Re: IDE HPA

2005-09-07 Thread Bill Davidsen
Jeff Garzik wrote: It seems to me that one should write an ATA-specific Device Mapper driver, which layers on top of an ATA disk. The driver obtains the starting location of HPA, then exports two block devices: one for the primary data area, and one for the HPA. I've stayed out of this,

Re: IDE HPA

2005-09-07 Thread Bill Davidsen
Jeff Garzik wrote: It seems to me that one should write an ATA-specific Device Mapper driver, which layers on top of an ATA disk. The driver obtains the starting location of HPA, then exports two block devices: one for the primary data area, and one for the HPA. I've stayed out of this,

Re: IDE HPA

2005-09-03 Thread Jeff Garzik
Peter Jones wrote: So where would you envision this code to check the partition table, the HPA/host default disk size, and guess how things should be set up? From a userland perspective, it's very difficult to let users know they'll be screwing themselves by partitioning the entire disk, so

Re: IDE HPA

2005-09-03 Thread Jeff Garzik
Peter Jones wrote: So where would you envision this code to check the partition table, the HPA/host default disk size, and guess how things should be set up? From a userland perspective, it's very difficult to let users know they'll be screwing themselves by partitioning the entire disk, so

Re: IDE HPA

2005-09-02 Thread Pekka Pietikainen
On Fri, Sep 02, 2005 at 09:22:58PM +0100, Alan Cox wrote: > You installed it on Red Hat 7 ? I think 7, may have been 6.x or earlier. > This behaviour goes back pretty much to the creation of the ATA spec for > HPA. In fact if it was that long ago IBM shipped it with Windows so it > did have a

Re: IDE HPA

2005-09-02 Thread Alan Cox
On Gwe, 2005-09-02 at 17:14 -0400, Peter Jones wrote: > > You installed it on Red Hat 7 ? I think 7, may have been 6.x or earlier. > > You may be right -- it's likely that I shrank my windows partition on > some other OS or Distro that wasn't designed with to screw up the disk. If you shrink

Re: IDE HPA

2005-09-02 Thread Peter Jones
On Fri, 2005-09-02 at 21:22 +0100, Alan Cox wrote: > On Gwe, 2005-09-02 at 15:14 -0400, Peter Jones wrote: > > Ugh. So some BIOSes use it for legitimate reasons (like thinkpads), and > > some use it to work around BIOS bugs. Great. > > All are legitimate uses. The partition table tells you

Re: IDE HPA

2005-09-02 Thread Alan Cox
On Gwe, 2005-09-02 at 15:14 -0400, Peter Jones wrote: > Ugh. So some BIOSes use it for legitimate reasons (like thinkpads), and > some use it to work around BIOS bugs. Great. All are legitimate uses. The partition table tells you which. > Mine didn't, but it does have an HPA. Thankfully we

Re: IDE HPA

2005-09-02 Thread Peter Jones
On Fri, 2005-09-02 at 19:59 +0100, Alan Cox wrote: > On Gwe, 2005-09-02 at 14:09 -0400, Peter Jones wrote: > > (if there's already a straightforward way, feel free to clue me in -- > > but the default should almost certainly be to assume the HPA is set up > > correctly, shouldn't it?) > > The

Re: IDE HPA

2005-09-02 Thread Alan Cox
On Gwe, 2005-09-02 at 14:09 -0400, Peter Jones wrote: > (if there's already a straightforward way, feel free to clue me in -- > but the default should almost certainly be to assume the HPA is set up > correctly, shouldn't it?) The normal use of HPA is to clip drives to get them past BIOS boot

Re: IDE HPA

2005-09-02 Thread Alan Cox
On Gwe, 2005-09-02 at 19:44 +0200, Molle Bestefich wrote: > The current default is causing grief because dmraid doesn't work, grub > doesn't work and other userspace apps probably breaks too. Users have > to google and post to mailing lists just to get things to work (... if > they could, which

Re: IDE HPA

2005-09-02 Thread Peter Jones
On Fri, 2005-09-02 at 19:44 +0200, Molle Bestefich wrote: > Related matters: > If you decide to include the HPA in one of your filesystems, is there > not a big risk that the BIOS will overwrite something there? Isn't the bigger risk that if you include the HPA in your block device, you'll

Re: IDE HPA

2005-09-02 Thread Matthew Garrett
Molle Bestefich <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > The other way round, users would have to google to find the kernel > option that claims the HPA area (if they felt the need to overwrite > the BIOS's backup area), but those that felt the need would then be > rewarded with eg. 10 GB extra disk space.

Re: IDE HPA

2005-09-02 Thread Vojtech Pavlik
On Fri, Sep 02, 2005 at 06:05:12PM +0100, Alan Cox wrote: > On Gwe, 2005-09-02 at 18:24 +0200, Molle Bestefich wrote: > > I meant the BIOS setup screen, not a firmware update... > > Supposedly the BIOS can change the bounds of the HPA with special ATA > > commands.. > > I've yet to see a BIOS

Re: IDE HPA

2005-09-02 Thread Molle Bestefich
Alan Cox wrote: > Molle Bestefich wrote: > > Not if, as proposed, there was a kernel switch to enable including the > > HPA in the disc area. > > And users magically knew about it - thats why it has to default the > other way. Ok, so just to reiterate.. The current default is causing grief

Re: IDE HPA

2005-09-02 Thread Alan Cox
On Gwe, 2005-09-02 at 18:24 +0200, Molle Bestefich wrote: > I meant the BIOS setup screen, not a firmware update... > Supposedly the BIOS can change the bounds of the HPA with special ATA > commands.. I've yet to see a BIOS that exposed the functionality > Not if, as proposed, there was a

Re: IDE HPA

2005-09-02 Thread Molle Bestefich
Alan Cox wrote: > > If one does not care to use the HPA, one should disable it in the > > BIOS entirely, so that everywhere (!) the entire disk is seen. > > And in the real world BIOSes don't get updated often > by vendors let alone by users. I meant the BIOS setup screen, not a firmware

Re: IDE HPA

2005-09-02 Thread Matthew Garrett
Molle Bestefich <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > If HPA were exposed as /dev/.../hpa then it wouldn't be possible to > create such a filesystem. I'm guessing it's not possible with Windows > either, or with any BIOS-based OS. Such filesystems already exist. Changing this behaviour now would break

Re: IDE HPA

2005-09-02 Thread Alan Cox
On Gwe, 2005-09-02 at 15:33 +0200, Molle Bestefich wrote: > > It also wouldn't solve the case of a file system that spans both inside and > > outside the HPA. > > If HPA were exposed as /dev/.../hpa then it wouldn't be possible to > create such a filesystem. I'm guessing it's not possible with

Re: IDE HPA

2005-09-02 Thread Molle Bestefich
Alan Cox wrote: > > If the formula is to fix all the userspace apps to take into account a > > potential HPA, then eg. FDISK + SFDISK + Disk Druid et al should also > > be fixed. Because if you create a partition spanning your entire > > disk, including the HPA area, and your boot files by some

Re: IDE HPA

2005-09-02 Thread Alan Cox
> If the formula is to fix all the userspace apps to take into account a > potential HPA, then eg. FDISK + SFDISK + Disk Druid et al should also > be fixed. Because if you create a partition spanning your entire > disk, including the HPA area, and your boot files by some coincidence > ends up in

Re: IDE HPA

2005-09-02 Thread Molle Bestefich
Alan Cox wrote: > Greg Felix wrote: > > Right. I get the output at bootup time. It reads that the HPA is > > 20MB. Which is exactly the size of how far off the metadata is in > > Linux (once the HPA is disabled). > > So your actual problem is nothing to do with the kernel or with the HPA >

Re: IDE HPA

2005-09-02 Thread Molle Bestefich
Alan Cox wrote: Greg Felix wrote: Right. I get the output at bootup time. It reads that the HPA is 20MB. Which is exactly the size of how far off the metadata is in Linux (once the HPA is disabled). So your actual problem is nothing to do with the kernel or with the HPA behaviour ?

Re: IDE HPA

2005-09-02 Thread Alan Cox
If the formula is to fix all the userspace apps to take into account a potential HPA, then eg. FDISK + SFDISK + Disk Druid et al should also be fixed. Because if you create a partition spanning your entire disk, including the HPA area, and your boot files by some coincidence ends up in the

Re: IDE HPA

2005-09-02 Thread Molle Bestefich
Alan Cox wrote: If the formula is to fix all the userspace apps to take into account a potential HPA, then eg. FDISK + SFDISK + Disk Druid et al should also be fixed. Because if you create a partition spanning your entire disk, including the HPA area, and your boot files by some

Re: IDE HPA

2005-09-02 Thread Alan Cox
On Gwe, 2005-09-02 at 15:33 +0200, Molle Bestefich wrote: It also wouldn't solve the case of a file system that spans both inside and outside the HPA. If HPA were exposed as /dev/.../hpa then it wouldn't be possible to create such a filesystem. I'm guessing it's not possible with Windows

Re: IDE HPA

2005-09-02 Thread Matthew Garrett
Molle Bestefich [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: If HPA were exposed as /dev/.../hpa then it wouldn't be possible to create such a filesystem. I'm guessing it's not possible with Windows either, or with any BIOS-based OS. Such filesystems already exist. Changing this behaviour now would break

Re: IDE HPA

2005-09-02 Thread Molle Bestefich
Alan Cox wrote: If one does not care to use the HPA, one should disable it in the BIOS entirely, so that everywhere (!) the entire disk is seen. And in the real world BIOSes don't get updated often by vendors let alone by users. I meant the BIOS setup screen, not a firmware update...

Re: IDE HPA

2005-09-02 Thread Alan Cox
On Gwe, 2005-09-02 at 18:24 +0200, Molle Bestefich wrote: I meant the BIOS setup screen, not a firmware update... Supposedly the BIOS can change the bounds of the HPA with special ATA commands.. I've yet to see a BIOS that exposed the functionality Not if, as proposed, there was a kernel

Re: IDE HPA

2005-09-02 Thread Molle Bestefich
Alan Cox wrote: Molle Bestefich wrote: Not if, as proposed, there was a kernel switch to enable including the HPA in the disc area. And users magically knew about it - thats why it has to default the other way. Ok, so just to reiterate.. The current default is causing grief because

Re: IDE HPA

2005-09-02 Thread Vojtech Pavlik
On Fri, Sep 02, 2005 at 06:05:12PM +0100, Alan Cox wrote: On Gwe, 2005-09-02 at 18:24 +0200, Molle Bestefich wrote: I meant the BIOS setup screen, not a firmware update... Supposedly the BIOS can change the bounds of the HPA with special ATA commands.. I've yet to see a BIOS that

Re: IDE HPA

2005-09-02 Thread Matthew Garrett
Molle Bestefich [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: The other way round, users would have to google to find the kernel option that claims the HPA area (if they felt the need to overwrite the BIOS's backup area), but those that felt the need would then be rewarded with eg. 10 GB extra disk space. And if

Re: IDE HPA

2005-09-02 Thread Peter Jones
On Fri, 2005-09-02 at 19:44 +0200, Molle Bestefich wrote: Related matters: If you decide to include the HPA in one of your filesystems, is there not a big risk that the BIOS will overwrite something there? Isn't the bigger risk that if you include the HPA in your block device, you'll

Re: IDE HPA

2005-09-02 Thread Alan Cox
On Gwe, 2005-09-02 at 19:44 +0200, Molle Bestefich wrote: The current default is causing grief because dmraid doesn't work, grub doesn't work and other userspace apps probably breaks too. Users have to google and post to mailing lists just to get things to work (... if they could, which would

Re: IDE HPA

2005-09-02 Thread Alan Cox
On Gwe, 2005-09-02 at 14:09 -0400, Peter Jones wrote: (if there's already a straightforward way, feel free to clue me in -- but the default should almost certainly be to assume the HPA is set up correctly, shouldn't it?) The normal use of HPA is to clip drives to get them past BIOS boot

Re: IDE HPA

2005-09-02 Thread Peter Jones
On Fri, 2005-09-02 at 19:59 +0100, Alan Cox wrote: On Gwe, 2005-09-02 at 14:09 -0400, Peter Jones wrote: (if there's already a straightforward way, feel free to clue me in -- but the default should almost certainly be to assume the HPA is set up correctly, shouldn't it?) The normal use

Re: IDE HPA

2005-09-02 Thread Alan Cox
On Gwe, 2005-09-02 at 15:14 -0400, Peter Jones wrote: Ugh. So some BIOSes use it for legitimate reasons (like thinkpads), and some use it to work around BIOS bugs. Great. All are legitimate uses. The partition table tells you which. Mine didn't, but it does have an HPA. Thankfully we

Re: IDE HPA

2005-09-02 Thread Peter Jones
On Fri, 2005-09-02 at 21:22 +0100, Alan Cox wrote: On Gwe, 2005-09-02 at 15:14 -0400, Peter Jones wrote: Ugh. So some BIOSes use it for legitimate reasons (like thinkpads), and some use it to work around BIOS bugs. Great. All are legitimate uses. The partition table tells you which.

Re: IDE HPA

2005-09-02 Thread Alan Cox
On Gwe, 2005-09-02 at 17:14 -0400, Peter Jones wrote: You installed it on Red Hat 7 ? I think 7, may have been 6.x or earlier. You may be right -- it's likely that I shrank my windows partition on some other OS or Distro that wasn't designed with to screw up the disk. If you shrink existing

Re: IDE HPA

2005-09-02 Thread Pekka Pietikainen
On Fri, Sep 02, 2005 at 09:22:58PM +0100, Alan Cox wrote: You installed it on Red Hat 7 ? I think 7, may have been 6.x or earlier. This behaviour goes back pretty much to the creation of the ATA spec for HPA. In fact if it was that long ago IBM shipped it with Windows so it did have a

Re: IDE HPA

2005-08-30 Thread Bartlomiej Zolnierkiewicz
On 8/30/05, Alan Cox <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > On Maw, 2005-08-30 at 18:16 +0200, Bartlomiej Zolnierkiewicz wrote: > > HPA shouldn't be disabled by default and new kernel parameter ("hdx=hpa") > > should be added for disabling HPA (yep, people with buggy BIOS-es will > > have to add this

Re: IDE HPA

2005-08-30 Thread Alan Cox
On Maw, 2005-08-30 at 18:16 +0200, Bartlomiej Zolnierkiewicz wrote: > HPA shouldn't be disabled by default and new kernel parameter ("hdx=hpa") > should be added for disabling HPA (yep, people with buggy BIOS-es will > have to add this parameter to their kernel command line, sorry). Thats large

Re: IDE HPA

2005-08-30 Thread Bartlomiej Zolnierkiewicz
Hi, OK, it seems, there is enough need for bringing back more control over HPA. HPA shouldn't be disabled by default and new kernel parameter ("hdx=hpa") should be added for disabling HPA (yep, people with buggy BIOS-es will have to add this parameter to their kernel command line, sorry). If

Re: IDE HPA

2005-08-30 Thread Alan Cox
On Maw, 2005-08-30 at 09:52 -0600, Greg Felix wrote: > Right. I get the output at bootup time. It reads that the HPA is > 20MB. Which is exactly the size of how far off the metadata is in > Linux (once the HPA is disabled). So your actual problem is nothing to do with the kernel or with the

Re: IDE HPA

2005-08-30 Thread Greg Felix
Kernel list, A while ago there was some discussion on the list regarding the behavior of the kernel in regards to its unconditional disabling of host protected areas of hard drives. I ran into a problem this causes with some RAID controllers. I've been discussing the problem with both the

Re: IDE HPA

2005-08-30 Thread Greg Felix
Kernel list, A while ago there was some discussion on the list regarding the behavior of the kernel in regards to its unconditional disabling of host protected areas of hard drives. I ran into a problem this causes with some RAID controllers. I've been discussing the problem with both the

Re: IDE HPA

2005-08-30 Thread Alan Cox
On Maw, 2005-08-30 at 09:52 -0600, Greg Felix wrote: Right. I get the output at bootup time. It reads that the HPA is 20MB. Which is exactly the size of how far off the metadata is in Linux (once the HPA is disabled). So your actual problem is nothing to do with the kernel or with the HPA

Re: IDE HPA

2005-08-30 Thread Bartlomiej Zolnierkiewicz
Hi, OK, it seems, there is enough need for bringing back more control over HPA. HPA shouldn't be disabled by default and new kernel parameter (hdx=hpa) should be added for disabling HPA (yep, people with buggy BIOS-es will have to add this parameter to their kernel command line, sorry). If

Re: IDE HPA

2005-08-30 Thread Alan Cox
On Maw, 2005-08-30 at 18:16 +0200, Bartlomiej Zolnierkiewicz wrote: HPA shouldn't be disabled by default and new kernel parameter (hdx=hpa) should be added for disabling HPA (yep, people with buggy BIOS-es will have to add this parameter to their kernel command line, sorry). Thats large

Re: IDE HPA

2005-08-30 Thread Bartlomiej Zolnierkiewicz
On 8/30/05, Alan Cox [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: On Maw, 2005-08-30 at 18:16 +0200, Bartlomiej Zolnierkiewicz wrote: HPA shouldn't be disabled by default and new kernel parameter (hdx=hpa) should be added for disabling HPA (yep, people with buggy BIOS-es will have to add this parameter to