On Mon, Nov 17, 1997 at 11:07:01AM +0100, Stefan Sundberg wrote:
> To NetBSD Users and Designers!
> 
> 1.    When I read the install instructions there was a warning that the
> number of cylinders must
>         not exceed 1023.Values given by the install program:
>         HDD1: 6780 Cylinders , 16 Heads , 63 Sectors.
>         HDD2: 3305 Cylinders , 16 Heads , 63 Sectors.
>         What can I do about this and what will the effects be when
> installing.

> 
> 2.    Well, I tried to install the OS anyway.
>         I answered the questions about disk geometry with the values
> given above.
>         I used the whole disk for NetBSD.
>         The program then made som kind of filesystem on the disk and I
> was prompted to restart
>         my computer. But then the computer will not pass BIOS, the
> system just stopped after finding
>         the disks on the IDE-bus.

The 'values from the install program' is the "real" geometry of the disk.
The values that you use to create the NetBSD portion of the disk should
match those of the BIOS (check in your BIOS settings), otherwise the
BIOS will get confused trying to boot from the NetBSD partition.

So what you should do is look at your BIOS settings, use those values
when creating the NetBSD part of the disk (even if that's the whole disk).

In any case, an error in a geometry specification during the install
should not break your machine. Perhaps you have the order of boot drivers
set to "C,A" (or something like that) in your BIOS setup? In that case,
the BIOS may get confused over the geometry problems and hang. If you
let it try the floppy first it should be OK.

- Frank