> This is odd, because I did "dd" reads and writes of the entire Plan 9 > partition FROM the Plan 9 installer. The partition can be read/written > from the installer, but not from the installed system. So... what > difference between the install system and the installed system could be > responsible for this? (Venti is no longer part of the equation.)
there are a number of differences. here are a few that spring to mind as important - the kernel in the cd is different, - it uses a different plan9.ini file, and - dma is setup after booting. it would be good to review the plan9.ini file generated. i don't remember what they look like. also, i remember a year or so ago, someone had a system with a ide device that didn't take kindly to pio commands. unfortunately, when you boot the system, fossil does i/o before dma could be turned on. (since the command to turn it on is sitting inside the fossil.) perhaps you could try putting ftp://ftp.quanstro.net/other/9pcf.gz in your 9fat, replacing your current kernel, and setting the plan9.ini varaible "*sdC0dma=on". - erik
