On 2007-04-04 22:53, dwain wrote: > <snip> > first to load (?) and the board manufacturer says with the BIOS update I > have that the largest drive I can use is 40GB, how do I get a larger > drive to be read so I can load the operating system on it? Not that I > need anything larger than a 40GB drive anyway. > > Whatever "device driver" is in the BIOS is completely replaced by the driver with the Linux kernel, and that can certainly read anything the IDE controller is able to read. With 40-wire IDE cable, that should be anything up to 120GB. There may be other limiting factors, but in principle, you should be able to reach the 120GB limit once the kernel is loaded.
The only requirement, as others have noted, is that everything the system needs to boot, ie. everything up to and including the kernel and IDE drivers (which should be compiled into the kernel anyway, or at least in the initrd) must be in a location the BIOS can find. That is trivial to achieve, as you only need a /boot partition of 10 MB or so, which is only 1 or 2 cylinders. If you make a separate /boot partition on the first two cylinders, you have more than enough room for the kernel and initrd, plus any boot loader files. Even only one cylinder should be sufficient, if you do not intend to install other kernels on the system. What I would suggest you try, if inclined, is to borrow an 80GB drive and install it as /dev/hdc. Then boot the system, run (as root) "fdisk -l /dev/hdc", and see what it says. I will be surprised if it does not report a full 80GB on the drive. -- Moral indignation is jealousy with a halo. -- HG Wells -- To unsubscribe, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] For additional commands, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
