On Tue, Nov 20, 2007 at 02:18:15AM -0700, Christoper Tucker wrote: > > Hi there > > > > I have a 600mhz PIII computer with an older BIOS that will not > > recognize my 160GB new HD that I installed for use with FreeBSD. > > > > I can install FBSD if I limit the drive to 32GB, but before I settle > > with that, is there a way I can access the entire drive > > |Have you tried and failed to install FreeBSD? > > I have successfully installed FreeBSD with the drive limited to 32GB. > > I have also successfully installed FreeBSD withthe drive set to 160GB, > although FBSD seems to see only 120GB of that, and also displays the > following warning during install: > > "WARNING: A gemoetry of 248015/16/63 for ad0 is incorrect. Using a more > likely geometry. If this geometry is incorrect or you are unsure as to > whether or not it's correct, please consult the Hardware Guide int he > Documentation submenu or use the (G)eometry command to change it now. > Remember: you need to enter whatever your BIOS thinks the geometry is! For > IDE, it's what you were told in the BIOS setups. For SCSI, it's the > translation mode your controller is using. Do NOT use a "physical > geomtery.""
I can't guarantee that it applies to your situation, but I always get those messages and just ignore them. FreeBSD deals with it correctly. There are some FAQs and postings in the archive and a couple of online articles that talk about it. I don't have time to go looking now, but you can find it as easily as I can. ////jerry > > I did not find a solution in the documentation. Using the (G)eometry > command is something I don't understand. :) My BIOS reads the drive fine > when it is limited to 32GB, or when the drive is limited to less than 66GB > (The drive size can by limited via a utility from Seagate ... i determined > that using a size of 61GB works fine in the BIOS, but using 66BG does not > work in the BIOS. There's probably an exact figure between 61 and 66GB > where the maximum is, but I decided not to do further tests) > > Here's what FDISK reports during the FBSD install: > http://imagebin.org/11910 > I used the "all" command here. Using the Seagate utility, the drive had > earlier been set to 160GB, yet the installer sees 120GB here, it seems. > > DMESG report here: > http://imagebin.org/11911 > > df -h command result here: > http://imagebin.org/11912 > > If FreeBSD can use 120GB of the 160GB available, that's GREAT! I'd be > happy with that. But will there be any problems since the bios reports > only that a maximum drive size of 61-66GB is OK? If I select a disk size > larger than the 61GB figure (roughly) BIOS locks up on the hard drive > menu (the computer will boot, but if i try and view the HD section of the > BIOS menu, bios locks up and i have to ctrl-alt-del). > > If FReeBSD can see 120GB, what happened to the other 40GB? Is there a > danger that I could wind up writing data to nowhere or having some other > disk problem if I install FBSD this way? > > |Normally the limititation is just that the root partition must be within > |the area that the bios can see. > > Thanks! Chris > _______________________________________________ > freebsd-questions@freebsd.org mailing list > http://lists.freebsd.org/mailman/listinfo/freebsd-questions > To unsubscribe, send any mail to "[EMAIL PROTECTED]" _______________________________________________ freebsd-questions@freebsd.org mailing list http://lists.freebsd.org/mailman/listinfo/freebsd-questions To unsubscribe, send any mail to "[EMAIL PROTECTED]"