Sudden change of drive geometry

[Debian User]

I'v got the following problem with an IBM HDD: is's a 40GB drive but
suddenly it's recognized as a 33GB one. I've tracked it down to a change
in the cylinder value reported by the BIOS and OS. Below is an excerpt
of the Linux kernel log:


Mar 22 00:21:17 orbiter kernel: ide1: BM-DMA at 0xf008-0xf00f, BIOS
settings: hdcMA, hddMA
Mar 22 00:21:17 orbiter kernel: hdc: IC35L040AVER07-0, ATA DISK drive
Mar 22 00:21:17 orbiter kernel: hdc: max request size: 128KiB
Mar 22 00:21:17 orbiter kernel: hdc: 80418240 sectors (41174 MB)
w/1916KiB Cache, CHS=65535/16/63, UDMA(100)
Mar 22 00:21:17 orbiter kernel: hdc: cache flushes not supported
Mar 22 00:21:17 orbiter kernel: hdc:
Mar 23 00:14:29 orbiter kernel: ide1: BM-DMA at 0xf008-0xf00f, BIOS
settings: hdcMA, hddMA
Mar 23 00:14:29 orbiter kernel: hdc: IC35L040AVER07-0, ATA DISK drive
Mar 23 00:14:29 orbiter kernel: hdc: max request size: 128KiB
Mar 23 00:14:29 orbiter kernel: hdc: 66055248 sectors (33820 MB)
w/1916KiB Cache, CHS=65531/16/63, UDMA(100)
Mar 23 00:14:29 orbiter kernel: hdc: cache flushes not supported
Mar 23 00:14:29 orbiter kernel: hdc:


I haven't made any changes to the BIOS settings or any other
modifications. The CHS values are autodetected and I can't set them
manually in the BIOS.

Does anyone have an idea what's going on?

Greetings,
Piotr

 

[Folkert Rienstra]

I'v got the following problem with an IBM HDD: is's a 40GB drive but
suddenly it's recognized as a 33GB one. I've tracked it down to a change
in the cylinder value reported by the BIOS and OS. Below is an excerpt
of the Linux kernel log:


Mar 22 00:21:17 orbiter kernel: ide1: BM-DMA at 0xf008-0xf00f, BIOS settings: hdcMA, hddMA
Mar 22 00:21:17 orbiter kernel: hdc: IC35L040AVER07-0, ATA DISK drive
Mar 22 00:21:17 orbiter kernel: hdc: max request size: 128KiB
Mar 22 00:21:17 orbiter kernel: hdc: 80418240 sectors (41174 MB) w/1916KiB Cache, CHS=65535/16/63, UDMA(100)
Mar 22 00:21:17 orbiter kernel: hdc: cache flushes not supported
Mar 22 00:21:17 orbiter kernel: hdc:

Mar 23 00:14:29 orbiter kernel: ide1: BM-DMA at 0xf008-0xf00f, BIOS settings: hdcMA, hddMA
Mar 23 00:14:29 orbiter kernel: hdc: IC35L040AVER07-0, ATA DISK drive
Mar 23 00:14:29 orbiter kernel: hdc: max request size: 128KiB
Mar 23 00:14:29 orbiter kernel: hdc: 66055248 sectors (33820 MB) w/1916KiB Cache, CHS=65531/16/63, UDMA(100)
Mar 23 00:14:29 orbiter kernel: hdc: cache flushes not supported
Mar 23 00:14:29 orbiter kernel: hdc:


I haven't made any changes to the BIOS settings or any other
modifications. The CHS values are autodetected and I can't set them
manually in the BIOS.

Does anyone have an idea what's going on?

Did/does your system support drives over 32GB?
Sounds like a drive overlay installed is not working.
The install software will shortstroke a drive to roughly
32GB (3FFFFFFh sectors or less) and the DDO, when
executed, will set it back to the original capacity.
Are you sure your MBR bootcode wasn't overwritten?
If the DDO isn't executed then the drive stays at 32GB.
Have a look at it with IBM/HGST's Feature Tool.