rose@galtee.cs.wisc.edu (April Glaspie) (03/23/91)
Coherent Digest Vol. 91.1, No. 23 Fri Mar 22 10:42:33 CST 1991
Today's Topics:
Coherent Masterboot Problems
CoMB 1.29
Coherent Masterboot Problems/Floppy Names
Masterboot Problem Resolved
pr under clam
Coherent Installation
Coherent Master Boot
IDE drives with AMI Bios drive type 47
Re: Coherent Master Boot
ZOO - where!!?!
Administrivia:
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operating system. Send submissions to "coherent@cs.wisc.edu" and
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archived for anonymous FTP access on piggy.ucsb.edu in the directory
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----------------------------------------------------------------------
Date: Tue, 19 Mar 91 10:53:28 EST
From: sje@bubba.ma30.bull.com (Steven J. Edwards)
To: coherent%cs.wisc.edu@uunet.uu.net
Subject: Coherent Masterboot Problems
Greetings. I just received my Zeos 386 SX Notebook machine
yesterday, and I am having some minor problems with getting Coherent
3.1.0 to co-exist with MS-DOS.
The machine came with a 615 cylinder 20 Mbyte (Conner IDE)
pre-formatted drive that had a single, full disk MS-DOS 4.01
partition. I installed Coherent (no problems) and set the partitions
at installation time at:
part active type start (cyl) length (cyl)
---- ------ ---- ----------- ------------
0 no msdos 0 100
1 yes coher. 100 514
2 --- none 0 0
3 --- none 0 0
Coherent boots just fine from the hard drive without operator
intervention. The Coherent _dos_ command seems to work okay. MS-DOS
can be booted from the 9 cm floppy and works okay with the MS-DOS
partition. The problem is trying to boot MS-DOS from the hard drive
by typing the partion number at boot time. I've tried sereral times
with different numbers, and there is either no effect (Coherent boots)
or the machine hangs.
So, does the masterboot work or not? I have heard of some
problems with incompatabilities with MS-DOS 4.01, but I assume that
these have to do with extended partitions and large (> 32 Mbyte)
partition sizes. I have also heard that the MS-DOS fdisk should be
used instead of the Coherent version, but this seems problematical at
best. Any ideas?
== Steven J. Edwards Bull HN Information Systems Inc. ==
== (508) 294-3484 300 Concord Road MS 820A ==
== sje@bubba.ma30.bull.com Billerica, MA 01821 USA ==
"That Government which Governs the Least, Governs Best." -- Thomas Jefferson
------------------------------
Date: 19 Mar 91 21:21:26
From: taurus!jwall@hub.cs.JMU.EDU (John O. Wall III)
To: cs.wisc.edu!jmucshu!coherent
Subject: CoMB 1.29
Could somebody put a copy of CoMB 1.29 on piggy? I have 1.27 which does some
strange things, and would like to upgrade. I also don't want to skyrocket my
phonebill by calling MWC all of the time. It's high enough as it is. My
university just got a DECSystem 5100 today. It is going to replace our VAX
11/785. The damn thing is more compact than my 386SX!!! It has 18M RAM, and
a 1G HD! It's small enough to carry home... :-)
+------------------------------+-----------------------------------------+
| John O. Wall III (Jay Wall) | Internet: jwall@hub.cs.jmu.edu |
| James Madison University | UUCP: ...!mwc!taurus!jwall |
| Dept. of Math & Comp. Sci. | -or- ...!jmucshub!taurus!jwall |
| Harrisonburg, VA 22807 | |
+------------------------------+-----------------------------------------+
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 20 Mar 91 08:36:29 EST
From: sje@bubba.ma30.bull.com (Steven J. Edwards)
To: evan@rsw.rsw.com
Cc: coherent%cs.wisc.edu@uunet.uu.net
Subject: Coherent Masterboot Problems/Floppy Names
Yes; I use the term 9 cm floppy for what most in the United
States call a 3 1/2 inch [micro]floppy. This is the name used by the
Japanese designers. I understand that most Japanese men wear shirts
with 10 cm wide pockets and that this was one of the design criteria.
I also refer to the 5 1/4 inch floppy as a 13 cm floppy,
although I don't believe that this originated from outside the United
States. Probably a moot point because we won't be seeing many new
machines that use the outdated media.
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 20 Mar 91 08:46:33 EST
From: sje@bubba.ma30.bull.com (Steven J. Edwards)
To: coherent%cs.wisc.edu@uunet.uu.net
Subject: Masterboot Problem Resolved
I managed to solve my Coherent masterboot problem. I have kept my
earlier partition setup at:
part active type
---- ------ ----
0 no ms-dos
1 yes coherent
2 no none
3 no none
and reinstalled ms-dos after using the ms-dos format command (run from
an ms-dos boot floppy) to reformat the first partition (part. 0). The
ms-dos format does not affact the other partitions that were defined
with Coherent's fdisk. After the format, I ran another ms-dos format
with the /s option to transfer the system files and to write a boot
track in the ms-dos partition. Finally, I copied all of the rest of
the ms-dos files by hand instead of using the supplied Microsoft
"Install" program.
I believe that the numerous earlier problems were caused by
the Install program (it had failed numerous times); it does not appear
to be designed to install well to a partitioned system. It also has a
big problem that it requires a scratch disk which MUST be a 720 K
floppy and NOT a 1.44 M floppy. Of course, there is no check or
diagnostic for this; just an undiagnosed failure.
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 20 Mar 91 12:48:27 EST
From: Chet Creider <creider@csd.uwo.ca>
To: coherent
Subject: pr under clam
Has anyone noticed trouble pring or catting to /dev/lp under clam?
I've finally localized my problem (which I previously thought had
something to do with ownerships since I could pr as root)? Solutions?
Chet <creider@csd.uwo.ca>
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 20 Mar 91 09:00:00 PST
From: overlord@arkham.wimsey.bc.ca (Bill Kloubek)
To: coherent
Subject: Coherent Installation
Keywords: IDE
I am attempting to install Coherent v3.1.0 onto a 286 with an AMI BIOS,
and an Fujitsu IDE 135MB hard drive.
I have no problems with the beginning of the installation; the hard drive
partitions, mkfs's, and copies the files from the first disk with no
problems whatsoever.
The first problem is that it maintains that the drive parameters are set
wrong; (I've got them set to type 47; 969/16/17), and each time I run the
first disk through, it tells me that the drive is configured for 0 MB.
At which point I gleefully re-enter the proper numbers..
After it's finished eating the first disk, I'm told to remove it and
press return to reboot. Which I do so.
After the initial machine checks, the computer attempts to boot from the
hard drive (whether or not with the MW master boot record makes no
difference); I am presented with a '?' prompt.
I've tried all the suggestions made, I've typed all the partition's
numbers; 'coherent', 'Coherent', 'begin', and still no luck.
help!?
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 20 Mar 91 12:45:11 CST
From: G-SKER@vm1.spcs.umn.edu
To: coherent
Subject: Coherent Master Boot
Subject: Coherent Master Boot
I saw the question, but no answer. Can someone tell us how to
remove the master boot from a coherent disk?
thanks,
gerry
Gerald Skerbitz University of Minnesota
612/626-5379 g-sker@vm1.spcs.umn.edu g-sker.uminn1.bitnet
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 20 Mar 91 21:11:07 -0500
From: david baldwin <baldwin@xanth.cs.odu.edu>
To: coherent
Subject: IDE drives with AMI Bios drive type 47
overload@arkham.wimsey.bc.ca tells a similar tail to the one that I
went through in January. Mark Williams supplied a patch that did the
trick for me. Since I have not seen mention on the group about the
fix I am enclosing it as I received it. If it has been seen forgive
me the wasted bandwidth.
- ------ Begin enclosed file
>From hal@mwc.uucp Sat Jan 19 03:06:45 1991
To: uunet!xanth.cs.odu.edu!baldwin@uunet.UU.NET
COHERENT Ver 3.1.0 AMI/Drive Type 47 Fix January 18, 1991
Installing with Drive Type 47.
The following note is intended as an aid for customers who are
installing COHERENT Version 3.1.0 on a system with an AMI BIOS
and drive type 47, the so-called "user defined" drive type. This
note describes additional steps which should allow installation
to proceed, should the standard COHERENT installation procedure
fail with the above configuration.
The following steps assume you have noted the parameters for your
hard drive: number of heads, cylinders, and sectors per track,
write precompensation cylinder. Most IDE drives support
"translation" modes in which they operate with parameters other
than their true physical configuration; unfortunately, emulation
of translation-mode drive parameters is frequently only partially
successful. Therefore, if at all possible, use the actual physi-
cal parameters for the drive - these may be listed with the
manufacturer's documentation, or you may need to call the
manufacturer of your drive to find out these numbers.
1. Follow the standard installation procedure using the
COHERENT boot diskette. After setting the time and date,
you will be shown a set of drive parameters and will be
asked if they are correct. Whether or not the parameters
displayed are correct, respond by typing "n" and pressing
the Enter key. Then enter the parameters for your drive.
If you don't know what number to enter for the control byte,
use "0"; if you don't know what to enter for the write
precompensation cylinder, use "65535".
If fdisk fails because of a write error to /dev/at0x, or
gets stuck prompting you repeatedly about inconsistencies in
the partition table, see Note 1.
If fdisk or a subsequent installation step fails with "Track
Flagged Bad" or "Watchdog Timeout" errors, or appears to get
stuck at some point, see Note 2.
2. Make a note of the name of the partition you have designated
as the root of your COHERENT file system (for example,
"/dev/at0b") - you will need this name below.
3. Complete the standard installation procedure for disk 1. At
the end of this step, you will be asked to remove disk 1
from your "A:" drive and press Enter, to allow the computer
to reboot from the hard drive. If you are prompted for the
next disk from the installation set, you should be able to
complete the standard installation procedure, and may ignore
the rest of this note; if not, continue following the steps
in this memo.
4. Again place disk 1 from the installation set in your "A:"
drive and reset your computer (Ctrl-Alt-Del is NOT suffi-
cient! - you must press the reset button or turn power off,
wait 30 seconds, and turn power back on).
5. At the prompt
AT boot
?
type "begin" and press Enter.
6. After a few moments, the introductory screen will appear:
THE COHERENT SYSTEM
...
Hit <enter> to continue...
Press Ctrl-C. You will see
Aborted...
The COHERENT system installation failed,...
#
7. At the "#" prompt, type "cd" and press Enter.
8. Type "fdisk -c" and press Enter. After the introductory
screen, fdisk will display drive parameters and ask if they
are correct. Once again, whether or not the values appear
correct, respond in the negative and enter the same values
you used above in step 1. Quit fdisk without making any
changes to the partition table.
9. If your COHERENT root partition is "/dev/at0b", then type
"mount /dev/at0b /mnt" and press Enter; if you are using a
different partition as the COHERENT root, then use that par-
tition name in the mount command rather than "/dev/at0b".
10. Type "cd /mnt/conf" and press Enter.
11. If your COHERENT root partition is "/dev/at0b", then type
"dd if=boot of=/dev/at0b" and press Enter; if you are using
a different partition as the COHERENT root, then use that
partition name in the dd command rather than "/dev/at0b".
You should see:
1+0 records in
1+0 records out
#
12. Type "sync" and press Enter, wait for a "#" prompt, remove
the diskette from your "A:" drive, and reset your computer.
You should now be able to continue with the standard in-
stallation steps for disks 2, 3, and 4.
Note 1.
If fdisk fails because of a write error to /dev/at0x, or gets
stuck prompting you repeatedly about inconsistencies in the par-
tition table, you need to reformat your master boot block. Be
sure you have backup copies of everything on your hard drive. If
you have any DOS partitions on your hard drive, make sure you
know their cylinder ranges so you can recreate them; if neces-
sary, run DOS "fdisk" so you can review these settings. Then
reboot your computer and use the "DIAGNOSTICS" option in the AMI
BIOS screen (obtained by pressing DEL during startup). Format
cylinder 0 of the hard drive. If you are using any DOS par-
titions, run DOS "fdisk" to recreate them. Now go back to step 1
in this note.
Note 2.
If fdisk or a subsequent installation step fails with "Track
Flagged Bad" or "Watchdog Timeout" errors, or appears to get
stuck at some point, you are probably operating your hard drive
in an incompatible translation mode. You will need to change
your setup to use either the true physical drive parameters or at
least a better set of translation mode parameters. It may be
necessary to contact the manufacturer of your hard drive to
determine the true number of heads, cylinders, and sectors per
track for your drive.
Mark Williams Tech. Support (708)-291-6700 (voice)
uunet!mwc!support (708)-291-6750 (fax)
- ------ End enclosed file
For comparison, my system is a 386, AMI BIOS with type 47. I'm using
a Seagate IDE ST1144AT, 125 meg drive under translation. The actual
drive parameters could not be used because the drive physically
changes the number of sectors per track depending on the track it is
located on.
Hope this helps. It sure worked for me.
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 21 Mar 91 14:30:54 -0500
From: yahn@midget.towson.edu (Jan Zawadzki)
To: G-SKER@vm1.spcs.umn.edu, coherent
Subject: Re: Coherent Master Boot
I finally got the thing OFF my drive. As most of the respondents did not know,
IDE drives in most cases CANNOT BE RE-FORMATTED. A LOW-LEVEL format is needed
to remove the master boot block, and that is exactly what IDE does not do.
I was lucky, in my case I tried H-Format, and amazingly enough it worked.
The drive is OK, master boot was cleaned. As a warning, I repeat:
IDE drives CANNOT normally be low-level formatted. MWC should provide an exec
to remove their boot block from any drive. If you cannot remove it from your
IDE drive, try DM or any other low-level formatter. While they are not supposed
to do anything on an IDE, they cannot damage it either. It just might work.
Good luck.
Jan
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 22 Mar 91 01:20:36 -0500
From: gt1342a@prism.gatech.edu (gt1342a gt1342a )
To: coherent
Subject: ZOO - where!!?!
I believe that it was announced that sources for
ZOO ported for coherent were going to be put on
piggy.ucsb.edu, but they haven't shown up there
yet from what I can tell. What's the status on
that?
Chuck LeDuc gt1342a@prism.gatech.edu
------------------------------
End of Coherent Digest Vol. 91.1, No. 23
****************************************
--
Scott Rose
rose@cs.wisc.edu
(608) 238-3801