maxim wexler wrote:
>>Maxim, if you want the system to boot from the hard >>disk, I really think >>you have no choice but to repartition and re-install >>the system, with >>boot as the first partition. >> >> > >On the Sempron there are two HDs, the 120G, pri-mast >and a 3.5G(fat32) as a pri-slave. LBA is set to auto >in the BIOS for both drives but it only appears "on" >in the POST screen for the 3.5G. I put the 120G as >pri-slave in the K6 box along w/ a 10G >master(gentoo-2004.3) and it does come up as "on" for >both of them albeit only 65G of the 120G available is >reported, probably because of the more >primitive(c.2000) BIOS. So there must be a problem w/ >the Asus K8N-E(Sempron box) BIOS. I updated it using >the tool that came w/ the support CD but it only made >matters worse: Not only does LBA remain "off" for the >120G, XP Pro won't boot, even though the boot.ini >console opens. I've contacted Asus but they haven't >replied yet. I bought it two months ago; maybe they'll >let me have a new one. If LBA were "on" that would >solve my problem wouldn't it? > > Ok, I did some more checking and reading about the various interfaces for accessing disk drives. If you have some time, take a look at: http://www.storagereview.com/guide2000/ref/hdd/hist.html In ancient times, we were limited to ~512MB addressable through the BIOS "int13h" instructions, with 1024 cylinders, 16 heads, and 63 sectors/track. LBA translation got us to ~8.2GB addressable with 1024 cylinders, 255 heads, and 63 sectors/track. The limit with the "int 13h extensions" interface is some ridiculously large value... Of course I am ignoring pre-historic times when the disk geometry actually did reflect the physical number heads and cylinders in the drive. So basically, if the BIOS, disk, and controller all support Int13h extensions, and LBA mode is enabled, there should be no problem loading the stage2 or kernel from anywhere on that disk. So yes, I believe that if you can get LBA mode to be enabled, you should be able to boot. But getting to that point may involve rebuilding the system anyway. I found an interesting note in the user manual for the K8N-E. It says: <oops, PDF is now corrupt...and ASUS's web site is way too damn slow for me to try and download it again...so I will paraphrase> It said that LBA mode will be disabled if the disk was "formatted" without LBA being enabled. It was light on the details, but I assume that really means "partitioned" with 16 heads instead of 255. >Now, the Asus brd does have raid capability. Would >that be a way out of this morass? How does raid work? > > You can try plugging the disk into the controller, but ignore the RAID functionalities. This is usually called "JBOD" (just a bunch of disks) mode. But I think you still have the same fundamental problem...how to get LBA mode enabled. >I've never used it before. Failing that is there a way >to copy non-destructively the partition containing >WinXP and move it up enough to make room for a boot >partition at /dev/hda1? > > PartitionMagic is the best for this, but at $70 it is a bit pricey. There may be free programs to do this, but I have no experience with them. -Richard -- gentoo-user@gentoo.org mailing list
