Do I have an LBA48 kernel or not?

[larock]

DirecTivo SD-DVR40. After some gyrations, I have it running 6.2 (from the SysInfo screen) and all the bells and whistles via the Zipper. It initially came with a 40GB drive but I immediately cloned it to a 250GB (it only looks like 40). I would like to expand this to use the full size.

I have searched and searched the forums but I have not found a definitive answer. I used a kernel off the PTVLBA48 cd. I used the one in the S2Kernels folder, then in the 3_1.5 folder. When I telnet to the box, the version (cat /proc/version) shows:

Linux version 2.4.20 (build@buildmaster5) (gcc version 3.0) #22 Fri Feb 20 18:19:25 PST 2004

In the kernel log, I don't see any reference to LBA48. How can I tell if this kernel (again I think it is from the PTV CD) can do my LBA48?

All questions and answers are welcome!

Roger

[JamieP]

Yes. All 2.4.20 kernels are lba48 aware.

[larock]

I have it working now, finally! I have 221 hours avail and all seems to be good. I will tell what I did (right and wrong) so others may be able to learn.

As we last left the story, I had my original 40GB that was cloned to a 250GB but the usable was only 40 due to the 100% clone (I have a Logicube hardware cloner).

The 40GB image only had 64MB swap and there was no room for more. I learned the difference between /dev/hdd and /dev/hdd4 (the 4 means partion #4 on that HD). So I followed the Hinsdale guide to do the mfsbackup|mfsrestore combination to an 80GB drive. This expands the size. It worked like a champ! I didn't put it in my DirecTIVO though, I was rolling.

So, I thought, the next step is to do the same mfsbackup|mfsrestore from the 80 back to the 250. I got the "Restore failed: Backup target not large enough for entire backup by itself" message. I, erroneously, thought that this was because the 250 still had partitions on it from the 40 clone. I tried deleting the partions via the PTV48 cd (pdisk) and with a Winder's 98 boot floppy. Same error. Back to TivoCommunity.

I find it is due to the fact you cannot do the expand twice. Man! I thought I was hosed. I really didnt'want to start all over again from the 40.

More searching on TivoCommunity where I learned about divorcing. That's the ticket. So I did a command (I found in a thread somewhere) that includes the -s switch on the backup.

So now I get to try my 250 in the DirecTIVO. Power on. Stops at the 'powering on' screen. Shoot! Try it again. Same. I start wondering if the kernel is LBA48 capable. OK. Try the backup again (only takes 10 minutes). Look at the partition table. Looks just fine. Try it again. No go.

I guess I will try the 80GB now. It boots just fine! Now I am really thinking about the LBA48. So I take a break to go work on my mother-in-law's Dish Network system.

When I get back, I thought about what is different between the 80 and 250 drives. It hits me, I had to remove the CS jumper on the 250 when I connected it to the PC (but not the 80). So, feeling confident, I put on the CS jumper and put in the 250...

No go, again! One step closer to starting over again. I put the 80 back in and start the DirecTIVO (we need it to watch some TV while I fix things). Now it won't come up! What have I done? Killed my DirecTIVO?

I go back to basic troubleshooting techniques. The IDE cable has wiggled loose just a little due to all the removal/installations. I push it back. The 80 comes up.

Hmmm. Do I dare? Could it be so simple? Sure. Let's put in the 250. It comes up! Relief wafts over me.

What have I learned from this?

o TivoCommunity is an AMAZING resource
o Check and recheck your hardware (both jumpers and cables)
o Don't give up

Again, thanks for all the help here. It was invaluable.

PS. Here is the current partition map. I hope it looks OK.

Partition map (with 512 byte blocks) on '/dev/hda'
#: type name length base ( size )
1: Apple_partition_map Apple 63 @ 1
2: Image Bootstrap 1 4096 @ 77261888 ( 2.0M)
3: Image Kernel 1 4096 @ 77265984 ( 2.0M)
4: Ext2 Root 1 262144 @ 77270080 (128.0M)
5: Image Bootstrap 2 4096 @ 77532224 ( 2.0M)
6: Image Kernel 2 4096 @ 77536320 ( 2.0M)
7: Ext2 Root 2 262144 @ 77540416 (128.0M)
8: Swap Linux swap 260096 @ 77802560 (127.0M)
9: Ext2 /var 262144 @ 78062656 (128.0M)
10: MFS MFS application region 1048576 @ 78324800 (512.0M)
11: MFS MFS media region 33100800 @ 44161088 ( 15.8G)
12: MFS Second MFS application region 1048576 @ 79373376 (512.0M)
13: MFS Second MFS media region 44161024 @ 64 ( 21.1G)
14: MFS New MFS Application 1024 @ 80421952
15: MFS New MFS Media 409804800 @ 80422976 (195.4G)
16: Apple_Free Extra 6976 @ 490227776 ( 3.4M)