Dos Partition Not Visible In Both Openbsd And Linu

[mikebrads]

Long post, with probably more information than you need but at this point i have run out of Google search terms and am hoping for a fresh perspective (and that there is a really simple solution)

Got my Zaurus c3000 a month or so ago with the idea of learning more about OpenBSD.

So, after following the guide at http://www.users.on.net/~hluc/myZaurus/ to get the linux stuff into English (will make life easier for the OpenBSD install bit)

Then started following the INSTALL.zaurus instructions (and a few things then went wrong during the Disk labeling/formating part).
AAAHHH panic, i now have a REALLY expensive white brick. After remembering that "Google is your friend", i found enough information from TRIsoft and XLfaq to at least get back to a working Linux, pheww  

Ok, so start again.
I had copied the install sets onto /dev/hda2, but this time when i tried to access them in the installer, i got a "Input/output" error message. Googleing for this error seemed to point to the partion being "broke" , and some hard core C stuff (that i was not going to get into!)
Flash of inspiration, what about the new smaller DOS partition, that might work, so copy the install sets there. Installer STILL could not find them, but at least it mounted the partion.

At this point, i give up on the 3.7 set i had, and decide to give the latest "snapshot" a go (as it is alledged to have usefull stuff like suspend working, which i look forward to trying out!)
So un-install from Linux the old 3.7 openBSD IPK, and add in the new 3.8 one.

once again copy the install sets to DOS partion (/dev/hda3). Press the Icon, go through the disk stuff (getting good at this now   , helps that i have ALL the numbers written down)
When prompted, tell installer that it can find the sets on /dev/rwd0k, and directory they are in. Install says "no, can't find that!", so CTRL+C to shell.
Weird, no files. so Halt and reboot to linux.
Check in Linux, the files are there!
Go though this a couple of times (before re-reading INSTALL.zaurus, and finding out about using ! to escape to a shell  ). During this i check with the Linux FDISK that partions are OK, it can see them AND they are similar to what the OpenBSD disk tools reported. It does have a message about not ending on a boundary, but from my many googles this is an expected message (something about Linux FDISK being wrong)

so finally, as i have nothing stored on the device yet that i care about  , in the openBSD installer i perform a "newfs", as per docs, and place a small file in /dev/wd0k
reboot (again  ), and look at the drive in Linux (/dev/hda3).
  not only is there no test file, but the original files from BEFORE starting the OpenBSD installer are still there!

Any thoughts anyone?

and thanks for reading this long ramble about my trials
mike

[barryg]

Good Day!

        The post was long, but short on debugging details(What is the
OpenBSD version you installed?  The date of the snapshot you used?
Where is the dmesg?)  Sorry, but without those, this will be an
exercise in mind reading(And my SO already has significant issues with
my having to know what *exactly* she wants, without her telling me
anything ;) ).

Ok, so start again.  I had copied the install sets onto /dev/hda2, but
this time when i tried

Using the latest snapshot(2005-08-29), I was able to read from
ext2/ext3a and dos partitions and it's contents during install.

At this point, i give up on the 3.7 set i had, and decide to give the
latest "snapshot" a go (as it is alledged to have usefull stuff like
suspend working, which i look forward to trying out!)
So un-install from Linux the old 3.7 openBSD IPK, and add in the new 3.8
one.

3.7 is horribly out of date, use snapshots.

        <SNIP>

When prompted, tell installer that it can find the sets on /dev/rwd0k,

        Is that what you *exactly* entered?

        The full installation question is:

       

        Available wd0 partitions are: a d e f g i j
        Which one has the install sets? (or 'done') []
       

        so you'd only have to select the slice/partition letter and
        *not* the full partition path.

        <SNIP>
 mike

Mabuhay! barryg

--
Barry Dexter A. Gonzaga, bofh

[mikebrads]

Good Day!

        The post was long, but short on debugging details(What is the
OpenBSD version you installed?  The date of the snapshot you used?
Where is the dmesg?)  Sorry, but without those, this will be an
exercise in mind reading

thanks for the answer, hopefully my comments to your comments will clear it up a bit.
My current thinking (more of a hope really) is that this is a PEBKAC type issue.
I decided to post here in the hope that in the story there would be something that might cause a light to go on in someone's head and thereby would allow me to get further (and possibly learn some more), without causing me to "brick" it.

Towards the end i did put in that i started with 3.7 (this story started about 2 months ago!)
The snapshot i was using was dated Aug 22 (downloaded from the Finland Mirror)

I did not add the dmesg for a couple of reasons:
 - it is a Zaurus so i would expect it to be the same as any other C3000
 - the cross platform mounting of the DOS partion does not appear to work
 - i did not think/know of how to get it from within Linux.

Is that what you *exactly* entered?

The full installation question is:

        Available wd0 partitions are: a d e f g i j
        Which one has the install sets? (or 'done') []

again i provided the wrong details, appologies.
for me i get a list of: a i j k

i have tried both j (linux /dev/hda2 ext2format, but from that i get an "iput/output" error) and k (linux /dev/hda3 DOS format)
The mount point was from when i dropped into a shell and tried mounting it manually, which worked, in that the partion was mounted BUT there was nothing on it  

I did hope that it was something simple and i would not have to take valuable developer time to ask for help with a simple miss-read of instructions.  

mike

[barryg]

Good Day!

        <SNIP>

Towards the end i did put in that i started with 3.7 (this story
started about 2 months ago!)
The snapshot i was using was dated Aug 22 (downloaded from the
Finland Mirror)

That's old(there had been at least a dozen releases since then), use a
more current version, more ftp mirrors here[0]

I did not add the dmesg for a couple of reasons:
- it is a Zaurus so i would expect it to be the same as any other C3000

If in doubt, always include dmesg.
Your zaurus revs, periherals, os version is different than mine.  If it
is not I have to verify it.
Really, it *is* a prerequisite if you want others to help you debugging
your problems.

- the cross platform mounting of the DOS partion does not appear to work

Unsubstanciated. I tested this, it does work both from the OpenBSD
installation(bsd.rd) and normal boot.

- i did not think/know of how to get it from within Linux.

More info here[1].  On OpenBSD install you can mount your linux
partition and redirect dmesg output there.  Or use a usb key.

again i provided the wrong details, appologies.  for me i get a list of:
a i j k

i have tried both j (linux /dev/hda2 ext2format, but from that i get an
"iput/output" error) and k (linux /dev/hda3 DOS format) The mount point
was from when i dropped into a shell and tried mounting it manually,
which worked, in that the partion was mounted BUT there was nothing on
it :unsure:

Again, I tried this(reading files from and ext2/ext3 and an msdos
partition) and it does work.

I did hope that it was something simple and i would not have to take
valuable developer time to ask for help with a simple miss-read of
instructions. ;)

mike

To reiterate.
- use current snapshots
- if you still have problems, provide complete dmesg


Mabuhay! barryg


[0]
http://www.openbsd.org/ftp.html

[1]
http://www.openbsd.org/faq/faq4.html#getdmesg
--
Barry Dexter A. Gonzaga, bofh