> Hmm, you mean the boot code queries the BIOS for the geometry before
> requiring it.  And no, this does not assume that there are any number of
> sectors per track.
...
> BTW, before you ask, I choose the rather arbitrary number of 16 sectors
> for the fact that this is the number of sectors that are read using only
> the mbr partition table as a reference.  Anything else is read by using
> the NetBSD disklabel as the source for the partitioning information.

Hmm, I think I was being overly conservative there, the BIOS pitfall of
not reliably handling more than one full track in a single BIOS call may
only apply to floppies, which for our supported densities always have at
least 15 sectors per track.

I think it's a good idea for the PRIM_LOADSZ (which bbinfo.h says is 15,
did I miss a +1 in there somewhere?) sectors to all be in one track, so
keeping the partition entry bigger than 15 sectors sounds like a winner.

Todd Whitesel
toddpw @ best.com