big hard drive, drive overlays and Linux
OK, I have been poking about on the web for some guidance on this. This is the scenario: I have a 386sx25 with 16MB RAM that I am installing Slackware on (I know, not SuSE, but I have tried without success all versions from 6.4 through 8.0. Slackware 8.0 includes option to install on 386 systems, and worked first try.) Anyway, the 500MB HD I currently have in the system is the limit of the BIOS. I have a 1.2Gig Quantum I want to install to give me a larger sandbox to play in. The problem is... how do I get around the BIOS issues? Do I need to? Back in the DOS days I would download OnTrack and use that to do the BIOS redirects to give me access to a drive larger than what the BIOS understands. In my research on this, so far, I have only turned up a lot of nothing. RedHat has some info on this in their FAQ that basically says don't ask them for help, install on a different drive. http://www.redhat.com/support/sla/SLAdescriptions.html#nooverlay I found this reference http://www.linuxhq.com/kernel/v2.0/doc/ide.txt.html and in the new features is mentions Dynamic Disk Overlays... not much info about the how, what, where though. Is it possible that since (as I understand it) Linux directly access the HD, the drive overlay thing is not an issue? (vs. the Windows -> BIOS -> HD way)??? C.
Alle 19:21, martedì 30 aprile 2002, Clayton Cornell ha scritto:
OK, I have been poking about on the web for some guidance on this. This is the scenario: I have a 386sx25 with 16MB RAM that I am installing Slackware on (I know, not SuSE, but I have tried without success all versions from 6.4 through 8.0. Slackware 8.0 includes option to install on 386 systems, and worked first try.) Anyway, the 500MB HD I currently have in the system is the limit of the BIOS. I have a 1.2Gig Quantum I want to install to give me a larger sandbox to play in.
The problem is... how do I get around the BIOS issues? Do I need to? Back in the DOS days I would download OnTrack and use that to do the BIOS redirects to give me access to a drive larger than what the BIOS understands.
You could boot from a smaller HD, from a floppy or from a CD (but I do not think your bios can!). That's the easiest way to go I think. I boot from a 6g hard drive to let linux go with the 40g one. Praise
On Tuesday, 30 April 2002 16:20, Praise wrote:
I boot from a 6g hard drive to let linux go with the 40g one.
Hi, all: I don't know much (it'd be more correct to say, "I know very little") about Linux to fully understand the meaning of the sentence above, but right now I'm reading--and answering--e-mails using a 40 GB HD which holds all of my 7.3 installation and which LILO starts without any problem. Fortunately for me, I didn't know I had to use a "stepping stone" to boot it! Nothing here is bleeding edge: the BIOS is the most vanilla coming out in 1995; the 40 GB is a newcomer, replacing the original 4.3 GB; the 7.3 is just the way it came out of the box. Regards, gr, in /usually/ sunny, balmy Florida's Suncoast. Toothorial: n. Instruction on the proper care of the tooth.
Alle 13:32, mercoledì 1 maggio 2002, gilson redrick ha scritto:
On Tuesday, 30 April 2002 16:20, Praise wrote:
I boot from a 6g hard drive to let linux go with the 40g one.
Hi, all:
I don't know much (it'd be more correct to say, "I know very little") about Linux to fully understand the meaning of the sentence above, but right now I'm reading--and answering--e-mails using a 40 GB HD which holds all of my 7.3 installation and which LILO starts without any problem.
Because you are lucky:-) It is not Lilo's fault. It is my BIOS fault. It hangs if it tries to see the 40GB HD, so I set it up not to try to check it. This cannt be done with Windows as it relies on the BIOS to check HD and their geometries. Linux does not trust the BIOS so it check the HD by its own and it has success! Praise
Praise wrote:
Alle 19:21, martedì 30 aprile 2002, Clayton Cornell ha scritto:
OK, I have been poking about on the web for some guidance on this. This is the scenario: I have a 386sx25 with 16MB RAM that I am installing Slackware on (I know, not SuSE, but I have tried without success all versions from 6.4 through 8.0. Slackware 8.0 includes option to install on 386 systems, and worked first try.) Anyway, the 500MB HD I currently have in the system is the limit of the BIOS. I have a 1.2Gig Quantum I want to install to give me a larger sandbox to play in.
The problem is... how do I get around the BIOS issues? Do I need to? Back in the DOS days I would download OnTrack and use that to do the BIOS redirects to give me access to a drive larger than what the BIOS understands.
Linux doesn't have problem with big disk. If the bios doesn't recognize it, don't problem, create a small partition to /boot (the bios will search in the first 1024 cyl) and after all the system.
I have a 486 witch doesn't recognize >8Gb disk, and no problem with a 15 Gb. Try it -- www.geekcode.com -----BEGIN GEEK CODE BLOCK----- Version: 3.1 GCS/cc/e/it d++ s+:+ a-- C++$ UL+++$ E++ W+++$ w--- O---- M V- PS PE+++ Y+ PGP- t+ 5 X++ R tv+ b++ DI-- D+ G e++$ h! r++ y++ ------END GEEK CODE BLOCK------ - A veces creo que hay vida en otros planetas, y a veces creo que no. En cualquiera de los dos casos, la conclusión es asombrosa (Carl Sagan) -----------------------------------------------------------------
Clayton Cornell
try.) Anyway, the 500MB HD I currently have in the system is the limit of the BIOS. I have a 1.2Gig Quantum I want to install to give me a larger sandbox to play in.
Just give your BIOS a geometry it accepts and pass the Kernel the real geometry, using 'hdx=cylinders,heads,sectors' (where x is the drive, in your case most probably hda) or by putting the line append="hda=<cylinder>,<head>,<sectors>" into your lilo.conf at the appropriate place. The kernel will just ignore the BIOS and work with the disc like a charm. Philipp
participants (5)
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Clayton Cornell -
gilson redrick -
Hipolito A. Gonzalez M. -
Philipp Thomas -
Praise