Hard Drive Initialization help

[orbz]

Hello! I have a Sharp zaurus sl-c3100 that was untouched for years. It was running "weexpc" and I am trying to install cacko on it.

After flashing cacko rom, the console gives the error; mount: Mounting /dev/hda1 on /hdd1 failed: Invalid argument
HDD1 Error!!

So I booted into command line and wrote the new partition table after verifying the
correct partition values as matching with the following:

SL-C3100 HDD-Partition table:
/dev/hda1  Start 1  End 20  Blocks 10048+  id 83 System Linux
/dev/hda2  Start 21 End 40  Blocks 10080  id 83 System Linux
/dev/hda3  Start 41 End 7936 Blocks 3979584 id c System Win95 FAT32 (LBA)

16 heads / 63 sectors/track / 7936 cylinders

After writing the table, I formatted the partitions:

mke2fs -j /dev/hda1
mke2fs -j /dev/hda2
mkfs.vfat -F 32 /dev/hda3

I rebooted after cacko reflash and now get Error!! HDD is not initialized!

How can the hard drive be initialized?

Thank you in advance for any help!

edit-Further researching the error, I found out that there are hard drive files that must be copied over to each of the partitions. Specifically, they must be put into a .sys folder in each partition. I have downloaded the Trisoft C3100 system partition files and have extracted the contents onto a cf card. I am now stuck with how exactly to copy the contents over to HDD1 and HDD2.

What commands must be entered to copy the hdd files from the cf card over to the .sys directory in each of the partitions?

Still working on this. Sorry, I am a total n00b :'(

Thanks again!

[illbay]

Hi orbz,

It has been a long time since I installed cacko on my SL-C3100 so I can't help off the top of my head but I can suggest this wonderful website which got me started and helped me immensely:

http://www.users.on.net/~hluc/myZaurus/

I am sure you will find your answer here plus a whole lot more.

Cheers
Bill

[orbz]

Hi orbz,

It has been a long time since I installed cacko on my SL-C3100 so I can't help off the top of my head but I can suggest this wonderful website which got me started and helped me immensely:

http://www.users.on.net/~hluc/myZaurus/

I am sure you will find your answer here plus a whole lot more.

Cheers
Bill

Thank you so much for sharing this resource, Bill! Seems to be a great website with much information to learn. Will continue researching and report back! 

[orbz]

Hi orbz,

It has been a long time since I installed cacko on my SL-C3100 so I can't help off the top of my head but I can suggest this wonderful website which got me started and helped me immensely:

http://www.users.on.net/~hluc/myZaurus/

I am sure you will find your answer here plus a whole lot more.

Cheers
Bill

Yay! The Zaurus c3100 is back up and running!

Thank you again so much Bill for your help. Researching around the website led me to a page by "steward-fu." Stewards instructions are for the c3200, the main difference being the partition table numbers (also a big thank you Steward!).

Stewards instructions read as

Zaurus SL-C3200

Solve "HDD not initialized" problem

Reference information:
1. cacko
2. The reason for the recovery

problem is that Zaurus will check the .sys folder files of /dev/hda1 and /dev/hda2 when it starts up. If it is found that it does not exist, it will display HDD not initialized and stop execution. You can Use the following methods to solve: 1. Unzip harddisk.zip (in recovery_c3200.zip) and copy to SDCard 2. Use the Cacko installation file to enter console shell mode 3. Use the following methods to reformat


# fdisk /dev/hda
  /dev/hda1 Start 1 End 20 83 System Linux
  /dev/hda2 Start 21 End 40 83 System Linux
  /dev/hda3 Start 41 End 11905 c System Win95 FAT32 (LBA)

4. Reboot and enter the Cacko console shell mode again
5. Use the following method to copy the file

# mke2fs -j /dev/hda1
# mke2fs -j /dev/hda2
# mkfs.vfat -F 32 /dev/hda3
# mkdir /mnt/hda

# mount /dev/hda1 /mnt/hda
# mkdir /mnt/hda/.sys
# cp /mnt/card/hdd1sys/hdimage2.tgz /mnt/hda/.sys/
# cp /mnt/card/hdd1sys/hdlist1.dat /mnt/hda/.sys/
# umount /mnt/hda

# mount /dev/hda2 /mnt/hda
# mkdir /mnt/hda/.sys
# cp /mnt/card/hdd2sys/contlist.dat /mnt/hda/.sys/
# cp /mnt/card/hdd2sys/hdlist2.dat /mnt/hda/.sys/
# cp /mnt/card/hdd2sys/hdlist3.dat /mnt/hda/.sys/
# umount /mnt/hda

# rm -rf /mnt/hda
# reboot

Been working on getting the c3100 running for the past few days and was stuck in a loop between "HDD1 Error and HDD not initialized" but you have helped solve the error!

Big thanks again Bill and Steward!

Time to go through the cacko repository

[orbz]

Here is a quick guide for anyone who might be stuck with the HDD errors!

If you get a mount error that reads Mounting /dev/hda1 on /hdd1 failed: Invalid argument
HDD1 Error!! especially after flashing a new ROM, the Zaurus hard disk may not be properly configured
and will probably need to be repartitioned.

To repartition the hard disk:

Remove battery for at least 5 seconds (some people have reported up to 1 hour)

While holding D and B keys, reinstall the battery and turn the Zaurus on while still holding
D+B. Plug the power cable in.

A white screen should appear with the Sharp logo.

Login with root.

Enter

fdisk /dev/hda

Delete all the partitions 1-3 (press d, and select partition # when prompted)
Repeat this until all 3 partitions have been deleted.

Create the new partitions 1-3 (press n, and select partition # when prompted).
Make sure to have the correct number of blocks for each partition:


For the SL-C3100, the partition table should match the following:
SL-C3100 HDD-Partition table:
/dev/hda1 (1st partition)  Start 1  End 20  Blocks 10048+  id 83 System Linux
/dev/hda2 (2nd partition)  Start 21 End 40  Blocks 10080  id 83 System Linux
/dev/hda3 (3rd partition) Start 41 End 7936 Blocks 3979584 id c System Win95 FAT32 (LBA)

For the SL-C3200, the partition table should match the following:
SL-C3200 HDD-Partition table:
/dev/hda1 (1st partition)  Start 1  End 20  Blocks 10048+  id 83 System Linux
/dev/hda2 (2nd partition) Start 21 End 40  Blocks 10080  id 83 System Linux
/dev/hda3 (3rd partition) Start 41 End 11905 Blocks 5979960 id c System Win95 FAT32 (LBA)

After creating the three partitions, press p and enter to verify that the new partition table matches
the original table:

SL-C3100 HDD-Partition table:
/dev/hda1 (1st partition)  Start 1  End 20  Blocks 10048+  id 83 System Linux
/dev/hda2 (2nd partition)  Start 21 End 40  Blocks 10080  id 83 System Linux
/dev/hda3 (3rd partition) Start 41 End 7936 Blocks 3979584 id c System Win95 FAT32 (LBA)

For the SL-C3200, the partition table should match the following:
SL-C3200 HDD-Partition table:
/dev/hda1 (1st partition)  Start 1  End 20  Blocks 10048+  id 83 System Linux
/dev/hda2 (2nd partition) Start 21 End 40  Blocks 10080  id 83 System Linux
/dev/hda3 (3rd partition) Start 41 End 11905 Blocks 5979960 id c System Win95 FAT32 (LBA)

The partition types should be "Linux" for partitions #1-2. Partition #3 type should be "Win 95 FAT32 (LBA).

If any of them do not match the correct partition type, press "t" and enter to change the partition type. Select partition type when prompted and change according to the original partition table.

After verifying the partition table, press "w" and enter, to save and write the new partition table.

Exit fdisk and poweroff the Zaurus. Remove the battery and proceed to the next steps to initialize the hard disk.

The hard disk will need to be "initialized." If it is not, another error will appear during boot that says Error!! HDD is not initialized!

The three partitions that were created will need to be formatted, and the original hard disk files restored to each partition.

First, obtain the factory hard disk partition files from the TRIsoft website.

For the SL-C3100 the file package is called SLC3100SYSPART.zip and can be found here
For the SL-C3200 the file package is called SLC3200SYSPART.zip and can be found here

Unzip the contents onto an external storage card, preferably an SD card that must be FAT16 formatted! Insert the SD card into the Zaurus.

Remove battery for at least 5 seconds.

While holding D and B keys, reinstall the battery and turn the Zaurus on while still holding
D+B. Plug the power cable in.

A white screen should appear with the Sharp logo.

Login with root.

Enter

Format and create the file systems for the three partitions:

mke2fs -j /dev/hda1
mke2fs -j /dev/hda2 
mkfs.vfat -F 32 /dev/hda3
mkdir /mnt/hda

Now, restore the original hard disk files that were obtained from the TRIsoft website in the SD card to the .sys directories in partitions #1-2.

For the first partition, begin by mounting the newly formatted file system:

mount /dev/hda1 /mnt/hda

Create the .sys folder:

mkdir /mnt/hda/.sys

Copy the hard disk files over from the SD card to the .sys folder:

cp /mnt/card/hdd1sys/hdimage2.tgz /mnt/hda/.sys/
cp /mnt/card/hdd1sys/hdlist1.dat /mnt/hda/.sys/

Unmount the file system:

umount /mnt/hda

For the second partition, begin by mounting the newly formatted file system:

mount /dev/hda2 /mnt/hda

Create the .sys folder:

mkdir /mnt/hda/.sys

Copy the hard disk files that belong in the second partition over from the SD card to the .sys folder:

cp /mnt/card/hdd2sys/contlist.dat /mnt/hda/.sys/
cp /mnt/card/hdd2sys/hdlist2.dat /mnt/hda/.sys/
cp /mnt/card/hdd2sys/hdlist3.dat /mnt/hda/.sys/

Unmount the file system:

umount /mnt/hda

rm -rf /mnt/hda

reboot

If the HDD has been properly initialized, the Zaurus should now be able to boot!

Good luck!