Subject: Re: big IDE disks
To: None <meb@werple.mira.net.au>
From: Benjamin Cline <benji@haven.boston.ma.us>
List: current-users
Date: 12/28/1994 08:48:40
(I've cc:'ed this reply to the list, since I thought my answer might of 
interest to more than the just the original poster)

According to Matthew Barry:
> 
> Is it possible to use an IDE disk of 1G with NetBSD? I have tried to
> partition my disk to be shared between NetBSD and DOS, but I am having no
> luck at all. Pfdisk.exe will write out a partition table with a
> geometry of 524 c, 64 h and 63 s, but not with 2100 c, 16 h and
> 63s. However, when the install for netbsd 1.0 tries to write the
> partition, it gets geometry failures from wd0. Needless to say things
> do not work out well from that point.
> 
Gee, this sounds just like a Western Digital 1GB IDE drive. Like I have in my
486. I'm pleased to report that it works just fine with a dual NetBSD/Dos
installation.

> So am I failing to set things up correctly? Or am I wasting my time?
> Any help will be much appreciated.
> 
I think you're failing to set things up correctly. Pfdisk doesn't seem to be
able to deal properly with these large hard disks. Instead you want to use the
DiskManager set up utility that should have come with your disk. Invoke it
in manual mode ("dm /m"), and select "Hard Disk Installation" from the menu.
Select the drive you want to install on, and then select "Partition Setup and
Configuration". Hit insert and create a Primary dos partition. Select another
free partition slot, hit insert again, and create a partition type of 
"**other**". Give a partition type of 165 when asked, and then specify the
size of your NetBSD partition. Now would be a good time to write down the
starting and ending cylinders for each partition, you will want them later on
in the NetBSD installation. At this point, you can exit Disk Manager, and 
proceed with the NetBSD installation as described in the Install notes.

If you have any other questions, feel free to e-mail me directly.

	have fun,

	benji

-- 
Benjamin R. Cline	Large Furry Mammal 	benji@haven.boston.ma.us
	"I will not be stamped, spindled, folded or multilated. 
		I am not a letter, I am a free man!"