This would be trivial if the real disk geometry was simple, without
variations in the number of sectors per cylinder. It isn't so though.
Manufacturers can sometimes fit more sectors on the outer cylinders,
this gives faster transfers and more data in those areas. Figuring
out the real geometry with timing tests is not simple in this case, there may
be lots of different sector counts and you have no idea where they change.
You would need to do timing tests on every physical cylinder (not
knowing where they start in the first place) and build a big table.
Not something we want during bootup. And timing could go wrong
if anything else happen with the machine in the meantime.
Helge Hafting
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