install 2nd hd ( non-Sun ) on Ultra 10

[nmrjh]

I have an Ultra 10, running Solaris 7. The hard drive is about 8GB. I bought a 2nd hd, from Western Digital, of 500GB. It is PATA, EIDE. When I put it in, and went through format, mount, etc., only 2GB was available. I did partition in format, and assigned only slice 2 and slice 7 to the full size, the other slices were all zero.

I read somewhere that the controller on Ultra 10 could only recognize 128GB. I would be contend with that. But how could I reach that level? Is there a way to reformat the hard drive? I read that Sun's format utility only works on SCSI drives, not IDE drives.

Thanks a lot.

 

[domburns62]

Format works with IDE and SCSI.

Is it possible the drive was on a Windows system previously and has been partitioned with fdisk, thus Solaris is only seeing a single partition that is 2Gb?

I know on Sparc processor systems disks that have already been changed with fdisk may not be easily understood by the OS.

Another item to try would be to select the drive in format and relabel the drive, doing an autoconfigure. Maybe the drive label that was selected was 2GB.

Solaris 7 is well out of support now, so if there is an issue Sun will urge you to upgrade the OS ASAP.

 

[Mike042]

I wouldn't recommend trying to reformat the disk (ie change the hardware characteristics), but changing the partition table can be done many times on a disk (ie adjust the slice sizes). Please note 'Slice or Partition 2' = "The whole disk", so don't try to change that.

So we can confirm the disk size, please supply the output from the following command:
prtvtoc /dev/rdsk/c?t?d?s? (change the '?'s for the actual numbers)

I hope that helps.

Mike

 

[domburns62]

The fact that slice 2 sizing thinks it is 2Gb implies that it was either partitioned using fdisk previously (Solaris only works/manipulates a single fdisk partition) or the geometry label that was put on it is incorrect.

 

[nmrjh]

Thanks Mike and domburns62, I did not mean to be silent, but was trying to give a more meaningful reply. The truth is I do not work with the system every day, and had not been touching it since I posted the initial message. I will go in Monday morning.

Answers to your suggestions/inquiries:

The HD was purchased from TigerDirect, I have no idea if it was formatted for a Windows system before. They could not tell me either. It did not come with any manual or even a shipping slip, just a simple piece of paper that may have been the cover of the package. I tried to call Western Digital, but was told that I had to give them the serial number. I need to shut down the computer to do so, and it was in use, so I never got to it....

I tried to relabel the drive during format, but did not know how to ( what conventions you use to label a disk, what are allowed, not allowed ). If you could give me some specific advice on how to label I would be very grateful. I do not do formatting on Sun very often.

I tried to ask someone who works in the company to do "prtvtoc /dev/rdsk/c?t?d?s?", but he told me he got error message. Maybe you need to log in as root to do this. I will try this command Monday and report the result. I believe I did try it last time when I was on site, but forgot what I got as a response ( I was searching online as I worked there last time ).

Thanks a lot for your help. I look forward to hearing from you again.

Jin

 

[Annihilannic]

If my rusty memory serves me correctly IDE disks device paths are slightly different, something like /dev/rdsk/c?d?p?? Someone with more recent experience of them may be able to confirm...

Annihilannic.

 

[nmrjh]

Hi Mike,

This is what I got:

# prtvtoc /dev/dsk/c0t1d0s7
* /dev/dsk/c0t1d0s7 partition map
*
* Dimensions:
* 512 bytes/sector
* 63 sectors/track
* 16 tracks/cylinder
* 1008 sectors/cylinder
* 4161 cylinders
* 4159 accessible cylinders
*
* Flags:
* 1: unmountable
* 10: read-only
*
* First Sector Last
* Partition Tag Flags Sector Count Sector Mount Directory
2 5 01 0 4192272 4192271
7 0 00 0 4192272 4192271 /data

It would not let me do "prtvtoc /dev/dsk/c0t1d0". Is that because it is already partitioned?

Look forward to hearing from you. Jin

 

[domburns62]

slice 2 would be the correct item to look at.

Looking at the Sun system handbook page for the Ultra 10 indicates that Sun sold them with 4Gb, 9Gb or 20Gb disk drives, so an 8Gb drive should work ok.

My suspicion is either that the disk label is only 2Gb, or the drive had multiple fdisk partitions laid out on it from the vendor.

If you run format (you do need to be root), select the drive and use the inquiry subcommand, what does it say? If it says something like SUN2GB then that is the cause.

You can use the type subcommand to select an appropriate label (I'd suggest autoconfigure), then use the label subcommand to write the correct label on the drive.

 

[nmrjh]

I did slice 2 also, the result is the same. My manual ( the Sun is used to drive an instrument, the instrument vendor has a bit of manual on how to format 2nd HD ) said to make all other slices zero, except slices 2 and 7, which are the whole disk. And that is what I did.

Just to refresh, the original HD is 8GB. There is not problem with it. I am trying to install a 2nd HD that is supposed to be 500GB.

I did prtvtoc -f /dev/dsk/c0t1d0s2, and got
FREE_START=0 FREE_SIZE=0 FREE_COUNT=0 FREE_PART=013456

The Sun man page had an example of a 424MB HD that this command gave as
FREE_START=0 FREE_SIZE=0 FREE_COUNT=0 FREE_PART=34

So guessing this way the system seems to see about 100GB. Or am I wrong?

 

[nmrjh]

Hi domburns62,

Could you please elaborate on "inquiry subcommand"? When I typed format, there is a list of available command printed right away. If I tried "label", I would get question whether I want it, when I confirmed "y", it would exit the sub-routine. How do I do autoconfigure?

Attached are commands I have tried today and their output. Hope someone could help me. Thanks a lot.

Doesn't look like I could attach a file, I would have to display all here then. Sorry.

Jin

# df -k
Filesystem kbytes used avail capacity Mounted on
/proc 0 0 0 0% /proc
/dev/dsk/c0t0d0s0 70199 42124 21056 67% /
/dev/dsk/c0t0d0s6 943958 652944 234377 74% /usr
fd 0 0 0 0% /dev/fd
/dev/dsk/c0t0d0s1 57567 11116 40695 22% /var
/dev/dsk/c0t0d0s7 7455221 6326225 1054444 86% /export/home
/dev/dsk/c0t0d0s5 29279 10319 16033 40% /opt
swap 180888 448 180440 1% /tmp
/dev/dsk/c0t1d0s7 2030597 9 1969671 1% /data
# umount /data
# df -k
Filesystem kbytes used avail capacity Mounted on
/proc 0 0 0 0% /proc
/dev/dsk/c0t0d0s0 70199 42124 21056 67% /
/dev/dsk/c0t0d0s6 943958 652944 234377 74% /usr
fd 0 0 0 0% /dev/fd
/dev/dsk/c0t0d0s1 57567 11116 40695 22% /var
/dev/dsk/c0t0d0s7 7455221 6326225 1054444 86% /export/home
/dev/dsk/c0t0d0s5 29279 10319 16033 40% /opt
swap 180888 448 180440 1% /tmp
# format /dev/dsk/c0t1d0
No disks found!

# format
Searching for disks...done


AVAILABLE DISK SELECTIONS:
0. c0t0d0 <ST39120A cyl 17660 alt 2 hd 16 sec 63>
/pci@1f,0/pci@1,1/ide@3/dad@0,0
1. c0t1d0 <WDC WD5000AAKB-00H8A0 cyl 4159 alt 2 hd 16 sec 63>
/pci@1f,0/pci@1,1/ide@3/dad@1,0
Specify disk (enter its number): 1
selecting c0t1d0
[disk formatted, no defect list found]


FORMAT MENU:
disk - select a disk
type - select (define) a disk type
partition - select (define) a partition table
current - describe the current disk
format - format and analyze the disk
repair - repair a defective sector
show - translate a disk address
label - write label to the disk
analyze - surface analysis
defect - defect list management
backup - search for backup labels
verify - read and display labels
save - save new disk/partition definitions
volname - set 8-character volume name
!<cmd> - execute <cmd>, then return
quit
format> type


AVAILABLE DRIVE TYPES:
0. ST39120A
1. WDC WD5000AAKB-00H8A0
2. other
Specify disk type (enter its number)[1]: 2
Enter number of data cylinders: 4161
Enter number of alternate cylinders[2]:
Enter number of physical cylinders[4163]:
Enter number of heads: ^C
format> current
Current Disk = c0t1d0
<WDC WD5000AAKB-00H8A0 cyl 4159 alt 2 hd 16 sec 63>
/pci@1f,0/pci@1,1/ide@3/dad@1,0

format> analyze


ANALYZE MENU:
read - read only test (doesn't harm SunOS)
refresh - read then write (doesn't harm data)
test - pattern testing (doesn't harm data)
write - write then read (corrupts data)
compare - write, read, compare (corrupts data)
purge - write, read, write (corrupts data)
verify - write entire disk, then verify (corrupts data)
print - display data buffer
setup - set analysis parameters
config - show analysis parameters
!<cmd> - execute <cmd> , then return
quit
analyze> quit


FORMAT MENU:
disk - select a disk
type - select (define) a disk type
partition - select (define) a partition table
current - describe the current disk
format - format and analyze the disk
repair - repair a defective sector
show - translate a disk address
label - write label to the disk
analyze - surface analysis
defect - defect list management
backup - search for backup labels
verify - read and display labels
save - save new disk/partition definitions
volname - set 8-character volume name
!<cmd> - execute <cmd>, then return
quit
format> show
Enter a disk block: ^C
format> analyze


ANALYZE MENU:
read - read only test (doesn't harm SunOS)
refresh - read then write (doesn't harm data)
test - pattern testing (doesn't harm data)
write - write then read (corrupts data)
compare - write, read, compare (corrupts data)
purge - write, read, write (corrupts data)
verify - write entire disk, then verify (corrupts data)
print - display data buffer
setup - set analysis parameters
config - show analysis parameters
!<cmd> - execute <cmd> , then return
quit
analyze> print
0x00000000 0x00000000 0x00000000 0x00000000 0x00000000 0x00000000
0x00000000 0x00000000 0x00000000 0x00000000 0x00000000 0x00000000
- hit space for more -
analyze> quit


FORMAT MENU:
disk - select a disk
type - select (define) a disk type
partition - select (define) a partition table
current - describe the current disk
format - format and analyze the disk
repair - repair a defective sector
show - translate a disk address
label - write label to the disk
analyze - surface analysis
defect - defect list management
backup - search for backup labels
verify - read and display labels
save - save new disk/partition definitions
volname - set 8-character volume name
!<cmd> - execute <cmd>, then return
quit

format> verify

Primary label contents:

Volume name = < >
ascii name = <WDC WD5000AAKB-00H8A0 cyl 4159 alt 2 hd 16 sec 63>
pcyl = 4161
ncyl = 4159
acyl = 2
nhead = 16
nsect = 63
Part Tag Flag Cylinders Size Blocks
0 unassigned wm 0 0 (0/0/0) 0
1 unassigned wm 0 0 (0/0/0) 0
2 backup wu 0 - 4158 2.00GB (4159/0/0) 4192272
3 unassigned wm 0 0 (0/0/0) 0
4 unassigned wm 0 0 (0/0/0) 0
5 unassigned wm 0 0 (0/0/0) 0
6 unassigned wm 0 0 (0/0/0) 0
7 unassigned wm 0 - 4158 2.00GB (4159/0/0) 4192272

format> type


AVAILABLE DRIVE TYPES:
0. ST39120A
1. WDC WD5000AAKB-00H8A0
2. other
Specify disk type (enter its number)[1]: 2
Enter number of data cylinders: 4159
Enter number of alternate cylinders[2]:
Enter number of physical cylinders[4161]:
Enter number of heads: 16
Enter number of data sectors/track: 63
Enter rpm of drive[3600]:
Enter format time[default]:
Enter cylinder skew[default]:
Enter track skew[default]:
Enter tracks per zone[default]:
Enter alternate tracks[default]:
Enter alternate sectors[default]:
Enter cache control[default]:
Enter prefetch threshold[default]:
Enter minimum prefetch[default]:
Enter maximum prefetch[default]:
Enter disk type name (remember quotes): "jin"
selecting c0t1d0
[disk formatted, no defect list found]
format> inquire
`inquire' is not expected.
format> label
Ready to label disk, continue? y

format> verify

Primary label contents:

Volume name = < >
ascii name = <jin cyl 4159 alt 2 hd 16 sec 63>
pcyl = 4161
ncyl = 4159
acyl = 2
nhead = 16
nsect = 63
Part Tag Flag Cylinders Size Blocks
0 unassigned wm 0 0 (0/0/0) 0
1 unassigned wm 0 0 (0/0/0) 0
2 backup wu 0 - 4158 2.00GB (4159/0/0) 4192272
3 unassigned wm 0 0 (0/0/0) 0
4 unassigned wm 0 0 (0/0/0) 0
5 unassigned wm 0 0 (0/0/0) 0
6 unassigned wm 0 0 (0/0/0) 0
7 unassigned wm 0 - 4158 2.00GB (4159/0/0) 4192272

 

[domburns62]

The auto configure shows up under the type subcommand in newer Solaris releases. It could be that since this is a Solaris 7 system that the autoconfigure option isn't there. Solaris 7 has been out of support (by Sun) for several years nowand I don't recall when the auto option was made available.

You said it was a Western Digital drive (if I recall correctly), if you select 1. WDC WD5000AAKB-00H8A0 in the type section and use that as a label what size does it come up with? You can also try changing the number of cylinders to better reflect the size of the drive.

I'd also suggest contacting the vendor for the instrument for better instructions, they may have run into this before and have a workaround. Let me guess, this is a Teradyne chip tester? Teradyne is famous for supporting items forever, but perhaps not thinking through when units are overcome by newer situations.

 

[nmrjh]

I chose Western Digital the first time when I did format, type. It came up as 2GB. I know I can upgrade Solaris. It is just that with a 10 years old computer, I am trying to get by with as little as possible. This is an analytical chemistry instrument. The instrument itself is pretty expensive ( about $500K new ), so people try to get the last bit out of it. It is made by Varian.

I could try to increase the number of cylinders, don't know if it would recognize it. Will let you know when I do it.

 

[Mike042]

Hi nmrjh,

A quick Google search for: "Western Digital WD5000AAKB-00H8A0 cylinders", reveals it is indeed a 500GB disk and with 16383 cylinders, 16 heads, 63 sectors and 255 tracks. Please check this information for yourself before changing the geometry of the disk.

I hope that helps.

Mike

 

[domburns62]

nmrjh-

I would try to use the values that Mike has provided in the prior post.

What you may run into is that in the Solaris 7 days individual disk drives of 500GB didn't exist, so the system may not understand a disk of that size.

I don't have any way to test the idea, so good luck.

Dom

 

[dandan123]

I remember right older versions of Solaris had a 2GB limit on the disk size ?