Hi all!
I have problem when trying partitioning my harddisk.
I was trying to install mandrake 9.1 in my second partition, (btw, i've
already installed windows xp in my first partition).
In the setup screen, i choose: "custom disk partitioning".
But, when i was trying to make the second partition, i noticed that
the second partition turn to be hda5 (and the swap :hda6)
I get little confuse about this, so i try to format my harddisk again
and try to install mandrake 9.1 in my first partition. But still, the
second partition (which is swap for mandrake is hda5) and my fat32
partition(windows xp) is hda6.
So i try it all over again, i boot from cd (mandrake 9.1) and i notice
something , there's a line of information which is inform me:

ide0 : BM-DMA at 0xd800-0xd807, BIOS settings hda:DMA , hdb:DMA
ide1 : BM-DMA at 0xd808-0xd80f, BIOS settings hdc:pio , hdd:pio

I realize that my BIOS recognize, that i have 4 harddisk.
Can anyone help me? Because, if the mandrake still in the fifth
partition (hda5), when i was trying to use mandrake it will take a
veryyyyy loonnng time. Because it was trying to check:
hda2: not ready for command
hda3: not ready for command
hda4: not ready for command
and at least hda5.

I will list information of my computer:

Pentium III 550E
MB ASUS P3BF
AWARD MEDALLION BIOS v6.0
Primary master : ST32001A (seagate 20gb)
Primary slave : Lite-on LTR-523275 (LiteOn cd rw)

Apparently my BIOS (or mandrake?) , think that my cd rw is my second
harddisk. But still, why in the ide0 there is hda and hdb? and also
in the ide1, hdc and hdd?

Need help really, really need help...
Thanks

What is your BIOS telling you in the BIOS setup menu? Sounds like you need to get the BIOS right and then look at Mandrake.

If the BIOS lies, and you can't see a way to fix it, look for a factory defaults option or, as a last resort, whip out the battery for a few seconds.

My BIOS recognize that :

Primary master : ST32001A (HD seagate 20 gb)
Primary slave : Lite-on LTR-523275
Secondary master :none (i set to none)
Secondary slave : none

seems like there's nothing wrong with my BIOS.
Any suggestion?

A hard disk can have 4 primary partitions labeled 1-4. If one of the primary partitions is designated as an extended partition you can create additional partitions known as logical. Their ID is >=5. In your case hda1 - hda4 and hda5, hda6 ... All 4 primaries partitions do not need to exist. I'm not sure about the not ready for command error. Everything else seems normal.

Creating logical drives for linux i.e hda5, hda6 is not a bad thing. In your case it might be best to have the installer automatically create partitions using free space.

BTW if you run the XP diskmanager utility it will tell you what partitions already exist.

http://www.linuxquestions.org/questi...icle&artid=121

Here is a link to an excellent overview of linux partitioning by moses.