From: sweh.womble@spuddy.UUCP (Stephen Harris) Subject: Linux on ESDI-drive over 1024cyl? Date: 13 Feb 1993 10:14:16 GMT
hns@regent.e-technik.tu-muenchen.dbp.de writes:
% I'm running linux on a 1200-or-so track ESDI drive with an Adaptec 2320A
% (no sector remapping), and **yes**, you **can** use the tracks >1024 under
I agree with this - you can use it, no problem.
I have a 1630cylinder disk, and with my mapping controller have it mapped
as 16 heads, 63 sectors, 1283 cylinders (controller is Distributed
Processing Technology - quite an old model)
The DPT "inquiry" program says it is a PM3011E/70 firmare 006 rev C
% linux. However, you have to pay some special considerations:
Really?
% - use a DOS tool to format the extra tracks (I think superstor works)
You mean low level format? Most ESDI controllers come with a formatter
(well, at least the three I have used all did)
% - create a partition at the end of the disk (e.g. 800-1023)
%
% - make a linux filesystem in that partition, but specify a block count
% that is so large that the extra cylinders >1024 will be included in the
% filesystem
Hmm, this bit confuses me. As far as I am aware, these are what you need
to worry about:
1) DOS must end below 1024.
2) Use DOS FDISK to create the DOS partition, and Linux fdisk to create the
Linux partitions (obviously!). DOS FDISK may throw some silly numbers.
eg mine says the disk is 504Mb, whereas it is 630Mb :-)
And that seems to be it. I have a root partition starting at 960 (minix)
and a usr partition starting at 1100 (extended fs) with no problems at all.
This works for primary and extended partitions equally well.
There seems to be no need for linux partitions to start below 1024. Only
programs that use the BIOS (10bit cylinder numbers) are restricted to 1024
cylinders.
As mentioned above, DOS tries to use the 10bit cylinder numbers, so programs
like FDISK get confused, but Linux uses the 32bit starting sector number to
determine partition data, and so has no problems.
% you can't use the 'high' partition for booting using lilo. I did it, and
% it worked fine, but after some weeks of usage (and several new kernels),
% the newer kernels won't boot any more because they were stored at cylinder
% >1024 where the boot loader (which uses the BIOS, remember) can't access
% them. Therefore, you have to use a separate root partition at <1024.
This is true :-(
To get around it I use mboot and bootlin to boot Linux through DOS. This
works nicely. Maybe I'll modify bootlin so that it can have the parameters
that lilo provides. Shouldn't be *too* hard :-) Would be nice to be able
to boot singleuser mode at times.
Stephen Harris
sweh.womble@spuddy.uucp ...!uknet!axion!spuddy!sweh.womble
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