[6460] in RedHat Linux List
Re: "Install bootloader" and fdisk geometry
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (Rick Forrester)
Wed Nov 27 13:10:54 1996
To: redhat-list@redhat.com
Cc: rickf@glacier.jpl.nasa.gov
In-Reply-To: Your message of "Wed, 27 Nov 1996 11:27:59 CST."
<Pine.LNX.3.91.961127111836.17847B-100000@koala.scott.net>
Date: Wed, 27 Nov 1996 09:51:49 -0800
From: Rick Forrester <rickf@glacier.jpl.nasa.gov>
Resent-From: redhat-list@redhat.com
Reply-To: redhat-list@redhat.com
> I've been attempting to install RH4.0 on a friends Micron Transport
> laptop. Everything seemed to be going fine until I hit the "Install
> Bootloader" stage. I then checked the group and found all the postings
> about this. I'm going to try fdisking and setting up win95 first. But,
> just in case I figured I'd query the group.
* It's really not critical that you install Win95 or Linux first versus
second. What is critical, if you're using LILO as a boot loader is to
ensure that running Lilo is the last step after both OS's are
installed. You might also want to look into using loadln.
>
> Previous to the install attempt, win95 was installed on the whole 1.3G
> harddrive. There were two partitions. One win95, the other was a
> special partition that has something to do with the laptop power
> management stuff(micron said not to delete it). So, I deleted the win95
> partition and created a root partition and then an extended partition
> which contained three other linux partitions.
>
> Now, after bombing on the bootloader I went back and checked the error
> messages and found that it couldn't find the place to write the MBR or
> something to that effect(sorry, I don't have the exact message). Anyway,
> I then figured I would go back and check the fdisk part. I rebooted and
> went into setup and checked the disk geometry. Cyl. 2633, sect. 63,
> heads 16. I then booted off the CD and went into setup. when I went to
> partition the drive I noticed that the geometry was all wrong. It only
> had 658 cyl., 64 sect, 64 heads. I thought, well...this is obviously the
> problem. I went into the expert section and changed these settings and
> then had complaints that the special micron partition is not on a
> cylinder boundary etc. So, I didn't commit anything and figured I would
> ask the list, first to see if anyone had any experience with this sort of
> situation. I checked the archives and redhat FAQ but didn't see any info.
* For some reason your partitioning is getting fouled up on the issue
of Logical Block Addressing (LBA). The CHS of 2633/16/63 is a physical
structure, the 658/64/64 is an LBA structure. The last time I had this
problem was due to a recognition problem with a scsi controller.
(Buslogic 948 mistakenly identified as an Adaptec 1542). There are
other problems, including faulty versions of fdisk that can cause this.
Suggest you do a bit of checking on the version of fdisk you're using.
Did you use the DOS fdisk to create all partitions by any chance?
>
> any help as always is greatly appreciated.
>
> thanks,
>
> jason
>
--
-------------------------------------------------------------------
| Rick Forrister | <rickf@glacier.jpl.nasa.gov |
| Win 95: Where do you want to go today? |
| Linux: What do you want tomorrow? |
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