>Number:         9103
>Category:       misc
>Synopsis:       System unbootable if partition "b" is physically before partition "a"
>Confidential:   no
>Severity:       non-critical
>Priority:       low
>Responsible:    misc-bug-people (Misc Bug People)
>State:          open
>Class:          sw-bug
>Submitter-Id:   net
>Arrival-Date:   Sun Jan  2 16:57:00 2000
>Last-Modified:
>Originator:     Gordan Bobic
>Organization:
>Release:        1.4.1
>Environment:
NetBSD rogue 1.4.1 NetBSD 1.4.1 (GENERIC) #1: Tue Aug 10 00:03:09 MEST 1999
fvdl@struis:/usr/src/sys/arch/i386/compile/GENERIC i386
>Description:
If the disk is partitioned in such a way that partition b is before partition a (i.e. swap is physically before root) the system doesn't boot.

I tried to put the swap partition at the beginning of the disk, because it should be a bit faster, but the system refused to boot. It boots OK from the floppy, using the install disk, and specifying:

boot wd0a:netbsd

but eve re-writting the boot loader by doing

installboot biosboot.sym /dev/rwd0

doesn't cure the problem.

The system just reports

Disk 0, Partition 3

and stops at bootup.
>How-To-Repeat:

Start a fresh installation.
Get to the disk partitioning stage.
Set up the partitions manually.
Put the swap partition at the beginning of the disk, starting at offset 0, and an arbitrary size.
Add the root partition right after it for the rest of the disk.
Continue with the installation.
All should work OK, until you reboot to use the system for the first time.
Here the system will refuse to boot.
The system can be booted from floppy with wd0a as the root partition, as described above.

If root partition is before the swap partition physically, the system works perfectly.
>Fix:


>Audit-Trail:
>Unformatted: