Host Protected Area detected by default

Binary package hint: linux-image-2.6.22-14-generic

Running Ubuntu 7.10 (Gutsy Gibbon)

The Ubuntu kernel detects my hard drive's Host Protected Area by default, allowing me to create partitions within this area. Other distributions (Arch Linux, specifically) do not detect this area, and complain that the partitions created from Ubuntu exceed the drive's capacity.

From Ubuntu's dmesg:

[ 3.936000] ata1.00: Host Protected Area detected:
[ 3.936000] current size: 231496650 sectors
[ 3.936000] native size: 234441648 sectors
[ 3.936000] ata1.00: native size increased to 234441648 sectors
[ 3.936000] ata1.00: ATA-7: WDC WD1200BEVS-75LAT0, 02.06M02, max UDMA/133
[ 3.936000] ata1.00: 234441648 sectors, multi 8: LBA48 NCQ (depth 0/1)
[ 3.952000] ata1.00: configured for UDMA/133

While booting Arch Linux now, the kernel throws numerous error messages! A snip from Arch's dmesg:

Feb 21 15:27:00 Argon Driver 'sr' needs updating - please use bus_type methods
Feb 21 15:27:00 Argon Driver 'sd' needs updating - please use bus_type methods
Feb 21 15:27:00 Argon sd 0:0:0:0: [sda] 231496650 512-byte hardware sectors (118526 MB)
Feb 21 15:27:00 Argon sd 0:0:0:0: [sda] Write Protect is off
Feb 21 15:27:00 Argon sd 0:0:0:0: [sda] Mode Sense: 00 3a 00 00
Feb 21 15:27:00 Argon sd 0:0:0:0: [sda] Write cache: enabled, read cache: enabled, doesn't support DPO or FUA
Feb 21 15:27:00 Argon sd 0:0:0:0: [sda] 231496650 512-byte hardware sectors (118526 MB)
Feb 21 15:27:00 Argon sd 0:0:0:0: [sda] Write Protect is off
Feb 21 15:27:00 Argon sr0: scsi3-mmc drive: 24x/24x writer cd/rw xa/form2 cdda tray
Feb 21 15:27:00 Argon Uniform CD-ROM driver Revision: 3.20
Feb 21 15:27:00 Argon sr 1:0:0:0: Attached scsi CD-ROM sr0
Feb 21 15:27:00 Argon sd 0:0:0:0: [sda] Mode Sense: 00 3a 00 00
Feb 21 15:27:00 Argon sd 0:0:0:0: [sda] Write cache: enabled, read cache: enabled, doesn't support DPO or FUA
Feb 21 15:27:00 Argon sda: sda1 sda2 sda3 sda4 < sda5 >
Feb 21 15:27:00 Argon sda: p5 exceeds device capacity
Feb 21 15:27:00 Argon sd 0:0:0:0: [sda] Attached SCSI disk
Feb 21 15:27:00 Argon attempt to access beyond end of device
Feb 21 15:27:00 Argon sda: rw=0, want=234436337, limit=231496650
Feb 21 15:27:00 Argon Buffer I/O error on device sda5, logical block 74678016
Feb 21 15:27:00 Argon attempt to access beyond end of device
Feb 21 15:27:00 Argon sda: rw=0, want=234436339, limit=231496650
Feb 21 15:27:00 Argon Buffer I/O error on device sda5, logical block 74678017
*** SNIP ***
Feb 21 15:27:00 Argon attempt to access beyond end of device
Feb 21 15:27:00 Argon sda: rw=0, want=234436531, limit=231496650
Feb 21 15:27:00 Argon Buffer I/O error on device sda5, logical block 74678113
Feb 21 15:27:00 Argon attempt to access beyond end of device
Feb 21 15:27:00 Argon sda: rw=0, want=234436533, limit=231496650
Feb 21 15:27:00 Argon attempt to access beyond end of device
Feb 21 15:27:00 Argon sda: rw=0, want=234436535, limit=231496650
*** SNIP ***
Feb 21 15:27:00 Argon attempt to access beyond end of device
Feb 21 15:27:00 Argon sda: rw=0, want=234436545, limit=231496650
Feb 21 15:27:00 Argon kjournald starting. Commit interval 5 seconds
Feb 21 15:27:00 Argon EXT3-fs: mounted filesystem with ordered data mode.

Running fsck on Arch also throws hundreds of errors:

Error reading block ######## (Attempt to read block from filesystem resulted in short read) while getting next inode from scan. Ignore error<y>? yes

Force rewrite<y>? yes

It seems silly (and rude) to detect a purposely hidden area of the hard drive by default and to allow partitions to be created in this region. Not only is this area protected for a reason (I believe it contains either Dell diagnostic tools or software for the Computrace feature), but it makes partitions created in Ubuntu incompatible with other distributions (kernel versions). From what I understand, the OS cannot even write to the HPA (but I may be incorrect about this), so why bother including it?