diff --git a/toolbox/newfs_msdos.c b/toolbox/newfs_msdos.c
index 4483cc0..779150e 100644
--- a/toolbox/newfs_msdos.c
+++ b/toolbox/newfs_msdos.c
@@ -811,20 +811,21 @@
     struct hd_geometry geom;
 
     if (ioctl(fd, BLKSSZGET, &bpb->bps)) {
-        fprintf(stderr, "Error getting bytes / sector (%s)", strerror(errno));
+        fprintf(stderr, "Error getting bytes / sector (%s)\n", strerror(errno));
         exit(1);
     }
 
     ckgeom(fname, bpb->bps, "bytes/sector");
 
     if (ioctl(fd, BLKGETSIZE, &bpb->bsec)) {
-        fprintf(stderr, "Error getting blocksize (%s)", strerror(errno));
+        fprintf(stderr, "Error getting blocksize (%s)\n", strerror(errno));
         exit(1);
     }
 
     if (ioctl(fd, HDIO_GETGEO, &geom)) {
-        fprintf(stderr, "Error getting gemoetry (%s)", strerror(errno));
-        exit(1);
+        fprintf(stderr, "Error getting gemoetry (%s) - trying sane values\n", strerror(errno));
+        geom.heads = 64;
+        geom.sectors = 63;
     }
 
     bpb->spt = geom.sectors;