Bill Squier wrote:
> 
> If I write the bootblocks, I'm back to "Read error", but it clearly has
> clobbered something, so that's to be expected too.

This is the bit that gets me. I can understand fdisk not being able to
cope after the bootblocks were installed right at the beginning of the
disk as per your disklabel, but that is normal. Why you should get a
Read error I don't understand. After the disklabel/newfs/installboot,
can you read the disklabel back off the disk, and does it look right?

Patrick