On 2021-03-01, Raimo Niskanen <raimo+open...@erix.ericsson.se> wrote: > Hi Misc! > > Unfortunately I do not have one clear question here, but I wonder if somebody > could shed som light on some problems I have encountered on my PC Engines > APU2. > > It runs OpenBSD 6.7 from a 32 GB mSATA SSD disk, and I would like to change > the disk since it is a few years old now, so I buyed a 128 GB Kingston > mSATA SSD, and an mSATA -> SATA adapter and put that combo in an USB 2 > external disk adapter. > > The disk showed up as a 4k sector disk, and after installing OpenBSD 6.7 > over USB over the mSATA-SATA adapter I plugged it in the internal mSATA > connector, and it did not boot.
This is a problem with some USB-SATA adapters. See e.g. https://www.klennet.com/notes/2018-04-14-usb-and-sector-size.aspx > Much fumbling later it seems that when the disk is connected to the > internal mSATA slot it is seen as a 512 bytes per sector disk. I do not > know what the BIOS thinks of it (factory SeaBIOS 1.10.something). When I > re-installed with the disk in the mSATA slot I got a bootable installation. > Both fdisk and disklabel now says the disk has got 512 bytes per sector. > (fdisk says nothing but for a 4k disk it should say it is a 4k disk) > > My old 32 GB mSATA disk is readable over the mSATA-SATA adapter USB adapter > as a 512 bytes per sector disk. You could try looking for a different adapter but at this point I would probably install on the new drive (PXE boot or use another USB drive to boot the installer), then copy files back from the old drive. > So I am just curious about how to handle this disk. I can install to it > in the internal mSATA connector and read the old installation over the > mSATA-SATA-USB-adapter. But one day when I want to install to a new disk > again, I will not be able to read from the disk in the mSATA-SATA-USB-adapter, > so the next re-installation looks unpromising. backup/restore over the network via another machine perhaps? > Some more specific questions: > * Would upgrading the BIOS be a good idea yes but it won't help with this problem. (https://github.com/pcengines/apu2-documentation/blob/master/docs/apu_CPU_boost.md) > * Sould upgrading to OpenBSD 6.8 improve the situation it won't. > * How is the disk sector size determined, and can I affect that? by the manufacturer.
