Douglas A. Tutty wrote: > On Wed, Feb 06, 2008 at 10:56:41PM -0500, bofh wrote: >> On Feb 6, 2008 10:45 AM, Douglas A. Tutty <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: >> >> > >> > I don't see external multi-disk IDE boxes. Besides, PATA is limited to >> > something like 18" from controller to drive. Even with a PCI >> > controller, there's not much distance. Also PATA cables aren't >> > shielded. >> >> >> Why not just an ide? If all you need is 18G, any old IDE will do. Must it >> be external? >> > > Well, for example, I have two boxes where I'm using IDE (the third box > is my Athlon with SATA drives). One won't boot (pass POST) if the drive > is over 1.1 GB, the other won't boot (pass POST) if the drive is over 9 > GB.
I've seen a lot of machines like this, and there are almost always solutions. Typical: Set BIOS config to "manual", do 1024 cyl, 63 sectors, 16 heads (504M). The hang is usually in the auto-detect part, if you skip that, the machine boots, and OpenBSD (and most other post Win98 OSs) will be able to see the entire disk, though you have to keep your boot (root) partition no bigger than the size you defined in the BIOS. If there is no custom manual setting, use any of the predefined settings, preferably the 120MB (1024/17/16) for a little breathing room for your root partition. Or, if you are using a PCI machine, skip the on-board BIOS, and use an (old) PCI IDE interface board with a boot ROM. Get an old one to keep the speed down. Yes, I've put 40G disks on 486 and P90s (and the P90s choked on anything bigger than 3G, as I recall), and many other machines. Nick.
