HDD unable to mount
 

Hi, This is my first post on here, so please go easy on me :)

I've got a 60GB IBM Deskstar HD and its failing to boot (Error - Inaccessable_boot_device)

Installed on the drive is Win XP and Win 2k. In my BIOS it only detects 33gb (approx 1/2)

So, I got hold of Knoppix to see if i can format/revive the drive in some way, and try get it to detect the whole capacity.

Currently the drive is set to 'slave', so im running Knoppix from the primary HD installed.

When in Knoppix, it displays the partitions, but only the ones that make up the 33gb.

Main problem, i cant mount any of them:-

Could not mount device.
The reported error was:
mount: wrong fs type, bad option, bad superblock on /dev/hdd5,
or too many mounted file system


Can anyone help me? :cry:

Need more info

Computer mainboard model
Age

Can XP or 2000 see the whole drive? If they can't then it is either motherboard cannot support it or you need a bois update for the board, If it will do what you want. That will come from the motherboard manufacturer.

Hope this helps
Brian1

Firstly I'd put your Windows drive on the master channel and your Linux distro on the slave channel - make sure the drive is jumpered right if you change the channels.

Second - what exact mount command have you issued from Knoppix and what is the current output from fdisk -l ?

Hi,

The PC is a Celeron 500mhz, with 704mb RAM. The motherboard is a Soyo 6BA+ III.

I've tried the HD in a 1ghz Athlon and still the same.

Neither Win XP or Win 2k will boot.

Since it doesn't work in any PC the hard drive might be corrupted or failed.

ok, i've done what Skyline said, (put'bad' drive as primary)

i now can mount the partitions in Knoppix

However, its still only shows half the HD's capacity

On the back of the drive where lots of jumper settings. (16 head Master/slave etc, 15 head Master/slave etc, 32GB Clip Master/Slave etc)

Its currently on 32gb clip Master.

ok,

Just ran fdisk on the 4 partitions.

It comes up with a error type:

The number of cylinders for this disk is set to 1784.
There is nothing wrong with that, but this is larger than 1024,
and could in certain setups cause problems with:
1) software that runs at boot time (e.g., old versions of LILO)
2) booting and partitioning software from other OSs
(e.g., DOS FDISK, OS/2 FDISK

-----

Two partitions are 1912, one is 1784 and the other one is 1026!

Whats this all about?

what can i do to set these back to normal? And is there a way to see the rest of the disk?
-----------------

Command (m for help): v
Partition 1 does not end on cylinder boundary.
Partition 2 does not end on cylinder boundary.
Warning: partition 1 overlaps partition 2.
Partition 3 does not end on cylinder boundary.
Total allocated sectors 1701990412 greater than the maximum 28659960

From what i've read, old BIOS's cant handle any thing over 1024 cylinders.

So how can i change/format my drive in Knpooix to go back to 1024?

You need to contact motherboard maker and see if there is a bios upgrade. That is all that you can do for that board.

Best option is buy a new motherboard.

Brian1

Sorry my fault for not carefully reading your posts.

The 32gb jumper is to keep older motherboard BIOS's from freezing. Check the drive manual or setup table (usually on top of the drive) to see if it should be on or off.

Then in order for the older motherboards to use the entire disk capacity a dynamic disk overlay (DDO) is written to the MBR. Which you shouldn't need to do.

So I would gather that the reason the Athlon PC could not detect the entire capacity of the drive was due the 32gb jumper.

http://www.soyousa.com/downloads/sel...3=BIOS+Upgrade

None of the BIOS upgrades mention a fix to the 32gb limit. So I would assume this shouldn't be a problem.

You only run fdisk on the device not each partition or you will get errors.

fdisk -l /dev/hda (replace hda with actual device)

You can ignore the >1024 cylinder warning. recent versions of lilo, grub and windows can handle this.

So reset the jumper and then run fdisk again and post the results.
If the partition table is corrupt you might be forced in to wiping the drive and reinstalling.

I changed the jumpers to 16 heads, but the damn drive wont boot at all, not even far enough to boot Knoppix from floppy.

I've downloaded a BIOS upgrade, but will running XP, i can seem to boot to DOS to run the upgradge.

Anyone reconmend a boot-to-dos disk for XP Pro?

Go to www.bootdisk.com. Either a DOS 6.22 or Win98 boot disk will work. Copy the BIOS flash exe and the new BIOS image to the floppy disk.

I looked at a few on line deskstar manuals for the 16/15 head jumper. The manuals refer to the motherboard manual. No help there. What is the part number of the drive? Did you try the 15 head jumper setting?

I've got my PC to boot into DOS (same as above got the disk from www.bootdisk.com)

Downloaded the flash .exe file and the BIOS .bin file. I go to flash it and comes back with "unkown flash type" Arrhh! I checked Soyo's site for this error and it says to download this other type of flash .exe, i do that and same problem (http://www.soyo.com.tw/kb/kbdesc.php?id=37)

I've tried the drive on 32/16/15 head jumper settings it only works on the 32GB clip jumper.

IBM Deskstar 61.4gb
Model: IC35L060AVVA07-0 ATA/IDE

Do you think the drive is damaged in some way?

Its possible. I'm not ruling out any PIII incompatablies yet.

Can you try the drive in the Athlon PC again with the different jumper settings?

I got the Athlon PC to pick up the full 60gb drive, and formatted it.

Put the drive back in the 400mhz Celeron and it can only see 1/2 the drive, this suggests my mother board cant cope with the drive's size.

Im still not havin any joy with the BIOS update either!