i don't recall
seeing an option for grub during the install.
> It's been years since I've worked with Debian. Once the boot
> loader successfully runs it sounds like everything should go OK,
> since a boot floppy works fine.
i agree.
Sounds like you've tried the "disk layout"
> solutions that might help. If the BIOS's sense of the hd is
> getting in the way, you may have to try grub
see question above.
> and if the "normal" install
> routine fails, you may have to dd a copy of the boot loader code to
> the hd -- if you can figure out where the BIOS is going at boot.
>
ok.
i believe the BIOS might state the start cylinder.
> In the end, it may be easiest just to boot from floppy and get on
> with life. "Fixing" hardware problems on boxes of this vintage can
> be
> pointless and useless -- unless you're looking for a lifelong
> hobby.
>
i'll fall back to that if i have to, but i would really like to
understand my hardware problems if i can. i won't let it paralyse me
though :)
> Not much help I'm afraid, but good luck,
> prg
> email above disabled
thanks for the help PRG. will keep the thread updated. unfortunately,
i need to go away for a few days so i might post a new thread. keep
an eye out for it!!
Oliver
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