upon Matthias Drochner reply i reread
(much more carefull) man disklabel.

now i expanded my disktab with:

ibm3200|IBM Deskstar-3 3.24GB IDE:\
        :dt=ST506:ty=winchester:se#512:nt#16:ns#63:nc#6296: \
        :pa#6346368:oa#0:ta=4.2BSD:ba#4096:fa#512: \
        :pc#6346368:oc#0: \
        :pd#6346368:od#0:

maxtor130|Maxtor 130MB IDE:\
        :dt=ST506:ty=winchester:se#512:nt#16:ns#38:nc#685: \
        :pa#254592:oa#0:ta=4.2BSD:ba#4096:fa#512: \
        :pc#254592:oc#0: \
        :pd#254592:od#0:

on the 386 i do :
disklabel -w -r /dev/wd1a maxtor130
newfs /dev/wd1a
newfs: /dev/wd1a: not a character-special device

on a 486 with:
disklabel -w -r /dev/wd1a ibm3200
newfs /dev/wd1a
and mounting with a reboot and edited fstab
i am able to use the disk.
but this one, after crashing later on in the day
(i suspect the nfs call or netatalk,
2 times ftp-ed about 500Mb to it but crashed afterward)
doesn't fsck or mount the disk after a reset.

disklabel -w -r wd1 <drive-type>
gives same results.

questions are:
what i'm i doing wrong?
is my disktab ok now?
what does "not a character-special device" mean?
is it normal to loose diskcontent of a second mounted disk?
(guess not)
any reason to upgrade to the latest snap i.s.o. 1.2G
before solving this one??
(i do seem to have more memm problems with 1.2G i.s.o. 1.2.1)
must i use ta=4.3BSD?

thanx in advance again
(as you see, steep learning curve even for mounting a disk)
please respond to my e-mail as well,
being not subscribed to the port-i386 list.
~n