Edmond Rodriguez on 28 Dec 2010 22:33:08 -0800


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Re: [PLUG] Old IDE drive on USB enclosure with Linux


So I tried several live gparted CD's I have to see what happens.
Here I am connnecting the drive (old 1994 425MB disk) with an ide
cable to an ide controller on an old machine (no enclosure involved).

Gparted 0.3 (kernel 2.6.17 was fine with with the disk, showing it as
/dev/hdb.  I could mount partitions from a terminal

Gparted 0.7.1 (kernel 2.6.32) had issues (showing as /dev/sdb) (though
it still managed to show me the partitions, but reported issues with
dealing with the disk).  Also I could not mount the partitions from a
terminal window.

I noticed during the boot and tons of repeating error messages too
fast to read, after a scroll lock, and missing many many messages.
Saw the following message after it moved on and decided to continue
booting.

ide_generic: please use  "probe_mask=03xf" module parameter for
probing all legacy ISA IDE ports.

So I tried removing the module ide_generic (shown as permanent), but
had to do a "force" removal of it.

I tried to put it back with "modprobe ide_generic probe_mask=03xf" but
it reported errors and would not load (modprobe ide_generic loads OK).

Did I specify that parameter right in modprobe?  Or maybe this is a
boot thing that has to happen at boot time?

Off to google again and I found this:
http://www.gossamer-threads.com/lists/linux/kernel/957931

So I reboot, and say "ide_generic.probe_mask=0x3f"  as a boot
parameter as shown in the web page.

Now gparted 0.7.1 (kernel 2.6.32) no longer reports any issues with
the disk, and I can even mount the partitions on a terminal.  It works
with 2.6.32 using the parameter modification.

With Kubuntu (2.6.28) it does not like the boot parameter
"ide_generic.probe_mask=0x3f" and there does not seem to be an
ide_generic module available.   So why are these drives no longer
supported automatically (in whatever state I currently have it in)?
(though I can't say what the difference is yet with newer ide
drives.).

Something seems to have changed when all devices started going to
/dev/sdb*.  At least I think I am converging in that time frame.
--
Now can I relate this discovery to the driver for the enclosure box in
some way to make that work?  And what could I specify in Kubuntu to
have it happy with this drive?  (not sure if that question is worth
investigating or not).

On Tue, Dec 28, 2010 at 6:03 PM, Edmond Rodriguez
<erodrig97.list@gmail.com> wrote:
> I can attach a newer ide drive to the very same ide cable (inside an
> older machine, no enclosure) and it works just fine with 2.6.8.   As I
> mentioned the older caviar drive (1994) will not work on 2.6.8 but
> will work on 2.4.22.  The older drive (1994) also does not work in an
> enclosure box.
>
> I want to assume the drive is fine since the 2.4.22 kernel deals with
> it (no enclosure) just fine.
>
> On Tue, Dec 28, 2010 at 5:15 PM, Carl Johnson
> <cjohnson19791979@gmail.com> wrote:
>> Weird. Got me there. Normally I'd say that's because the partition table is trashed or something along those lines. The newer kernel must not like the adapter for some reason.
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> Sent from my Motorola DynaTAC 8000x.
>>
>> "Edmond Rodriguez" <erodrig97.list@gmail.com> wrote:
>>
>>>Sorry, what I meant to say was that attached to an ide cable on my old
>>>machine (no enclosure), Kubuntu (kernel 2.6.8) says the disk is
>>>unreadable.  For example, I say "fdisk /dev/sdb" and it says "disk
>>>unreadable".    I know I am getting to the disk, because I can hear
>>>and feel it respond to the command, even though it fails.
>>>
>>>But in Slackware (Kernel 2.4.22) I can say "fdisk /dev/hdb" and all is
>>>well.  It shows me the three partitions on the disk and I have also
>>>mounted each one and used them.
>>>
>>>As far as the USB enclosure box, I think I tried all the jumper
>>>settings once before, but will try again to be sure.
>>>
>>>On Tue, Dec 28, 2010 at 4:06 PM, Carl Johnson
>>><cjohnson19791979@gmail.com> wrote:
>>>> Good question there. Most every usb mass storage device I've ever
>>>used always came up as "sdx". Maybe there's a BIOS option that's off???
>>>Dunno.....
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> Sent from my Motorola DynaTAC 8000x.
>>>>
>>>> "Edmond Rodriguez" <erodrig97.list@gmail.com> wrote:
>>>>
>>>>>I just tried removing the jumper, same problem.
>>>>>
>>>>>Also curious that a newer version of Kubuntu (on the same older
>>>>>machine with internal ide cable) says it's unreadable (trying to
>>>>>access with /dev/sdb.....
>>>>>
>>>>>But an old Slackware install I have preserved is perfectly fine with
>>>>>the disk.  (using /dev/hdb......).
>>>>>
>>>>>Since I am now using Grub on that old machine (installed by the
>>>>>Kubuntu installer), I do not see any hard drive parameters set up
>>>>>(like n cynlinders, n heads, etc...), but the slackware (kernel
>>>>>2.4.22) seems to know how to deal with it..
>>>>>
>>>>>Could this be a difference between the/dev/hd and the /dev/sd style
>>>of
>>>>>accessing the disk?
>>>>>
>>>>>On Tue, Dec 28, 2010 at 3:53 PM, Carl Johnson
>>>>><cjohnson19791979@gmail.com> wrote:
>>>>>> Lookup the drive specs. You want "master no slave" mode or "master
>>>>>single" mode.
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Sent from my Motorola DynaTAC 8000x.
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>> ___________________________________________________________________________
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