Re: Problem using flashboot (openBSD based), can't get it to boot

On Tue, May 29, 2007 at 11:52:46PM +0200, openbsd misc
wrote:
> Hello,
> 
> I'm not a guru, but I'm working with openbsd and wrap
systems for one
> year ... 
> 
> >> The ";" at the end here means that
the WRAP BIOS said it could not do
> >> LBA reads, so biosboot fell back to CHS
reads.
> >>
> >>
> >>> No O/S
> >>>
> >>
> >> And since you installed on a different
machine, the geometry was
> >> almost certainly different, so the operating
system wouldnt be at
> >> the same place (cylinder/head/sector), hence
it's not found.
> >>
> >> No idea how you can fix it, though.
> >>
> >> Tom
> >>
> >
> > Thanks anyway, it's a clue at least.
> > Maybe some of the gurus here know it?
> 
> You can set the bios to lba mode (press s during
mem-test to access
> bios). Btw, openbsd is the only OS having that problem
... LBA mode on
> wrap systems means fix geometry (C/H/S x/32/63 - while
the cylinder
> count defines the size), so you can use fdisk with the
geometry
> parameters to configure your cf correctly.
> 
> I have another problem with openbsd 4.1 and wrap
systems. I create an
> image using flashdist and the wrapper script (incl.
some modification,
> but that should make any difference). For openbsd 4.0
everything works
> fine, but doesn't for openbsd 4.1. I think the problem
is related to the
> geometry problem descriped abouve. To create an image I
defined C/H/S to
> 118/32/63 (none of the systems I have has less than
128MB) for fdisk and
> disklabel. First time I created an image file that
worked fine until
> vnconfig -u. After attaching the image again (vnconfig
-c) I wasn't able
> to mount the partitions. The geometry was completly
different. So I
> added the -i option to fdisk and the -r option
disklabel. Afterwards I
> was able to mount everything again after detaching
/attaching the image
> file.
> After writing the image to a cf card everything works
fine on openbsd
> 4.1.
> 
> Now here is the problem: The boot loader is not able to
access the cf:
> 
> disk: hd0*
> >> OpenBSD/i386 BOOT 2.13
> open(hd0a:/etc/boot.conf): Invalid argument
> boot> ls
> stat(hd0a:/.): Invalid argument
> boot> machine diskinfo
> Disk    BIOS#   Type    Cyls    Heads   Secs    Flags  
Checksum
> hd0     0x80    label   126     32      63      0x0    
0xd8c3c6b3
> 
> I think that fdisk is the problem. disklabel runs after
fdisk, but
> disklabel defines the geometry (geometry options are
set for fdisk but
> it looks like they are ignored?!) - remember the -r
option - I don't
> know what fdisk exactly does (perhaps telling the
boot-loader something
> about the geometry during setup?!).
> 
> I hope someone has an answer or can give hints. The
behavior shows a
> different between openbsd 4.0-release and openbsd
4.1-stable, but I
> wasn't able to find anything in changelog that could
explain the
> bahavior and more important how to fix it.
> 
> I hope my english isn't too bad, please let me know if
something isn't
> clear ...
> 
> Regards
>   Hagen Volpers
> 

The fdisk/disklabel geometry confusion was fixed (?) in
-current a
while ago. If you are brave enough to try a snapshot
generated
during a hackathon I would suggest trying -current to see if
the
behaviour has become more rational. Or find that it hasn't
and it
can be fixed while all the developers are in a room in
Calgary.

.... Ken