CS-PPC SCSI problem identified. OS3.9 hates >4GB partitions.

[redrumloa]

Yup after ruling out termination and reading over the OS3.9 FAQ, I made the determination that my problem was the HD partition size. The hard drive is 46GB and I made the Workbench partition 4.3GB. I've since repartitioned and made the WB partition 2GB. BINGO,no more problems.

So.. It's true. OS3.9 cannot handle boot partitions bigger than 4GB.

[Vincent]

I've got a 20GB hd split into 8 partitions to keep everything under the 4.3 partition limit in 3.9.  Haven't had any HD problems at all :-)

Oh, that was an IDE, but I think the limit will be on any HD anyways.

[redrumloa]

Boot partition size is the issue, not hard drive size. In my case the boot partition is the Workbench partition. I am still using the 46GB hard drive, no problems except I still have terribly slow spin up times.

As a matter of fact it spins up so slow I get the WB requestor and have to 3 finger sulute once. I am not jumpered to have a delay, it's just normal for this half-height drive I suppose:-/ Oh and this drive is loud as hell! :-x

[x56h34]

Didn't I tell you to go and check the SCSI detection/reset/error-retry/etc. delay settings, from within the CSPPC early boot menu (hold ESC on boot to access it)?

You can make your SCSI chain wait for your slow spinning drive. It would help to jumper the drive as well to auto-spin.

[redrumloa]

Didn't I tell you to go and check the SCSI detection/reset/error-retry/etc. delay settings, from within the CSPPC early boot menu (hold ESC on boot to access it)?

Yup you did, and it didn't help my boot problem.

You can make your SCSI chain wait for your slow spinning drive.

Which setting, specifically?

It would help to jumper the drive as well to auto-spin.

The only jumper it has is for delay, which is not jumpered. The drive starts spinning about 1.5 seconds after the system is powered on, but it takes about 15 seconds or so to fully come up to speed and be ready.

[x56h34]

Yup you did, and it didn't help my boot problem.

Yes, it was unrelated to your boot partition problem in the end, but I explained to you what those settings can do.

Anyway, I think that SCSI inquiry delay should be the one to increase to something around 15+ seconds. I am at work now and can't remember how exactly it is called. Try it. If you screw something up, holding ESC at boot will always take you to the CSPPC menu and you can return the settings to old.

[Kronos]

@Red

It's allways a good idea to keep all partions under 2GB (excepts those that are pure data-storage), as lots of progs (stupidly) used signed longs to handle the size of the partion, leading to negative values for everything above 2GB ....

[SilvrDrgn]

redrumloa wrote:
So.. It's true. OS3.9 cannot handle boot partitions bigger than 4GB.

OS 3.9 can handle boot partitions bigger than 4GB, after OS 3.9 is really booted.

The problem is that when you cold boot your Amiga (warm boots are not a problem), it is not booting OS 3.9 ... it's booting from the ROM, which should be OS 3.1, first.  OS 3.9 doesn't technically get loaded until SetPatch executes at the beginning of the startup-sequence.  So, it's OS 3.1 that cannot handle the >4GB boot partition.  That's why Amiga boot partitions should always be less than 4GB, and they should be the first partition on the drive or within the first 4GB of space somewhere.

Considering the above, OS 3.9 would never be handling boot partitions bigger than 4GB anyway.  It's a catch-22 because they can't be due to the OS 3.1 limitation.

Why do you need 4GB anyway?  I've used Amigas for over 17 years, and my boot partition has never been bigger than 1GB.  And even that's never had more than 250MB of stuff in it.  The OS4 Developer Pre-Release is a different story.  With the SDK installed, I believe it's over 300 MB, but I can't remember for sure.

[redrumloa]

It's allways a good idea to keep all partions under 2GB (excepts those that are pure data-storage), as lots of progs (stupidly) used signed longs to handle the size of the partion, leading to negative values for everything above 2GB ....

You know what? I'm glad you mentioned that, thank you. I will make sure to designate one extra partition just for these programs. I've seen that before and int's a pain. I will probably just make 2 small ones, one for boot and one for finicky apps. I'll make the final few partitions big. i just don't want 23+ partitions :lol:

[KennyR]

SilvrDragn wrote:
The problem is that when you cold boot your Amiga (warm boots are not a problem), it is not booting OS 3.9 ... it's booting from the ROM, which should be OS 3.1, first. OS 3.9 doesn't technically get loaded until SetPatch executes at the beginning of the startup-sequence. So, it's OS 3.1 that cannot handle the >4GB boot partition.

This does not apply to the CPPC SCSI, which has a TD64 scsi device driver in its bios which is always 64 bit aware. Filesystem isn't a problem either, since this is loaded from the RDB prior to the OS being bootstrapped.

The problem could arise that OS3.9 then goes on to patch the same driver to be NSD...which it doesn't need to do.

[redrumloa]

OS 3.9 can handle boot partitions bigger than 4GB, after OS 3.9 is really booted.

Yeah good point. I am going to be using a Kickflash on this system shortly, but I'll still keep the boot partition under 4GB. In case I need to use it on another system, etc.

Why do you need 4GB anyway? I've used Amigas for over 17 years, and my boot partition has never been bigger than 1GB.

I like to put all my Internet stuff in the Workbench partition. I just pulled 4GB out of the air, not thinking that the size would be a problem. Considering the drive is 46GB, there is room to spare:-)