explain that rumpdisk only supports HDDs and SSDs at the moment.
Also link to a short video that shows how to change the disk mode in
the BIOS.
---
hurd/rump/rumpdisk.mdwn | 28 ++++++++++++++++------------
1 file changed, 16 insertions(+), 12 deletions(-)
diff --git a/hurd/rump/rumpdisk.mdwn b/hurd/rump/rumpdisk.mdwn
index bb8bcdb1..947e102c 100644
--- a/hurd/rump/rumpdisk.mdwn
+++ b/hurd/rump/rumpdisk.mdwn
@@ -13,18 +13,18 @@ License|/fdl]]."]]"""]]
# RumpDisk
-The Hurd supports modern SATA devices like SSDs with RumpDisk. If you
-successfully installed the Hurd in real hardware, via toggling the
-"compatibility" mode in your BIOS, then the Hurd is probably using old
-Linux drivers to access your hard drive/SSD. Even more problematic,
-those drivers are baked into the GNU Mach kernel! With rumpdisk, you
-can use SSDs on the Hurd and enjoy a max partition size of [[2
+The Hurd supports modern SATA devices like HDDs and SSDs (not IDEs
+yet) with RumpDisk, and by default, the amd64 Hurd uses Rumpdisk. We
+intend to replace the old and unmaintained [[hurd/dde]] disk drivers
+with RumpDisk. If you are using [[hurd/dde]], then your drivers are
+baked into the GNU Mach kernel and cannot support a drive larger than
+128GB! With rumpdisk, you can enjoy a max partition size of [[2
TiB|faq/2_gib_partition_limit]]!
-If you want to test if the Hurd can boot with your SSD, change any
-occurence of `hdN` in `/boot/grub/grub.cfg` to `wdN`, where `N` is a
+If you are using a 32 bit Hurd and want to try rumpdisk, then change any
+occurrence of `hdN` in `/boot/grub/grub.cfg` to `wdN`, where `N` is a
number, and add the `noide` option on the `multiboot` line,
-(which disables the old Linux disk drivers). Also change any occurence
+(which disables the old Linux disk drivers). Also change any occurrence
of `hdN` in your `/etc/fstab` to `wdN`.
/boot/grub/grub.cfg
@@ -41,9 +41,13 @@ of `hdN` in your `/etc/fstab` to `wdN`.
#/dev/hd2 /media/cdrom0 iso9660 noauto 0 0
/dev/wd2 /media/cdrom0 iso9660 noauto 0 0
-Then reboot your machine. As of Feb 2026, due to an odd bug, you may need
- to add "-M q35" to your qemu invocation. Before Grub appears change
"compatibility"
-in your BIOS to "AHCI" (not "RAID"). If you successfully boot,
+Then reboot your machine. As of Feb 2026, due to an odd bug, you need
+ to add "-M q35" to your qemu invocation. If you are running the Hurd
+on bare metal, then make sure that your
+[disk mode in your
+ BIOS](https://video.hardlimit.com/w/fdFtNHsrPoLZG28rBZCFxP)
+is "AHCI" and not "IDE" or "RAID".
+If you successfully boot,
congrats! You are now using rumpdisk! You can permanently add in the
"noide" option to grub:
--
2.51.0
