(Non-) Matching of BIOS parameters and parted disk analysis

[Daniel P. Katz]

Hi.

I want to use parted to shrink a large (13G) partition by about 3G and
then create a new partition in that 3G.  When I start up parted
(v. 1.0.13 on a Debian GNU/Linux 2.2 box), it gives the following disk
analysis and warning:

        Using /dev/hda
        Warning: The operating system thinks the geometry on /dev/hda
                 is 19846/32/63. 
        You should check that this matches the BIOS geometry before
            using this program. 

When I check my BIOS settings, they seem to say that I have
512/32/63.  They also list 'LBA' mode and a LANDZ value of 39692.  Of
course, the motherboard documentation doesn't describe this in any
detail.  

So the question is:  should I be worried about the discrepancy in the
number of cylinders reported, or is this just more BIOS stupidity?

Sorry if this is a FAQ, but I didn't find  FAQ list and didn't see an
answer to this in the mailing list archive.

Thanx.

Dan