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From: jfc@athena.mit.edu (John F Carr)
Newsgroups: comp.os.386bsd.questions
Subject: NetBSD install trashed my disk
Date: 28 Aug 1993 16:09:23 GMT
Organization: Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Lines: 29
Distribution: world
Message-ID: <25nvvj$p98@senator-bedfellow.MIT.EDU>
NNTP-Posting-Host: porter.mit.edu
I tried to install NetBSD 0.9 on my system alongside Linux.
First attempt: make a partition, mark it 0xa5, compute size and start,
boot install floppy. Only unusual event during installation is two
"wd0: extra interrupt" messages. Reboot with NetBSD boot disk in
drive A. System won't boot: IDE controller says "configuration not
set" and tries to enter a hard disk setup menu (it fails, but that's
a controller problem, not a NetBSD problem).
So, reformat the disk (losing all data) with the BIOS.
Now that I have no data left to lose, try again, this time at offset 0
(easier to do the math). Same results. Two extra interrupts, and the
system won't boot.
The system won't boot even from floppy. The floppy light never comes on.
So I get to reinstall again. But I won't try NetBSD again unless someone
can offer an explanation and a fix.
This sounds a bit like the geometry problems mentioned in the FAQ, but I
didn't think the controller was doing any translation (it shouldn't need
to -- the disk is only 170 MB). I told install the geometry parameters
reported by fdisk (which are the same as reported by the BSD kernel when
it boots).
--
John Carr (jfc@athena.mit.edu)