Subject: Defining NetBSD Partition
To: None <apana-lists-os-netbsd-general@apana.org.au>
From: John Gibney <gibney@werple.apana.org.au>
List: current-users
Date: 11/26/1994 10:43:16
'lo All...

I am currently looking at installing NetBSD 1.0 on my PC and
I want to keep my DOS environment as well as establish a
NetBSD environment.

To quote the NetBSD-1.0 INSTALL. file:

> Preparing your System for NetBSD Installation:
> --------- ---- ------ --- ------ ------------
[...]
> Second, if you are using a disk controller which supports disk
> geometry translation, be sure to use the same parameters for NetBSD as
> for DOS or the other operating systems installed on your disk.  If you
> do not, it will be much harder to make NetBSD properly coexist with
> them.

How do I find out what these parameters are?  Are they the
'disk geometry' items (cylinders, sectors, etc.)?  Are they
something else?

> Third, use the DOS "fdisk" program or another partition editor to
> repartition your hard disk.  Create a partition of at least 40M in
[...]
> units, you will have to convert them).  Once you have created the new
> NetBSD partition, mark it as having a partition type of 0xA5 (165, in
> decimal).  If you used "fdisk" to partition your disk, you will
> probably have to use a different partition editor to mark the
> partition with the correct type.

Now, where can I acquire such a program?  The PFDISK program
supplied with the distribution doesn't know about DOS past
version 4.0 (I'm running MS-DOS V6.2)...  and even then, I
don't know if it would work anyway.

So, these are the questions I have:

        Q.  What 'parameters' have to be the same
            between DOS and NetBSD partitions and how
            do I modify these paramaters?

        Q.  What type of partition do I set for the
            NetBSD partition when I run DOS FDISK?
            Extended?  Another 'primary'?

        Q.  Where can I get a DOS program to set the
            0xA5 partition type for the NetBSD
            partition?

Many thanks for any forthcoming help.


John