On Friday 05 March 2010, Ben Hutchings wrote: > On Fri, 2010-03-05 at 09:39 +0000, David Goodenough wrote: > > Package: linux-2.6 > > Version: 2.6.32-8 > > Severity: important > > > > > > My hard disk (a Samsumg HM160HC) seems to have a Host Protected Area, > > which previous kernels did not detect. So I have an area of the disk > > that currently I can not access, but are covered by the partition table. > > > > I read following Google searches that the fix is to use hdparm -N, but > > when I run it I get:- > > > > $> sudo hdparm -N /dev/hda > > > > /dev/hda: > > The running kernel lacks CONFIG_IDE_TASK_IOCTL support for this device. > > READ_NATIVE_MAX_ADDRESS_EXT failed: Invalid argument > > > > Previous kernels (at least 2.6.26 which I used to run on this machine > > with Debian) did not seem to notice the HPA, so either I need a way to > > turn off the kernel's detection of the HPA or I need > > CONFIG_IDE_TASK_IOCTL enabled to enable hdparm -N to work. > > You should be able to make the kernel ignore the HPA thus: > > 1. Create a file under /etc/modprobe.d containing the lines: > options ide_core nohpa=0.0 > options libata ignore_hpa=1 > 2. Run 'update-initramfs -u -k 2.6.32-2-686' > 3. Reboot > > Ben. > Excellent, thank you that worked. I had found the libata ignore_hpa=1 in various forums, but no one had mentioned the ide_core nohpa=0.0 and that (or rather the combination of the two) did the trick.
Can I close the bug (if so how) otherwise feel free to close it. Given that these days (I know in the past that IBM PS/2 machines needed an area for BIOS most of which was stored on disk) the only use for HPA seems to be for windows reload areas, I suppose the only question is when you would want HPA to be enabled on a linux box? David -- To UNSUBSCRIBE, email to debian-bugs-dist-requ...@lists.debian.org with a subject of "unsubscribe". Trouble? Contact listmas...@lists.debian.org