Re: [Freedos-devel] Does FreeDOS (or something) sometime automatically break up an hard disk in 2GB sub-disks?
Hi, On 6 Oct 2021, at 23:12, Steve Nickolas wrote: > On Wed, 6 Oct 2021, tom ehlert wrote: > >> users will have FAR more than 60 GB disk size and you can have only 24 drive letters from C: to Z: >> >>> Up to 32 under some DOS/Windows versions: >>> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drive_letter_assignment#Common_assignments >> >> while technically true, it just doesn't make ever sense to have setup >> split *automatically* a hard disk into 24 (or 32) partitions. >> >> this auto partitioning option(?) simply should go the way of the dodo. >> >> Tom > > For what it's worth, while MS-DOS and PC DOS autopartition, DR DOS doesn't, > and just runs FDISK. > > That is probably the better route? > it would be a better route with an expanded FDISK utility that has a less hostile interface for beginners and offers an "auto-partitioning" feature. Some of the BSD-Unix installers (OpenBSD, NetBSD) could be used as inspiration. Greetings Carsten signature.asc Description: OpenPGP digital signature ___ Freedos-devel mailing list Freedos-devel@lists.sourceforge.net https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/freedos-devel
Re: [Freedos-devel] Does FreeDOS (or something) sometime automatically break up an hard disk in 2GB sub-disks?
On Wed, 6 Oct 2021, tom ehlert wrote: users will have FAR more than 60 GB disk size and you can have only 24 drive letters from C: to Z: Up to 32 under some DOS/Windows versions: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drive_letter_assignment#Common_assignments while technically true, it just doesn't make ever sense to have setup split *automatically* a hard disk into 24 (or 32) partitions. this auto partitioning option(?) simply should go the way of the dodo. Tom For what it's worth, while MS-DOS and PC DOS autopartition, DR DOS doesn't, and just runs FDISK. That is probably the better route? -uso. ___ Freedos-devel mailing list Freedos-devel@lists.sourceforge.net https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/freedos-devel
Re: [Freedos-devel] Does FreeDOS (or something) sometime automatically break up an hard disk in 2GB sub-disks?
>> users will have FAR more than 60 GB disk size and you can >> have only 24 drive letters from C: to Z: > Up to 32 under some DOS/Windows versions: > https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drive_letter_assignment#Common_assignments while technically true, it just doesn't make ever sense to have setup split *automatically* a hard disk into 24 (or 32) partitions. this auto partitioning option(?) simply should go the way of the dodo. Tom ___ Freedos-devel mailing list Freedos-devel@lists.sourceforge.net https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/freedos-devel
Re: [Freedos-devel] Does FreeDOS (or something) sometime automatically break up an hard disk in 2GB sub-disks?
>> users will have FAR more than 60 GB disk size and you can
>> have only 24 drive letters from C: to Z:
> Up to 32 under some DOS/Windows versions:
> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drive_letter_assignment#Common_assignments
While you CAN have up to 32 drive letters, it's usually not a good idea to have
more than 26. The problem is that the drive letters are referred to as the
ASCII characters that follow Z, which are:
[\]^_`
It is VERY difficult (usually impossible) to enter these drive "letters" into a
program, or even into the DOS command-line. For example, the root directory of
the 28th drive is:
\:\
which is not something many programs would understand. So, while it's possible
to have more than 26, it's rarely a good idea.
I've read that the 4DOS command shell has special "escape sequences" that allow
you to overcome the problems on the command-line, but AFAIK no other DOS
command-line has anything like that -- not even MS-DOS.
E.g., I have a LASTDRIVE=32 line in my CONFIG.SYS for MS-DOS 7.1 ("DOS 98") and
when I do a:
\:
to try and switch to the 28th drive, it acts like I did nothing at all. It
should give me an "Invalid drive specification" error message like it does if I
type "M:".
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Re: [Freedos-devel] Does FreeDOS (or something) sometime automatically break up an hard disk in 2GB sub-disks?
Hi Eric, > users will have FAR more than 60 GB disk size and you can > have only 24 drive letters from C: to Z: Up to 32 under some DOS/Windows versions: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drive_letter_assignment#Common_assignments Cheers, Robert -- +++ BTTR Software +++ Home page: https://www.bttr-software.de/ DOS ain't dead: https://www.bttr-software.de/forum/ ___ Freedos-devel mailing list Freedos-devel@lists.sourceforge.net https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/freedos-devel
Re: [Freedos-devel] Does FreeDOS (or something) sometime automatically break up an hard disk in 2GB sub-disks?
As the function to autoformat in fdisk is relatively small, let me copy it here:
First function in the file:
https://gitlab.com/FDOS/base/fdisk/-/blob/master/SOURCE/FDISK/FDISK/FDISKIO.C
/* Automatically partition the selected hard drive */
void Automatically_Partition_Hard_Drive()
{
int index=0;
/* unsigned long maximum_partition_size_in_MB; */
Partition_Table *pDrive = &part_table[(flags.drive_number-128)];
Determine_Drive_Letters();
/* First, make sure no primary or extended partitions exist. */
/* Compaq diagnostic partitions are ok, though. */
do
{
if( (brief_partition_table[(flags.drive_number-128)] [index]>0) &&
(brief_partition_table[(flags.drive_number-128)][index]!=18) )
{
printf("\nThe hard drive has already been partitioned...Program
Terminated.\n");
exit(7);
}
index++;
}while(index<4);
/* Create a primary partition...if the size or type is incorrect, */
/* int Create_Primary_Partition(...) will adjust it automatically.*/
Determine_Free_Space();
Set_Active_Partition(Create_Primary_Partition(6,2048));
/* Create an extended partition, if space allows. */
Determine_Free_Space();
if( pDrive->pri_part_largest_free_space > 0)
{
Create_Primary_Partition(5,99ul);
/* Fill the extended partition with logical drives. */
Determine_Free_Space();
do
{
Create_Logical_Drive(6,2048);
Determine_Free_Space();
/* maximum_partition_size_in_MB
= (pDrive->ext_part_largest_free_space+1)*
(pDrive->total_head+1)*
pDrive->total_sect / 2048; */
}while( (pDrive->ext_part_largest_free_space > 0)
&& (Determine_Drive_Letters()<'Z') );
}
}
So, at first glance it confirms the idea: Make a primary 2 GB partition, then
add 2 GB logical partitions until there is no free space.
It's better than what I expected... I mean it is written in C not in
assembler... except for boot sector code ... of course.
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Re: [Freedos-devel] Does FreeDOS (or something) sometime automatically break up an hard disk in 2GB sub-disks?
it's 2021? On Fri, Sep 24, 2021 at 4:50 PM Paul Dufresne via Freedos-devel wrote: > > Le ven., 24 sept. 2021 13:22:11 -0400 Eric Auer > écrit > > > > > Hi Jerome, > > > > > If ... there are no partitions on the target hard drive, > > > it tells fdisk to automatically partition the drive... > > > > > If there is a command line option to perform automatic > > > partitioning using a single big partition, I am unaware of it. > > > > If FDISK defaults to making 1000 partitions of 2 GB each > > when you have a 2 TB drive, that is utterly useless. MOST > > users will have FAR more than 60 GB disk size and you can > > have only 24 drive letters from C: to Z: > > > > This makes FreeDOS look ridiculously 1980s, sorry. Any > > workarounds possible? > > > > Regards, Eric > > Well... looks like we are using indeed 1980 technology in 2021. > > The FDISK docs says that /AUTO disk partition the disk with FAT16 partitions. > https://help.fdos.org/en/hhstndrd/fdisk.htm > > We know FAT16 bigger partition size is 2GB: > https://softwareengineering.stackexchange.com/questions/370180/why-can-fat16-not-store-more-than-2-gb > > We probably don't want to break current /AUTO for people using it to do 2 GB > partitions... [supposing such persons exist] > > Then we probably need a new option (/AUTOFAT32 ?) that would partition in ... > well... ideally would find the minimum of "full disk" > and BIOS maximum supported size according to bits in LBA... I suppose. > > ... or much more simply... force user to format manually and never autoformat > the disk? > > > ___ > Freedos-devel mailing list > Freedos-devel@lists.sourceforge.net > https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/freedos-devel ___ Freedos-devel mailing list Freedos-devel@lists.sourceforge.net https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/freedos-devel
Re: [Freedos-devel] Does FreeDOS (or something) sometime automatically break up an hard disk in 2GB sub-disks?
Le ven., 24 sept. 2021 13:22:11 -0400 Eric Auer écrit > > Hi Jerome, > > > If ... there are no partitions on the target hard drive, > > it tells fdisk to automatically partition the drive... > > > If there is a command line option to perform automatic > > partitioning using a single big partition, I am unaware of it. > > If FDISK defaults to making 1000 partitions of 2 GB each > when you have a 2 TB drive, that is utterly useless. MOST > users will have FAR more than 60 GB disk size and you can > have only 24 drive letters from C: to Z: > > This makes FreeDOS look ridiculously 1980s, sorry. Any > workarounds possible? > > Regards, Eric Well... looks like we are using indeed 1980 technology in 2021. The FDISK docs says that /AUTO disk partition the disk with FAT16 partitions. https://help.fdos.org/en/hhstndrd/fdisk.htm We know FAT16 bigger partition size is 2GB: https://softwareengineering.stackexchange.com/questions/370180/why-can-fat16-not-store-more-than-2-gb We probably don't want to break current /AUTO for people using it to do 2 GB partitions... [supposing such persons exist] Then we probably need a new option (/AUTOFAT32 ?) that would partition in ... well... ideally would find the minimum of "full disk" and BIOS maximum supported size according to bits in LBA... I suppose. ... or much more simply... force user to format manually and never autoformat the disk? ___ Freedos-devel mailing list Freedos-devel@lists.sourceforge.net https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/freedos-devel
Re: [Freedos-devel] Does FreeDOS (or something) sometime automatically break up an hard disk in 2GB sub-disks?
Hi Jerome, > If ... there are no partitions on the target hard drive, > it tells fdisk to automatically partition the drive... > If there is a command line option to perform automatic > partitioning using a single big partition, I am unaware of it. If FDISK defaults to making 1000 partitions of 2 GB each when you have a 2 TB drive, that is utterly useless. MOST users will have FAR more than 60 GB disk size and you can have only 24 drive letters from C: to Z: This makes FreeDOS look ridiculously 1980s, sorry. Any workarounds possible? Regards, Eric ___ Freedos-devel mailing list Freedos-devel@lists.sourceforge.net https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/freedos-devel
Re: [Freedos-devel] Does FreeDOS (or something) sometime automatically break up an hard disk in 2GB sub-disks?
> On Sep 23, 2021, at 7:52 AM, Paul Dufresne via Freedos-devel > wrote: > > Ok... when I wake up this morning... I realized I knew more of this problem > than I thought. > > Having look at the installer scripts before, I kind of remember that in some > case it split the > image file (normally the FreeDOS image file) in 2 GB chunks. I did not > understood it clearly. > > Shidel would know what I am talking... I hope. This is what happens… If the installer sees there are no partitions on the target hard drive, it tells fdisk to automatically partition the drive. The installer neither knows nor cares the size or number of partitions that will be created. It just tells fdisk to auto-partition the drive. If there is a command line option to perform automatic partitioning using a single big partition, I am unaware of it. If multiple 2GB partitions isn’t acceptable, you can partition the drive by hand before installing. The installer will see the usable partition and not attempt to re-partition the drive. > It is a bit like if it was my hard disk that was cut in 2 GB chunks rather > than the USB FreeDOS image. > > I'll mark the laptop for future tests... like FreeDOS install on random > erased disk. But my priority is to figure out why an > other computer have corrupted video when coming back from suspend to ram on > Linux. > > > ___ > Freedos-devel mailing list > Freedos-devel@lists.sourceforge.net > https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/freedos-devel ___ Freedos-devel mailing list Freedos-devel@lists.sourceforge.net https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/freedos-devel
Re: [Freedos-devel] Does FreeDOS (or something) sometime automatically break up an hard disk in 2GB sub-disks?
Ok... when I wake up this morning... I realized I knew more of this problem than I thought. Having look at the installer scripts before, I kind of remember that in some case it split the image file (normally the FreeDOS image file) in 2 GB chunks. I did not understood it clearly. Shidel would know what I am talking... I hope. It is a bit like if it was my hard disk that was cut in 2 GB chunks rather than the USB FreeDOS image. I'll mark the laptop for future tests... like FreeDOS install on random erased disk. But my priority is to figure out why an other computer have corrupted video when coming back from suspend to ram on Linux. ___ Freedos-devel mailing list Freedos-devel@lists.sourceforge.net https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/freedos-devel
Re: [Freedos-devel] Does FreeDOS (or something) sometime automatically break up an hard disk in 2GB sub-disks?
Tom said: > Why do you need to subdivide the 60 GB hard disk into 2 GB partitions? It's not that I need to subdivide into 2 GB partition. This newly bought old laptop was saying "No OS". And while booting FreeDOS it was showing almost a screen full of 2 GB partitions... I kind of assume it was a bug or a feature... was not really believing it had really many 2 GB partitions... would have to be GPT. But I did not even launched fdisk to check... now, many hours later, I realize how weird it was... and wrote previous email. I regret that I was not in a mood to investigate when it happened. ___ Freedos-devel mailing list Freedos-devel@lists.sourceforge.net https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/freedos-devel
Re: [Freedos-devel] Does FreeDOS (or something) sometime automatically break up an hard disk in 2GB sub-disks?
from Paul Dufresne: X-CMAE-Envelope: MS4xfKd47ohH1YA36A1losjJBot7GMwkbWvOtl6rINYtlwRqOtViYfQBlfD8+fdrx5Ja3Acjmqrcs9xT5E9Y0aXU/dbJaMGb3FiVk8MHG+pxyDGGbaY9K6o3 CK18XJ3z3AvBfnljWAMf796346rVTM2GyhX18cbKccZ+PF2SCc8WVh6cNlQd0OOZHCStVzgCrr7fQ7m1f7vjW/dam6WG81EaL6k= > [-- Attachment #1 --] > [-- Type: multipart/alternative, Encoding: 7bit, Size: 2.5K --] > Content-Type: multipart/alternative; > boundary="=_Part_44948_433422294.1632371148895" > Content-Type: text/plain; charset="UTF-8" > Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit > I was testing an old laptop (Thinkpad I think, 2 cores, with a 60 GB hard > disk). > I wanted to install a Linux, but as the CPU was 32 bits, I had some > difficulty finding a 32 bits OS. > One of my USB keys, had FreeDOS beta on it... so I tried it. > When installing, I saw (was scrolling fast)... that it was assigning letters > to a lot (maybe A: to L:), to > 2 GB hard drives it was detecting. I did not care that much, and tried to > install on the 2 Gb first disk C:. > And it installed fine... except not long after I found an other USB key with > Debian 32 bits and installed it. > I am pretty sure the laptop have only one 60 GB hard disk and not many 2 GB > hard disk. > I came to my mind that maybe the kernel or the installer... knows more than > me that the BIOS is limited > to 2 GB, and somehow it chop the disk in 2 GB sub-disks... maybe the BIOS > itself could do it... > Have you heard of such things before? Why do you need to subdivide the 60 GB hard disk into 2 GB partitions? You can make a partition, like maybe the first, with just under 8 GB and format FAT32. I assume the laptop with 60 GB hard disk was designed to be bootable from such a hard disk and that the boot code would not have to be confined to the first 2 GB? Tom ___ Freedos-devel mailing list Freedos-devel@lists.sourceforge.net https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/freedos-devel
[Freedos-devel] Does FreeDOS (or something) sometime automatically break up an hard disk in 2GB sub-disks?
I was testing an old laptop (Thinkpad I think, 2 cores, with a 60 GB hard disk). I wanted to install a Linux, but as the CPU was 32 bits, I had some difficulty finding a 32 bits OS. One of my USB keys, had FreeDOS beta on it... so I tried it. When installing, I saw (was scrolling fast)... that it was assigning letters to a lot (maybe A: to L:), to 2 GB hard drives it was detecting. I did not care that much, and tried to install on the 2 Gb first disk C:. And it installed fine... except not long after I found an other USB key with Debian 32 bits and installed it. I am pretty sure the laptop have only one 60 GB hard disk and not many 2 GB hard disk. I came to my mind that maybe the kernel or the installer... knows more than me that the BIOS is limited to 2 GB, and somehow it chop the disk in 2 GB sub-disks... maybe the BIOS itself could do it... Have you heard of such things before?___ Freedos-devel mailing list Freedos-devel@lists.sourceforge.net https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/freedos-devel
