partmap 15 limit Revisited

[Derick Centeno]

I thought it might be helpful to mention that it is possible to attack
the problem of using SCSI disks from a totally different perspective. 
This is something that I've done with my own system so I know it works.
Get a SCSI to IDE adapter!

On Sun, 2004-06-06 at 16:28, mascarasnake wrote:
> As an afterthought, I'd still like to know why Panther is creating those 
>    whaked partitions
> 
> Daniel Gimpelevich wrote:
> > mascarasnake <dontdrill <at> earthlink.net> writes:
> > 
> > 
> >>Before my question, just a note to Dr. Clint. One of the reasons *nix is 
> >>so great; I type this email from my 586 (FC1) ssh -X'd into my 7500 
> >>while I try to rearrange my drives on my G3. Maybe a little too geeky, 
> >>but, damn that's cool.
> >>
> >>Now my question -
> >>
> >>Has anyone else had this funky partmap thing come up? I'm unable to 
> >>combine the partitions using pdisk on the mac side, using Disk Druid, or 
> >>using anaconda's pdisk.
> >>_______________________________________________
> >>yellowdog-general mailing list
> >>yellowdog-general <at> lists.terrasoftsolutions.com
> >>http://lists.terrasoftsolutions.com/mailman/listinfo/yellowdog-general
> >>HINT: to Google archives, try  '<keywords> site:terrasoftsolutions.com'
> >>
> >>
> > 
> > 
> > If you look at the major and minor device numbers in the /dev/hdXX and /dev/sdXX
> > entries you will see that /dev/hdXX entries advance to the next disk every 64
> > minor device numbers, but /dev/sdXX entries advance to the next disk every 16
> > minor device numbers! That means that while the Linux kernel could theoretically
> > address 63 partitions on IDE devices, only 15 are possible on SCSI or
> > SCSI-emulated devices. This flaw is built into the Linux kernel by design, and
> > I'm not sure why. This limitation is present on ALL Linux computers, regardless
> > of platform or partitioning scheme. I believe it's very likely that this will
> > NEVER be fixed.
> > 
> > It is possible to use the pdisk on the YDL 3.0.1 (not 3.0) rescue disk to
> > combine adjacent free partitions. Use the 't' command on the second free
> > partition in a row and change the type to 'crap' or some such thing. Then delete
> > that partition. Voila! One Apple_Free partition!