On Thu, 24 Jan 2002 [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:
> OK ...
Jeff! Welcome back! :-)
> I'm looking for some help in getting Linux to recognize the 10GB HD on
> my Dell Latitude C600 laptop. Currently, it's reporting (parted) 8.4GB,
> because lilo is apparently using C:H:S instead of LBA32 addressing.
LILO has nothing to do with how much disk space the Linux kernel sees.
LILO has one job and one job only: Load the kernel (and initrd, if any) into
memory and jump into it. The only reason LILO enters into the discussion at
all is that if LILO cannot see your kernel, it will not be able to boot it.
Since the older CHS-oriented BIOS calls are limited to addressing roughly 8
GB or so, LILO needs to be told to use the newer LBA-oriented BIOS calls.
But the kernel will not care. Indeed, the kernel barely uses the BIOS,
although it might be mislead by it in some cases. (To give you an idea of
how little the kernel cares about your BIOS, I have set IDE devices to "Not
present" in the BIOS, and the kernel still finds them. It ignores the BIOS
and asks the IDE controller directly.)
Things to try, in approximate order:
- Check the output of "cat /proc/partitions" to see what the kernel
thinks the size of the disk is. You may be seeing a parted limit.
- Check the output of "dmesg" for any clues. Maybe the IDE driver
is complaining of some problem.
- Make sure the HDD really is 10 GB.
- Make sure your BIOS/disk controller supports drives that size. You may
find a firmware update from the vendor to help.
- Make sure your BIOS recognizes the HDD as having 10 GB.
- Make sure no goofy geometry translation layers or "disk overlays" are
present.
- Make sure the drive is not set to lie about its parameters (done
to work around broken BIOSes that freak if they see a large drive).
- Check the kernel documentation to see if it mentions anything for the
particular IDE chipset your laptop uses. There may be a special
parameter you have to use to work around some chipset brain damage.
- Try contacting the vendor for support.
Good luck!
--
Ben Scott <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
| The opinions expressed in this message are those of the author and do not |
| necessarily represent the views or policy of any other person, entity or |
| organization. All information is provided without warranty of any kind. |
*****************************************************************
To unsubscribe from this list, send mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
with the text 'unsubscribe gnhlug' in the message body.
*****************************************************************
