[prev in list] [next in list] [prev in thread] [next in thread] 

List:       novalug
Subject:    Re: [ma-linux] hard drive too big--how to set it up
From:       Paul Tremblay <phthenry () earthlink ! net>
Date:       2003-06-17 2:36:33
[Download RAW message or body]


On Fri, Jun 13, 2003 at 07:39:39PM -0400, Don Groves Jr wrote:
> 
> On Fri, 2003-06-13 at 17:31, Maxwell Spangler wrote:
> > On Mon, 26 May 2003, Paul Tremblay wrote:
> > 
> > > In order to set up a new box, I bought two 40G hard drives on
> > > Saturday, thinking I would use one to install Mandrake, and one for
> > > backup.
> > > 
> > > I soon discovered that my BIOS can only read hard drives 32G or
> > > smaller. I don't think there is any way to use a 40G hard drive as a
> > > boot disk. I tried telling the BIOS that the hard drive didn't exist,
> > > and while this allowed Mandrake to begin installing linux, Mandrake
> > > couldn't finish the installation. 
> > 
> > Andre Hedrick wrote me back suggesting the kernel option "STROKE".  Here's the 
> > somewhat confusing notes from the kernel Documentation's Configure.help file:
> > 
> > AWARD Bios Work-Around
> > CONFIG_IDEDISK_STROKE
> >   Should you have a system w/ an AWARD Bios and your drives are larger
> >   than 32GB and it will not boot, one is required to perform a few OEM
> >   operations first.  The option is called "STROKE" because it allows
> >   one to "soft clip" the drive to work around a barrier limit.  For
> >   Maxtor drives it is called "jumpon.exe".  Please search Maxtor's
> >   web-site for "JUMPON.EXE".  IBM has a similar tool at:
> >   <http://www.storage.ibm.com/hdd/support/download.htm>.
> > 
> >   If you are unsure, say N here.
> > 
> > -----
> > 
> > I haven't worked with this stuff before.. so I'm not sure exactly how it 
> > works, but it shows that once again, some hardware fault isn't going to 
> > stop you from using Linux on it. :)
> > 
> > If anyone has worked with soft-clipping hard drives to the 32gig limit and 
> > knows what this doesn and/or enables, please speak up :)
> > 
> > -- ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
> > Maxwell Spangler                                                
> 
> What this is talking about is the "partitioning" software that comes
> with {:are use to:} that formated the drive(s) in a special way so the
> when the BIOS first looked at the drive it saw a 32-GB driver and then
> loaded a startup device driver off of the disk that allowed it to then
> see the whole disk.
>  Info on Maxtor drives can be found at:


If I am understanding this thread correctly, I tried this already. I
found the Maxtor site, and followed their directions. It involved
putting an extra jumper on the HD. 

However, this did not allow linux to install. In fact, the Maxtor site
states that one cannot install linux with this extra jumper.

What happened with me is that I was able to boot fine (as opposed to not
being able to boot when I did not use the extra jumper.) Mandrake linux
*seemed* to install fine up to the very end. Then I got several
failures, and no boot partition was created. 

I did email Maxtor, and they suggested I flash the BIOS. Maxtor stated
that I could not use one of their IDE contoller cards, because it would
not work with linux. However, the linux hardware howto states that all
IDE controller cards should work. 

Now that I look over this thread again, I realize we might be talking
about two different things.

Don might be talking about a way to repartion to fool the BIOS, whereas
Matt might be talking about using the extra jumper.  However, I think
that you have to put that extra jumper in in order to get past the BIOS,
and I *think* the extra jumper screws up linux.

I did boot up with a Maxtor CD, but I remember that it didn't seem very
helpful. I think that it only could create Windows partitions.

>  
> <http://www.harddiskinfo.com/Sections/FAQ/Answer.asp?ID=79&CategoryName=Breaking%20the%20Barriers>

Just checked out this link:

	NOTE:  Maxtor hard drives have a capacity limitation jumper to assist with the
               resolution of BIOS limitation issues. When this jumper is installed the
               MaxBlast/MaxBlast Plus software MUST be used to complete the installation of
               the hard drive. Some Operating Systems will NOT function properly when the
               Capacity Limitation Jumper is applied (e.g., Windows NT, Linux, etc.).
	       "


> 
>   The above link also lists the Phone Numbers of a few of the BIOS
> makers.
> 
> The Large Disk Howto chapter 11 at:
>  <http://www.tldp.org/HOWTO/Large-Disk-HOWTO-11.html>
> 
> How I found all this information was: going to Google and searching for
> Maxtor jumpon.exe
> 
> Yes theses methods worked {: most of the time :}, but it's been a number
> of years since I had to use any of them.
> 
> SideNote:
>   My 60 gigs came with such software, but I didn't require it since my
> current system's BIOS supports drives far larger then these little
> things. <GRIN>

That's it, rub it in to us peons with inferior hardware! If my BIOS were
just one month older, I would not have this problem. 


> 
> --DonJr
>   {: I still need to create a signature file :}
> 



-- 

************************
*Paul Tremblay         *
*phthenry@earthlink.net*
************************
_______________________________________________
ma-linux mailing list
ma-linux@tux.org
http://www.tux.org/mailman/listinfo/ma-linux
[prev in list] [next in list] [prev in thread] [next in thread]