Disk problems

[Bob McClure Jr]

On Tue, Mar 16, 2004 at 02:53:45PM +0800, bbb at it.net.au wrote:
> Hello all.
> I am having infuriating problems with RH9. If some people could suggest
> actions or other sources of help
> 
> Thanking you in advance
> 
> Running P55T2P4 with most recent bios (0207-2 J.2 patch). The machine is
> not overclocked, merely running a Pentium 200
> 
> Seagate 40GB hard drive as slave drive on machine
> 
> On install attempt for RH9, constant lock up on "format" section (always at
> %11)
> 
> Investigation reveals problems with mke2fs
> 
> Have partitioned the disk into 
> 
> hdd1	ext3		18.6 GB
> hdd2	vfat (FAT 32)	18.6 GB
> 
> fdisk reports hdd as having 40.0 GB
> 
> mke2fs
> 
> results in success (occasionally)
> 
> Very often
> 	success in writing inode tables
> 	success in writing superblock and accounting information
> 
> But the system just freezes, no error messages and keyboard does not respond.
> 
> Often have screen full of error messages finishing with "Bad EIP Value"
> I can not capture this message on to disk. The machine has as above, to be
> reset, the keyboard does not work
> 
> Occasionally, on completion returns Code (Hex Values) "Segmentation fault".
> The machine remains operational. If I attempt to rerun mke2fs, the system
> hangs, but can be reset with the keyboard.
> 
> e2fsk -v 
> 
> repeats above scenario with the same frequent errors and lock ups.
> 
> occasionally resulting in no errors found reporting a clean file system
> 
> e2fsk -vf
> 
> Occasioally works through its 5 passes and returns information as expected
> 
> 
> I can not find fault with the drive, seagate utilities reveals no problem
> with the disk and it works well in another machine.
> 
> Barry

My first guess is a DMA problem.  Try booting with

  linux ide=nodma

Also, for your first install, use ext2 partitions instead of the
default ext3.  You can convert to ext3 after the install.  For more
clues about installation snags, see

http://www.rhil.net/docs/faq.html#install_dies

Also, note that most older machines will not boot to a drive on the
secondary controller (hdc or hdd).  You may have to move it to be a
slave on the primary controller (hdb).

Also, on your drives, do not jumper them to CS (Cable Select).  CS is
evil.  Explicitly jumper them as (MA)ster or (SL)ave.

Cheers,
-- 
Bob McClure, Jr.             Bobcat Open Systems, Inc.
robertmcclure at earthlink.net  http://www.bobcatos.com
Forgive your enemies -- nothing annoys them more.