  The question of whether the known virial coefficients are enough to determine
the packing fraction $\eta_\infty$ at which the fluid equation of state of a
hard-sphere fluid diverges is addressed. It is found that the information
derived from the direct Pad\'e approximants to the compressibility factor
constructed with the virial coefficients is inconclusive. An alternative
approach is proposed which makes use of the same virial coefficients and of the
equation of state in a form where the packing fraction is explicitly given as a
function of the pressure. The results of this approach both for hard-disk and
hard-sphere fluids, which can straightforwardly accommodate higher virial
coefficients when available, lends support to the conjecture that $\eta_\infty$
is equal to the maximum packing fraction corresponding to an ordered
crystalline structure.
