[buug] Can't get Linux to see more than 2 GiB on 75GXP

[Will Sargent]

I throw myself on the mercy of the mailing list.  I have RTFM'ed to the
depth of my understanding, and I'm still hosed.

I can't get my IBM Deskstar 75GXP to be recognized as more than 2 GiB under
Linux.  I'm using the 30 GiB model (IBM-DTLA-307030).  I've tried Mandrake
8.1 and Redhat 7.1, and both distros will come up on boot recognizing the
drive type, but then assigning it as a 2 GiB drive.  The CHS is printed as
255/255/63, if CHS still has any meaning.

I'm using an Asus A7V133 motherboard, revision 1004.  This drive and
motherboard worked fine for me under Windows 2000 (so it's not a bad drive)
or outdated BIOS (which is unlikely).  The Asus board includes an integrated
Promise ATA/100 controller, and I've tried using that instead of the
standard ide channels, but that doesn't seem to help (again, it recognizes
the drive on /dev/hde, but has the wrong CHS and number of sectors).

I've even tried specifying the CHS directly using bootparam.  The command
line I'm currently using is:

linux ide2=0x9400,0x9002,autotune hde=3737,255,63

which at least forces hdparm -g to show the right CHS, but still doesn't
change the number of sectors (i.e. it still thinks it's a 2 GiB drive).

I don't have anything wierd in my system that I know of.  There's a Macronix
Tulip type ethernet card and a SB Live soundcard.  I also have the 50x
CD-ROM drive plugged into ide2 so it gets recognized by the BIOS and can
boot up (although it's still a secondary slave).

Anyone who knows whats happening here shall receive my eternal gratitude.

Will.


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