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Path: euryale.cc.adfa.oz.au!newshost.carno.net.au!harbinger.cc.monash.edu.au!news.mel.connect.com.au!news.syd.connect.com.au!news.bri.connect.com.au!corolla.OntheNet.com.au!not-for-mail From: Tony Griffiths <tonyg@OntheNet.com.au> Newsgroups: comp.unix.bsd.freebsd.misc Subject: Re: HELP: Boot Problems! Date: Mon, 16 Jun 1997 14:59:51 +1000 Organization: On the Net (ISP on the Gold Coast, Australia) Lines: 39 Message-ID: <33A4C847.3D5D@OntheNet.com.au> References: <5nv34i$lob@netaxs.com> Reply-To: tonyg@OntheNet.com.au NNTP-Posting-Host: swanee.nt.com.au Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit X-Mailer: Mozilla 3.0 (WinNT; I) To: heller@cdnow.com Xref: euryale.cc.adfa.oz.au comp.unix.bsd.freebsd.misc:42862 A. Karl Heller wrote: > > I have a Micron Millennia P200 with Pheon ix bios. I have an Adaptec > 2940AU adapter ( 1997 manufacture ) and a seagate barracuda drive. > > I've installed Freebsd 2.1.7, 2.2.1, and 2.2.2 on this machine. The > installation is fine every time. I just can't boot the darn machine. > It will just hang after the drive seek and after it accesses the harddisk > if I use the standard boot loader. If I used the booteasy I get the F1 > prompt, but whenever I hit it, it just returns me to the same prompt. > > I'm beginning to wonder if there isn't some strange bug in the bootloader > code. ( It works fine with NT and W95, dos ...etc.. they say it is the first > drive. ) Perhaps a bug in the 2940AU code... since this card doesn't show > up on some versions ( I think 2.1.5 ) even though an old 2940U card does > show up. > > I'm getting rather frustrated at the whole thing. I also recall that > the sysinstall program said I had an invalid geometry. ( Which can't be > wrong since it IS what the scsi bios says it is ). > > Any ideas on how to get around this? If the system things you have an invalid geometry, then you probably do and, as a consequence, can't boot. I've seen this numerous times! On some systems, forcing the geometry via the 'G' keyword in the label section works, and on others it doesn't _IF_ I dedicate the ENTIRE disk to FreeBSD. When it fails to work, I simply make it "compatible" with the 'other' OS (ie. you see a small D*S partition at the front of the disk) and the problem goes away (after a total reinstall!). Some BIOS' are simply plain DUMB... BTW, for proper 2940 support you need 2.2.2-RELEASE or possibly 2.1.7.1 as other releases will cause you grief. Tony