---------- Original message ---------- Subject: Re: Enabling 48 bit LBA on a Sawtooth Date: Thursday, 06. January 2011 From: Kris Tilford <ktilfo...@cox.net> To: g3-5-list@googlegroups.com > [...] > > If you formatted the new HD on a Mac that supports LBA48 addressing so > that it currently is recognized and formatted correctly as larger than > 128GB (Apple Partition Map, HFS+ journalling file system), and then > you transferred it into the Sawtooth so that it's now only recognized > as 128GB, then perhaps there's a chance you're still OK? This is a > dangerous scenario, and you should stop using the HD immediately and > apply the patch before you get any data corruption.
Full ack. > If you formatted the new HD on the Sawtooth so that it was only > formatted as a 128GB HD, and now you're trying to enable the rest of > the space, this won't work, you'll need to patch FIRST and then > reformat the HD again from the beginning. True? I've been able to reformat a hard drive previously limited to 128 GB (the only partition was the 128 GB partition, and with the patch applied the free space at the end became visible). But, if I remember correctly, I used the Leopard installation DVD and its provided partitioning tool. Maybe the installation media's Disk Utility behaves different? > [...] > > This means that if you want the maximum mileage out of patching, you > should probably make certain your PRAM battery is new/fresh, they > generally last about 5 years. Then, DON'T zap the PRAM, reset the > NVRAM, or press the CUDA unless you're ready to re-patch immediately. > > Once you've patched, you're good-to-go and everything is the same as > any other Mac that supports LBA48 addressing. I've made a very small (10 GB, or was it 5??? I have to check) first partiton that has a standard installation of Tiger (or even Panther?) on it -- for the sole purpose of applying this patch. The second partition is my main partition. If, at any time, this unmaintained partition starts up, I immediately know the PRAM didn't hold its data for some reason. I can then re- apply the patch, select my second parition as the boot partition and everything is safe. Should it happen over and over, then I know that my PRAM battery is broken. > There are alternatives to patching the firmware, using Intech's Hi-Cap > (hi-capacity) OS X extension, perhaps combined with formating the HD > with Intech Speedtools for OS 9 IF you're booting OS 9. The OS 9 > formatting only works when BOOTED in OS 9, so BOTH these are needed > TOGETHER if your HD had both OS 9 & OS X and you dual boot both systems. There is another possible way: recompile KeyLargoATA driver for Mac OS X to enable LBA-48 support regardless wheather the Open Firmware property is there or is not there. This should be a very safe appoach, since every KeyLargo ATA chip is LBA-48 compatible/aware, so you cannot do anything wrong here. But it is inconvenient, and it requires some programming/compiling skills. > As a safety practice, it's best to place a partition break at the > EXACT 128GB limitation of 131,072 MB. [...] Yes, this is the normal way of doing it. > Once you patch the firmware, as long as the patch is in place, the Mac > will act normally like any other Mac that supports LBA48 addressing. > The patch doesn't "do or undo" anything on the HD, it's in firmware, > [...] Actually, this Open Firmware property is only used by the KeyLargoATA driver to check if it should enable the LBA-48 or not. But this is kind of senseless, because the KeyLargo ATA chipset always supports LBA-48, and this property is only there to make the QuickSilver 2002 model have an newly added support feature... > There was once a small application that patched the firmware for you, > it was called "Overdrive" and was written by the same guys that wrote > "Leopard Assist", but it disappeared from the web and I don't know > where you could get a copy. Perhaps the Wayback Machine of the > Internet Archive has a copy? I always used a simple shell script available there: http://4thcode.blogspot.com/2007/12/using-128-gib-or-larger-ata-hard- drives.html I also use the Open Firmware property stored in PRAM. But now I think the better way would be to recompile the KeyLargoATA driver without this silly fake limitation. Since there are no mature Mac OS X updates to worry about anymore, this should be a one-time-only requirement. Cheers, Andreas aka Mac User #330250 -- You received this message because you are a member of G-Group, a group for those using G3, G4, and G5 desktop Macs - with a particular focus on Power Macs. The list FAQ is at http://lowendmac.com/lists/g-list.shtml and our netiquette guide is at http://www.lowendmac.com/lists/netiquette.shtml To post to this group, send email to g3-5-list@googlegroups.com For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/g3-5-list
