2Gb boot partition limitation

rare_j · 29 April 2006, 13:14

Why do people recommend that the boot partition on an amiga drive is less that 2GB?

Is it possible to have a boot partition bigger than 2GB?

Just curious because I see this advice handed out regularly without explaination.

rare_j · 29 April 2006, 13:59

Excuse me, I did a search and found some answers

Quote:

You can access only the first 4GB of the drive and you can only create partitions of less then 2GB.

Quote:

FFS of WB3.1 cannot use partitions larger than 2GB and it can only access the first 4GB of the drive.

mr_a500 · 29 April 2006, 16:01

Quote:

Is it possible to have a boot partition bigger than 2GB?

You need a boot partition larger than 2Gb? My boot partiton is 75Mb and I have never needed more. (my Work partition is 3Gb, but that's using SFS)

Smiley · 29 April 2006, 16:42

Quote:

Originally Posted by mr_a500

You need a boot partition larger than 2Gb? My boot partiton is 75Mb and I have never needed more. (my Work partition is 3Gb, but that's using SFS)

I dont think he wants a boot partion bigger than 2gb....just curious

Quote:

Originally Posted by rare_j

Just curious because I see this advice handed out regularly without explaination.

adolescent · 29 April 2006, 23:13

It's possible (in theory). If you have a device like a Kickflash, Algor Pro/Romulus, eFlash, etc. you can patch the SCSI.DEVICE before boot. Other devices CSMK3/CSPPC/Fastlane might not have this restriction at all.

I haven't tried this with my Kickflash, as I agree that 2GB is more then enough.

adgloride · 01 May 2006, 17:10

My first boot partition is 4gb in size and I use OS 3.9. It can't be more than 4gb because of the limitations. But with the new file system OS 3.9 uses I can easily use my 20gb harddrive. What I have found though is that its probably better setting the first partition to 1gb so you have no problem using some of the harddrive installers you find on some of the applications.

pbareges · 01 May 2006, 19:24

i already faced such dilemnas when installing a 20GB HD on my amiga (OS3.0).

- from all what i read in EAB forums, i think the most valuable answer was that you can have partitions greater than 2Gb but single file
size limit is 2GB because of DOS. So to avoid getting files larger than 2Gb, the easiest way is to set partition size limit to 2Gb !!

- about the first 4Gb limitation problem...you can still patch FFS with a version handling direct SCSI so that you have no more limitation (i prefer this solution to others as you don't need to run any special instruction in your startup-sequence to patch the SCSI/IDE controller) - but you have to be careful and not use tools such as format with extended partitions

good luck

jmmijo · 02 May 2006, 16:37

Would you still have issues if you just created multiple partitions that were only 2GB in size to use up the rest of a 20 or 40 GB hard drive ?!?

I've been contemplating updating one of my A500/GVP Turbo machines with something larger then the 250MB drive installed in it now. But of course I don't really want to mess things up if I can help it

mr_a500 · 02 May 2006, 18:38

Quote:

I've been contemplating updating one of my A500/GVP Turbo machines with something larger then the 250MB drive installed in it now. But of course I don't really want to mess things up if I can help it

What Workbench do you have on your A500? I've got a 40Gb 2.5" drive in my A500 (WB3.1, 3.0ROMs). I only really need 4Gb, but you can't get a high speed 4Gb drive anymore so I got 40Gb and use the space beyond 4Gb for safe backup and storage. When I boot normally, I only see 4Gb - my 5 partitions for everyday use.

If I need to access my backup partitions beyond 4Gb, I click a button to run loadmodule with scsi.device 43 and when it reboots, I see all the other partitions beyond 4Gb (up to 40Gb). The beauty of this is that I save memory when I don't need to access the partitions beyond 4Gb (buffers for each partition take up RAM). Also, by not running it every time I don't have to have an annoying double boot every time I start my Amiga (only when I want to access my backups).

thomas · 02 May 2006, 21:41

Quote:

Originally Posted by jmmijo

Would you still have issues if you just created multiple partitions that were only 2GB in size to use up the rest of a 20 or 40 GB hard drive ?!?

The size of partitions does not matter. Partitions divide the HDD into logical parts, but the 4GB limit applies to the physical access. A different logical view does not change the physical problem.

dframeli · 28 May 2009, 23:50

Thomas,

I have an Amithlon system (using AmigaOS v3.9) that I'm trying to setup...

So, when I partition my hard drive, none of the partitions can be over 4GB total in size?

Is there a work around? For example, are there any free alternative file systems that work well and will allow me to create "work" partitions larger than 4GB?

Thanks,
Dale

rkauer · 29 May 2009, 04:15

Just a tip: if someone manage to de-validate a FFS boot partition, the re-validation process will take forever on a very large one.

Amithlon is a totally different matter, as it can use Linux file system, too.

zipper · 29 May 2009, 10:26

Quote:

Originally Posted by rkauer

Just a tip: if someone manage to de-validate a FFS boot partition, the re-validation process will take forever on a very large one.

Except for CSPPC users with U2WSCSI disk, 1 GB partition validates in about one minute.

Toni Wilen · 29 May 2009, 11:11

Quote:

Originally Posted by zipper

Except for CSPPC users with U2WSCSI disk, 1 GB partition validates in about one minute.

It is not size but number of files.

zipper · 29 May 2009, 11:48

And block size

rkauer · 30 May 2009, 05:19

... And no more than five sub-directories, when more than 5 sub-dirs exists and the problematic file on the last directory: good bye partition!

This is not "documented", but a bug people involved on translation of OS3.9 know. Old ATO times...

29 April 2006, 13:14	#1
rare_j Zone Friend Join Date: Apr 2005 Location: London Posts: 1,179	2Gb boot partition limitation Why do people recommend that the boot partition on an amiga drive is less that 2GB? Is it possible to have a boot partition bigger than 2GB? Just curious because I see this advice handed out regularly without explaination.

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29 April 2006, 23:13	#5
adolescent Powered by Motorola Join Date: Feb 2002 Location: Redondo Beach, CA Age: 52 Posts: 1,065	It's possible (in theory). If you have a device like a Kickflash, Algor Pro/Romulus, eFlash, etc. you can patch the SCSI.DEVICE before boot. Other devices CSMK3/CSPPC/Fastlane might not have this restriction at all. I haven't tried this with my Kickflash, as I agree that 2GB is more then enough.

01 May 2006, 17:10	#6
adgloride Amiga Mod Chipper Join Date: Jun 2004 Location: UK Age: 51 Posts: 229	My first boot partition is 4gb in size and I use OS 3.9. It can't be more than 4gb because of the limitations. But with the new file system OS 3.9 uses I can easily use my 20gb harddrive. What I have found though is that its probably better setting the first partition to 1gb so you have no problem using some of the harddrive installers you find on some of the applications.

01 May 2006, 19:24	#7
pbareges Registered User Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: montreal / canada Age: 47 Posts: 722	i already faced such dilemnas when installing a 20GB HD on my amiga (OS3.0). - from all what i read in EAB forums, i think the most valuable answer was that you can have partitions greater than 2Gb but single file size limit is 2GB because of DOS. So to avoid getting files larger than 2Gb, the easiest way is to set partition size limit to 2Gb !! - about the first 4Gb limitation problem...you can still patch FFS with a version handling direct SCSI so that you have no more limitation (i prefer this solution to others as you don't need to run any special instruction in your startup-sequence to patch the SCSI/IDE controller) - but you have to be careful and not use tools such as format with extended partitions good luck

02 May 2006, 16:37	#8
jmmijo Junior Member Join Date: Jan 2002 Location: PDX Age: 62 Posts: 2,396	Would you still have issues if you just created multiple partitions that were only 2GB in size to use up the rest of a 20 or 40 GB hard drive ?!? I've been contemplating updating one of my A500/GVP Turbo machines with something larger then the 250MB drive installed in it now. But of course I don't really want to mess things up if I can help it

28 May 2009, 23:50	#11
dframeli Registered User Join Date: Jan 2009 Location: Kyle, Texas (USA) Posts: 41	Thomas, I have an Amithlon system (using AmigaOS v3.9) that I'm trying to setup... So, when I partition my hard drive, none of the partitions can be over 4GB total in size? Is there a work around? For example, are there any free alternative file systems that work well and will allow me to create "work" partitions larger than 4GB? Thanks, Dale

29 May 2009, 04:15	#12
rkauer I hate potatos and shirts Join Date: Oct 2007 Location: Sao Leopoldo / Brazil Age: 58 Posts: 3,482	Just a tip: if someone manage to de-validate a FFS boot partition, the re-validation process will take forever on a very large one. Amithlon is a totally different matter, as it can use Linux file system, too.

29 May 2009, 11:48	#15
zipper Registered User Join Date: Mar 2004 Location: finland Posts: 1,843	And block size

30 May 2009, 05:19	#16
rkauer I hate potatos and shirts Join Date: Oct 2007 Location: Sao Leopoldo / Brazil Age: 58 Posts: 3,482	... And no more than five sub-directories, when more than 5 sub-dirs exists and the problematic file on the last directory: good bye partition! This is not "documented", but a bug people involved on translation of OS3.9 know. Old ATO times...

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