From: dg AT dcs DOT st-and DOT ac DOT uk Message-Id: <2069.9702042204@dufftown.dcs.st-andrews.ac.uk> To: opendos AT mail DOT tacoma DOT net Subject: Re: [opendos] OpenDOS + Win95 w/FAT32? In-Reply-To: JonatTar@sbservices.com's message of Tue, 04 Feb 97 13:48:25 -0500. Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Date: Tue, 04 Feb 97 22:04:35 +0000 Sender: owner-opendos AT mail DOT tacoma DOT net Precedence: bulk > I'd slow down there yourself Brian... The IFS module system is only so >the OS can read extra Filesystems other then FAT.. an example config.sys >might have: > >IFS=c:\opendos\ext2.sys >IFS=c:\opendos\vfat.sys > > Now the OS could read/write to FAT, EXT2, or Windows 95's LFN FAT >system without seperate programs (dir, copy, etc..) used for each. Exactly. If I can reiterate: The way I envision it as something as follows. Say we have a totally standard kernel, OpenDOS 7.01. Yes, this is the one we all have installed now. This has FAT12 and FAT16 support built in. It will load, find (on my system) /dev/hda1 which is a FAT16 partition and mount it on C:. It will also find /dev/hdb1, a FAT12 partition, and mount this on D:. Then it runs the CONFIG.SYS file: DEVICE=C:\SYSTEM\UTILS\EXT2.SYS Ext2 IFS. This will find /dev/hdb2, my ext2 partition, and mount it on E:. DEVICE=...cd driver... Device specific CD driver. I need this because DOS can't see the CD drive. This is *not* an IFS module, though. DEVICE=C:\SYSTEM\UTILS\ISO9660.SYS Otherwise known as NWCDEX. This allocates a drive, F:, for and CD's. DEVICE=C:\SYSTEM\UTILS\MINIX.SYS Minix IFS. I don't have any Minix partitions, but it stays in memory anyway. If I insert a Minix floppy in drive A, I'll see it. So, now I have four drives: C, FAT16; D, FAT12; E, ext2; F, CD-ROM. (I also have G, a Stacker drive, but that uses a different interface and doesn't have to be explicitely loaded.) I don't have to use any special programs to access any of them. This will work: C: CD \GAMES DIR or E: CD \USR\LOCAL\LIB\MUSIC\MODULES DIR or (if I insert a CD) F: CD \PCGEOS\APPL\SDK_C DIR This can be done NOW. TODAY. Using EXISTING API's, EXISTING technology. I don't even need to recompile anything. All that has to be done is to find out how. It's perfectly possible --- NWCDEX does it, Personal Netware does it, XFS (an NFS client) does it, Interlink does it, Doublespace does it, Stacker does it... If the CONFIG.SYS is trashed, nothing goes wrong because FAT16 and FAT12 are built in to the kernel. Other IFS devices may include VFAT.SYS, UMSDOS.SYS, HFS.SYS (for Mac discs), XIAFS.SYS (for die-hard Linux users), even maybe PKZIP.SYS and TAR.SYS for viewing archives. All installable if you want them. A file system is just another driver. Try doing MEM /A. You'll see a list of all the drivers; there'll be a field beside each one for a device name. For example, I get (among others) CLOCK$ and PC$MOUSE. These are device files along the same lines as COM1, NUL, LPT1. (Try TYPE CLOCK$.) You'll also see drive letters there. That means that that device acts as a complete drive and not a simple file. It's using the IFS API. I'm sorry if I'm hammering this home too hard, but some people appear to be a little confused about what an IFS actually is... [Please do not cc: replies to me if they're also going to the list! I get enough email at the best of times without getting things twice] -- ------------------- http://www-hons-cs.cs.st-and.ac.uk/~dg -------------------- If you're up against someone more intelligent than you are, do something totally insane and let him think himself to death. --- Pyanfar Chanur ---------------- Sun-Earther David Daton Given of Lochcarron ------------------