[ale] If you own (almost) ANY HDD, repartition with 4k boundaries

[Ron Frazier (ALE)]

Phil Turmel <philip at turmel.org> wrote:

>On 01/07/2013 10:34 AM, Ron Frazier (ALE) wrote:
>> Hi Phil,
>> 
>> I tried googling around on this for a while but couldn't find
>> anything conclusive.  I could be wrong about this, but, I would be
>> willing to bet an entirely trivial amount of money that, if you
>> install Win XP on bare metal on a 4K drive, with the 1st partition
>> starting at sector 2048, that you won't be able to boot unless you
>> replace the boot loader with the one from Vista, 7, or something like
>> Grub.  (My English teacher would love that sentence.)  I have no way
>> to try this however, so, unless someone tries it or knows the answer,
>> it may remain a mystery.
>
>Thanks to this list, I have M350 mini-itx HTPC parts coming soon.  I
>can
>do a quick test of XP to settle this before I put the real system on it
>(MythTV frontend).
>
>I'd consider the cost of a beverage of choice after the next meeting to
>be trivial enough. :-)
>
>Phil

Hi Phil,

OK, I guess I left myself open for that.  I'll make the bet under the following criteria.  I have to clarify some things so we're on the same page.  Here's what you have to do to win.

You must get Windows XP running on bare metal on an advanced format HDD , partitioned on 1 MiB boundaries, with XP's own bootloader as follows:

* This bet is between Ron Frazier and Phil Turmel only.  No other participants can claim the prize.  Helpers are allowed.
* Windows XP must be running on bare metal, no virtual machines.
* The storage medium must be a hard drive, not an ssd or a hybrid drive.
* The hard drive must have 4 KB physical sectors.  This must be documented on the hard drive maker's site.  Please provide a link.
* You may NOT use the jumper on some drives that lies to the pc and claims sector 64 is 63.
* AFTER the XP installation.  The first partition of the hard drive must begin on sector 2048 according to gparted.  A screenshot of the gparted information screen for that partition will act as proof.  If Windows XP repartitions the drive during installation and changes the beginning sector, it must be repartitioned again to put the beginning sector at 2048.  The hard should use MBR format.
* Windows XP must be installed on the first partition.
* Once the installation is done, Windows XP must boot and load properly on the above referenced hard drive..  A screenshot of the my computer properties screen will act as proof.
* Windows XP must boot with its own native bootloader.  If you have to repair a failed boot sequence, you may use only the Windows XP install disk, not Windows Vista or 7 or 8.  If you use a Linux tool to repair a broken boot sequence, you cannot replace the Windows XP bootloader.  Booting to Grub, for example, is not allowed.
* Results of the testing should be published here to ALE with screenshots linked to in a publicly accessible place.
* If you get it working, you have to tell the rest of us how you did it.

If you get it working under these conditions, I will buy you a drink up to $ 5.  If you try and fail, I get the $ 5.

Let me know what you think.  8-)

Sincerely,

Ron



--

Sent from my Android Acer A500 tablet with bluetooth keyboard and K-9 Mail.
Please excuse my potential brevity.

(To whom it may concern.  My email address has changed.  Replying to former
messages prior to 03/31/12 with my personal address will go to the wrong
address.  Please send all personal correspondence to the new address.)

(PS - If you email me and don't get a quick response, you might want to
call on the phone.  I get about 300 emails per day from alternate energy
mailing lists and such.  I don't always see new email messages very quickly.)

Ron Frazier
770-205-9422 (O)   Leave a message.
linuxdude AT techstarship.com