Subject: Re: BIOS / pfdisk / sysinst glitches ?
To: None <rvb@sicily.odyssey.cs.cmu.edu>
From: Todd Whitesel <toddpw@best.com>
List: port-i386
Date: 07/16/1998 01:22:58
> 1. I don't think that sysinst should be allowed to change an existing
>    MBR record unless the MBR record is NetBSD or is empty.  This
>    should protect niave users -- whom sysinst is designed for.  If
>    you need to rearrange your MBR -- use fdisk once you are installed.

Strongly agree.

> 2. When you set size/offset for an MBR entry, should sysinst round
>    the numbers to be multiple of the BIOS cylinder size.  This would
>    make it easier for NetBSD to coexist with other OS's.

On general principle, I would ask that any rounding modes be optional and
displayed clearly, like "snap to grid" in a drawing program.

Correct me if I missed something, but the "coexist" idea only makes sense
if we expect another O/S to be installed onto this disk after NetBSD. In
that case, we either need the ability to have partitions start one track
into the first cylinder (DOS primary partitions, at least, seem to want that)
or the user is going to have to re-edit the MBR partitions later with another
partition editor, before (or during) the installation of a subsequent O/S.

Todd Whitesel
toddpw @ best.com