Is my drive too large? Is there an ATA limit to the BIOS in Parallels?

sck_nogas

Junior Member
I've been a happy BootCamp/Parallels user for the past two months, but recently I've had a problem.

1) My old HD died and Apple swapped my 160GB for a 200GB, slower but larger... Okay, can't blame Parallels for that. ;)
2) I re-did the SAME install steps to get a triple boot system.
3) I used the SAME configuration for Parallels to boot off my Windows XP.
​
Yet, now I can't boot Either the Linux Bootcamp partition or the Windows XP Bootcamp partition like I could before. The only differences between the two setups is...

1) The new laptop rebuild has a 40GB larger drive.
2) The new laptop rebuild is running Build 3188 vs Build 3186
​
The errors I get are...

Windows XP
Windows-XP_failed_boot.jpg
Linux
Linux_failed_boot.jpg

So, I surmise that the Parallels BIOS has the ATA-5 limit aka the 128 GiB / 137 GB Barrier since my new partitioning looks like this...

Code:
Biko:~/Documents/Parallels sck$ diskutil list disk0
/dev/disk0
   #:                   type name               size      identifier
   0:  GUID_partition_scheme                    *186.3 GB disk0
   1:                    EFI                    200.0 MB  disk0s1
   2:              Apple_HFS Biko               131.0 GB  disk0s2
   3:   Microsoft Basic Data UNTITLED           14.5 GB   disk0s3
   4:   Microsoft Basic Data Windows_XP         40.0 GB   disk0s4

So, does anyone have a BootCamp partition that is past the ATA limit and Parallels Desktop can boot it? :confused:

Scott
 
Yes, I can boot into BootCamp just fine. In fact, I can boot BOTH the Linux and Windows XP Bootcamp images natively. I just can't get Parallels to boot/find either of them. :(

Scott
 
It sounds like there is a BIOS imposed limit then... If so, it's sorta lame... I don't have a need for one that big yet, but I foreseeably do in a few years.
 
Well, we'll see what Parallels Support has to say.

I've submitted this to them before I created the forum thread.

Scott
 
Re: [Parallels #140704] [Web Support]: Not able to Boot my Bootcamp Windows XP

Okay, sent a web ticket in On Tuesday, 4/17/07 around 11:20 AM PST....

Got the automated reply on On Tuesday, 4/17/07 11:28 AM, which said... "Our support engineer will contact you within 3 business days"

Sent an update on Tuesday, 4/17/07 11:35 AM.

Sent another update on On Tuesday, 4/17/07 12:18 PM.

Sent another update on On Friday, 4/20/2007 5:52 PM. After the 3 day window expired...

It's now a full week, aka 5 business days with no response from support? How many days does it take to get a response?:mad:

Scott

-----Original Message-----
From: Kennedy, Scott C.
Sent: Fri 4/20/2007 5:52 PM

I've heard no response on this issue since I've sent in the request three
days ago, and there's been no helpful solutions in the forum.

Is this a valid problem? Have you seen this on other users with large hard
drives who have a bootcamp partition that is farther than 132 GBs onto the
disk?

Scott


On 4/17/07 12:18 PM, "Scott Kennedy" <XXXX> wrote:

> I've also posted this question in the Forum.
>
> http://forum.parallels.com/showthread.php?p=55809
>
> Scott
>
>
> On 4/17/07 11:47 AM, "Scott Kennedy" <XXXX> wrote:
>
>> Or could it be that I went from a 160GB hard drive to a 200GB hard drive, and
>> thus both the Windows and Linux partitions that I have are beyond 132GB?
>>
>> My old configuration was...
>> 1) 100GB Mac OS-X
>> 2) 20 GB Linux
>> 3) 40 GB Windows
>>
>> Thus the boot sector for each Parallels OS was the ATA Interface Limit (128
>> GiB / 137 GB) Barrier
>>
>> "To get around past hard disk barriers, most modern hard disks are now no
>> longer addressed using discrete geometry (cylinder, head and sector numbers)
>> but rather logical block addressing and a sector number. However, even if we
>> go away from the problems associated with assigning some bits in an address
>> to
>> cylinder number and others for head number and sector number, we eventually
>> reach the limit of the addressability of all the bits taken together. In the
>> case of the ATA interface, 28 bits are used for the sector number interface
>> between the operating system, BIOS and the hard disk. This means a hard disk
>> can have a maximum of 2^28 or 268,435,456 sectors of 512 bytes. This puts the
>> ATA interface maximum at 128 GiB or approximately 137.4 GB."
>>
>> However, with the new drive I have...
>> Biko:~/Documents/Parallels sck$ diskutil list disk0
>> /dev/disk0
>> #: type name size identifier
>> 0: GUID_partition_scheme *186.3 GB disk0
>> 1: EFI 200.0 MB disk0s1
>> 2: Apple_HFS Biko 131.0 GB disk0s2
>> 3: Microsoft Basic Data UNTITLED 14.5 GB disk0s3
>> 4: Microsoft Basic Data Windows_XP 40.0 GB disk0s4
>>
>> The reason for this idea is when I tried to boot the non-support Linux
>> Bootcamp partition I got a "Selected cylinder exceeds maximum supported by
>> BIOS" error from grub.
>>
>> Scott
>>
>> On 4/17/07 11:35 AM, "Scott Kennedy" <XXXXX> wrote:
>>
>>> FYI, the error I get is...
>>>
>>> Boot from Hard drive.... Missing Operating System
>>>
>>> Yet, I can boot this partition natively.
>>>
>>> Scott
>>>
>>> On 4/17/07 11:28 AM, "Parallels Desktop Support via RT"
>>> <desktop@parallels.com> wrote:
>>>
>>>> Thank you for contacting Parallels Support!
>>>>
>>>> This message has been automatically generated in response to the creation
>>>> of
>>>> a
>>>> trouble ticket regarding:
>>>> "[Web Support]: Not able to Boot my Bootcamp Windows XP, Scott",
>>>> a summary of which appears at the end of the message.
>>>>
>>>> There is no need to reply to this message right now. Please DO NOT change
>>>> the
>>>> subject line of the email in any future correspondence about this issue.
>>>>
>>>> Our support engineer will contact you within 3 business days. We thank you
>>>> for
>>>> your patience and look forward to answering your question as soon as
>>>> possible!
>>>>
>>>> Sincerely,
>>>> The Parallels Support Team
>>>>
>>>> -------------------------------------------------------------------------
>>>> Person name : Scott
>>>> Company name : XXXX
>>>> Phone : X
>>>> Country : US
>>>> E-Mail : XXXXX
>>>>
>>>> Subject: Not able to Boot my Bootcamp Windows XP
>>>> Type of Mac: MacBook Pro Core 2 Duo
>>>> Guest Operating Systems: Windows XP Professional
>>>> Your Mac total amount of memory: 3GB
>>>> Amount of memory you specify for guest OS: 768MB
>>>> Where did you buy our product?: From an online store
>>>> Build number: 3188
>>>> Please choose the type of your question: Question on using of the Software
>>>> Please describe the problem here: I have a triple boot Bootcamp system,
>>>> which
>>>> WORKED under build 3186, yet after replacing my hard drive I can no longer
>>>> boot my BootCamp windows partition using build 3188.
>>>>
>>>> Here is my disk configuration...
>>>>
>>>> Biko:~ sck$ diskutil list disk0
>>>> /dev/disk0
>>>> #: type name size identifier
>>>> 0: GUID_partition_scheme *186.3 GB disk0
>>>> 1: EFI 200.0 MB disk0s1
>>>> 2: Apple_HFS Biko 131.0 GB disk0s2
>>>> 3: Microsoft Basic Data UNTITLED 14.5 GB disk0s3
>>>> 4: Microsoft Basic Data Windows_XP 40.0 GB disk0s4
>>>>
>>>> And this is my PREVIOUSLY working PVS file for booting off the disk0s4
>>>> partition.
>>>>
>>>> [System]
>>>> Boot = c
>>>> Parallels VM Name = Microsoft Windows XP
>>>> VM Id = {dc69ff7f-bc02-4e94-9610-35bc1336c967}
>>>> VM Description =
>>>> OS Type = 135
>>>> Memory = 768
>>>> Video Memory = 16
>>>> Memory block size = 10
>>>> Acceleration level = 2
>>>> Enable write-back disk cache = 1
>>>> VT-x support = 1
>>>> Start auto = 0
>>>> AutoShutdown = 0
>>>> Start full screen = 21
>>>> Start dashmode = 0
>>>> Start full screen warning = 1
>>>> PC Speaker enable = 1
>>>> Window Mode = 1
>>>> Multi frame = -1
>>>> Guest Tools Status = 2
>>>> [Shared folders]
>>>> Shared folders enabled = 0
>>>> Sharing enabled = 2
>>>> Shared folders count = 0
>>>> [Video]
>>>> Video resolutions enabled = 1
>>>> Video resolutions count = 0
>>>> [Coherence]
>>>> Show taskbar = 0
>>>> Relocate taskbar = 0
>>>> Exclude Dock = 1
>>>> Multiple displays = 0
>>>> [IDE devices]
>>>> Disk 0:0 enabled = 1
>>>> Disk 0:0 = 1
>>>> Disk 0:0 media = 1
>>>> Disk 0:0 connected = 1
>>>> Disk 0:0 image = Boot Camp;disk0s4
>>>> Disk 0:0 cylinders = 65016
>>>> Disk 0:0 heads = 16
>>>> Disk 0:0 sectors = 63
>>>> Disk 0:1 enabled = 1
>>>> Disk 0:1 = 2
>>>> Disk 0:1 media = 0
>>>> Disk 0:1 connected = 1
>>>> Disk 0:1 image = /Library/Parallels/Tools/vmtools.iso
>>>> Disk 1:0 enabled = 0
>>>> Disk 1:0 = 0
>>>> Disk 1:1 enabled = 0
>>>> Disk 1:1 = 0
>>>> [Floppy disks]
>>>> Floppy 0 enabled = 0
>>>> Floppy 0 = 1
>>>> [Serial ports]
>>>> COM1 enabled = 0
>>>> COM1 = 0
>>>> COM2 enabled = 0
>>>> COM3 = 0
>>>> COM4 enabled = 0
>>>> COM4 = 0
>>>> [Parallel ports]
>>>> LPT1 enabled = 0
>>>> LPT1 = 0
>>>> LPT2 enabled = 0
>>>> LPT2 = 0
>>>> LPT3 enabled = 0
>>>> LPT3 = 0
>>>> [Sound]
>>>> Sound enabled = 1
>>>> Sound = 1
>>>> Sound connected = 1
>>>> Sound device = Default Audio
>>>> Mixer device = Default Audio
>>>> [Network]
>>>> Network enabled = 1
>>>> Network = 3
>>>> Network connected = 1
>>>> Adapter No = 0
>>>> Adapter name = Default Adapter
>>>> Adapter type = 4
>>>> Port = 0x00000300
>>>> IRQ = 3
>>>> MAC address = 0064fe883d7c
>>>> Network2 enabled = 0
>>>> Network2 = 0
>>>> Network3 enabled = 0
>>>> Network3 = 0
>>>> Network4 enabled = 0
>>>> Network4 = 0
>>>> Network5 enabled = 0
>>>> Network5 = 0
>>>> [Usb]
>>>> USB enabled = 1
>>>> USB = 1
>>>> USB autoconnect = 0
 
We are working :)
It's just takes time to reproduce this kind of configuration made using that not-so-official guide and find out the source of the problem :) We'll poke the developers about this too, just be patient please.
 
Last edited:
At last, a response!!!

Okay, here's how to reproduce this (steps 1-8 have already been repeated by me)....

1) Get a 200 GB drive (or larger)
2) Install Mac OS-X 10.4 on it
3) Update Mac OS-X to latest version
4) Install BootCamp 1.2, create a 20 GB partition for Windows. Leaving 180Gb for Mac.
5) Install Windows XP (as normal)
6) Install Parallels Desktop
7) Try to boot Bootcamp partition.
8) Boot Windows via Bootcamp to show that Windows does boot.
9) Repeat steps 7 & 8 while debugging... :)
10) Send me a alpha/beta version to test. :p
11) Announce new version, dance and sing. GO TO NEXT ISSUE.

Step 7 fails. I did this with my weird triple boot config, and then did it again with a plain normal OS-X install with nothing else besides 10.4, bootcamp 1.2, Windows XP SP2, and Parallels Desktop build 3188.

Scott
PS> Thank you for the response, and double thanks to Eru Ithildur for the compassion and plea for support!:cool:
 
Problem Solved. User confused.

Okay, now I'm REALLY puzzled...

I got this cryptic reply from Parallels Support.
On 4/24/07 9:45 AM, "James Romanov via RT" <support@parallels.com> wrote:

> Hello, Scott.
> Thank you for contacting Parallels support.
> Let me apologize for this inconvenience in e-mail support. We have the
> same problem with Windows XP and Vista in Bootcamp and we are
> investigating this problems.
> Please try to use
> Disk 0:0 image = Boot Camp;disk0s4;disk0s3
> Please send me the results of your attempt.
> Thank you in advance.
> Best regards
> James
So, I changed my PVS file entry to match and was all ready to say, "it failed" when the DARN thing booted!

I had a minor hiccup with the 'hit ctrl-alt to free keyboard' step, since when I booted the Bootcamp Windows image in Parallels, I did not have a working keyboard & mouse on the initial boot. So, I attached the USB device "Apple keyboard and trackpad" to the Windows side and could now login and type. But since, I did not have the Parallels Tools installed, I added them and re-booted the Windows side, and it worked, life was great. Until I tried to email Parallels support back...

My keyboard didnt' work. Hmmm, neither did the Apple trackpad. Hmmm but my Bluetooth mouse works and it can switch in and out of the Parallels window...

So, I plugged in a USB keyboard, typed the email, and rebooted my Mac.

I booted Windows XP via Bootcamp, it worked.
I booted Fedora Linux via Bootcamp, it worked too.
I boot Mac OS-X with a working keyboard and trackpad now, and tried booting Windows via Parallels, and it's happy too.

So, I got an answer from support. It works, but I don't get how it worked.
Code:
Biko:~/Documents/Parallels sck$ diskutil list disk0
/dev/disk0
   #:                   type name               size      identifier
   0:  GUID_partition_scheme                    *186.3 GB disk0
   1:                    EFI                    200.0 MB  disk0s1
   2:              Apple_HFS Biko               131.0 GB  disk0s2
   3:   Microsoft Basic Data UNTITLED           15.0 GB   disk0s3
   4:   Microsoft Basic Data Windows_XP         40.0 GB   disk0s4
So they asked me to add the Linux Bootcamp partition as a second entry in the Windows Partition statement for Parallels? I wonder if it's because that partition is just on the other side of the 132 GB boundary? Who knows...

I've asked support, why it worked, but I'm happy now.

Scott :)
 
Still having the same problem

I've updated the "Triple Boot Bootcamp & Parallels working for Windows but not Linux." thread about this issue.

Basically...

  • MacBook Pro with 200GB drive, formatted 131GB Mac, 15GB Linux, 40GB Windows.
  • rEFIt instlled as a boot selector.
  • All three OS's boot natively and are fully operational.
  • After adding the Linux partition details to the Bootcamp line of the Windows PVS file, Windows boots under Parallels.
  • When booting just the Linux partition, GRUB complains "Error 18: Selected cylinder exceeds maximum supported by BIOS"

So, how does one solve this issue?

Scott
 
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