Maxtor Hard Disks Wrongly Detected

Support knowledgebase (maxtor_hd)
Applies to

SuSE Linux: Version 7.3
Kernel: Versions 2.4.10 to 2.4.16(22)

Symptom

During the installation of SuSE Linux 7.3, the size of your Maxtor hard disk is wrongly displayed in YaST2, thus making installation impossible.

Cause

The newly adopted ATAPI 6 protocol, which manages hard disks bigger than 137 GB. This problem affects Maxtor's whole 4D* series, since even the smallest hard disks in this series use this protocol.

Solution

The following workaround will give you the opportunity to install SuSE Linux until we find a more satisfactory solution.

Boot your system with the boot floppy of a former SuSE Linux version (e.g. 7.2). Current floppy images are available at:

SuSE Linux 7.2 ftp://ftp.gwdg.de/pub/linux/suse/ftp.suse.com/suse/i386/7.2/disks/

Creating a boot floppy with Linux

You can fall back on a Unix/Linux system with a functional CD-ROM drive. You will need a tested (formatted) floppy disk. Open a console as root user (in KDE: press Alt+F2, enter xterm, execute) and proceed as follows in order to create boot floppies:

  1. If the floppy disk has not been formatted yet, insert it in the floppy disk drive and execute the following command (the floppy disk drive must not be mounted for formatting purposes):
  2. 
    fdformat /dev/fd0u1440
    
    
  3. Mount the first CD (disk 1):
  4. 
    mount /media/cdrom
    
    
  5. Create the boot floppy with
  6. 
    dd if=/media/cdrom/disks/bootdisk of=/dev/fd0 bs=8k
    
    

    In case you have downloaded a current floppy image from our ftp server, replace the CD-ROM path with the path where the boot floppy image is saved. For example:

    
    dd if=/PATH/IMAGE of=/dev/fd0 bs=8k
    
    

    Use another floppy image instead of bootdisk if you require specific support. If problems arise, you can use k_i386 as fallback kernel.

Creating a boot floppy with rawrite

Windows 95/98 users can find the program rawrite.exe in the directory /dosutils/rawrite/ on the first CD-ROM. This program enables you to copy an image to a floppy disk.

Insert a floppy in your floppy disk drive and start rawrite.exe. Enter the directory from which the file will be read (CD-ROM drive in this case) as source medium and confirm with Enter. Now define the floppy disk drive as write medium. By doing this, the image will be written to the floppy.

Once the boot floppy has been created, start the installation with it. Please make sure that the right boot order is set in your BIOS. In order to change the boot order, please refer to your mainboard manual or download this information from the respective mainboard manufacturer.

Insert the first CD in the CD-ROM drive when requested by the system and confirm with OK. Now proceed with the installation as usual.

Booting the installed system

Please note that the Kernel 2.4.10 will be installed during the installation and you will need the boot floppy to boot your system. Please proceed as follows:


- Boot from the boot floppy.

- Do not insert any CD in the CD-ROM drive.

- Confirm with Enter when asked to insert the CD.

- Configure the settings corresponding to language, monitor, and keyboard.

-> Select Start installation / system

--> Select Boot installed system

---> Enter the root partition (/) where you have installed Linux in the following way:

/dev/hdxx

The first "x" refers to the hard disk (that is a, b, c, d, etc.):

        hda => ide0 -master-
        hdb => ide0 -slave -
        hdc => ide1 -master-
        hdd => ide1 -slave -


Whereas the second "x" refers to the partition (i.e. 1, 2,
3, 4, 5, etc.). The entry will be something like:

/dev/hda3

Before you do this and only if you use SCSI hard disks, load the necessary modules for
the SCSI controller from the main menu of Linuxrc at:

        Kernel modules (hardware drivers)

Once the installation of the base system has been successfully completed, install the specific Kernel k_deflt-2.4.16-36.i386.rpm available at our FTP server under:

ftp://ftp.suse.com/pub/projects/kernel/2.4.16-lba48/

Customers in Europe can refer to a large number of available mirror servers, e.g.:

ftp://ftp.gwdg.de/pub/linux/suse/ftp.suse.com/projects/kernel/2.4.16-lba48/

Find out if there is a mirror server close to you at:

http://www.suse.de/en/support/download/ftp/germ_mirrors.html

http://www.suse.de/en/support/download/ftp/int_mirrors.html

Install the kernel by entering:


rpm -Uvh k_deflt-2.4.16-36.i386.rpm

as root in a text console and subsequently executing the commands:


mk_initrd

lilo

For instructions regarding the installation of kernel updates, please refer to our support database at:

"Updating your Kernel with RPM Packages" (http://sdb.suse.de/en/sdb/html/ftpkernel.html)


Keywords: MAXTOR, HARD DISK, HD, YAST2, TERABYTE, GIGABYTE

SDB-maxtor_hd, Copyright SuSE Linux AG, Nürnberg, Germany - Version: 19. Feb 2002
SuSE Linux AG - Last generated: 11. Mär 2002 by wessels (sdb_gen 1.40.0)