> Your advice, on the surface, is sound, but, how compatible are these
> file systems with the older ones? We already know that the safest way
> to format a harddisk is not to use International or DirCache features.
> What are the caveats for SmartFileSystem and PFS? I ask this because
> I heard that they sometimes act hinky and do not allow you to easily
fix
> your drive.
Hi Julian (weird emailing someone with the same name)
In the months I've been using PFS3 I have never had to repair my drive
once.
I have heard reports of directory structures being lost when repairing
PFS3
formatted drives but my attitude is if it never goes wrong I don't have
to
worry about it. You've also got to consider that seeing that PFS3 is so
robust,
if it did break, then it'd be a sure bet that whatever broke it would
also have
irrepairably wiped out files under any other file system. Whatever file
system
you use and on whatever platform (PC, MAC, Amiga etc) you are always
very strongly advised to take periodic backups of important data (I
learned
that one the very hard way in the 'Dark Days' before PFS3).
Prior to PFS3 the amount of software I lost (not to mention the time in
sorting
the drives) was crazy. Since PFS3, I have not lost a single bit of
software and
not spent a second in restoring drives. Other advantages is that is is
so much
faster. I can open my fonts: directory and have it open this side of
Christmas
now.
> after V crashes the computer, the computer self reboots (without human
> intervention), then, let it do its thing. When I allowed it to do
everything
> by itself, it did validate the cartridge and I was all set.
Unfortunately this doesn't always work. In fact I say that before I got
PFS3
the self validations worked about 1 in 10 times. The rest of the time
the
repair didn't work and the drive still ended up invalidated. Then I was
left
to spending hours trying to repair the drive with Quarterback Tools and
Disksalve, both of those occasionally being hit and miss. Under
DiskSalve
I can't tell you how many times I was driven to despair by the repaired
drive reporting 'Block xxxx out of Range' after an hour of so called
repairing
and numerous files being commited to that big HD in the sky.
> It basically is what would have happened if you would have used
> DiskDoctor on a floppy.
Mmmm, I wouldn't count on that one either. The self validation (as
limited as
it is) is far better than DiskDoctor. DskDoctor was the most dangerous
piece
of software ever bundled with the Amiga IMO.
> How do the other filesystems work with this situation?
I'll sum PFS3 up this way. Nowadays, when my computer crashes, I never
worry for even a second over the integrity of my HDs; The thought just
simply doesn't pop up anymore. Even when things appear to seize when
writing to my HD, I don't have any qualms whatsoever in turning off my
machine and turning it back on. My drives *always* work. In all honesty
I now take it all for granted. I don't think you can ask any more of any
file
system. It has been the one thing within the last year which has had the
most
profound affect on my experience of Amiga and how I treat my machine.
Rgds
Jules
_____________________________________________________________________
Voyager Mailing List - http://v3.vapor.com/
Voyager FAQ....: http://faq.vapor.com/voyager/
Listserver Help: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Subject=HELP
Unsubscribe....: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Subject=UNSUBSCRIBE
