Date: Wed, 1 Nov 1995 23:50:03 -0800 From: Andreas Haakh <ah@alvman.RoBIN.de> To: freebsd-bugs Subject: Re: misc/804: fdformat - patch to add DOS-filsystem Message-ID: <199511020750.XAA20206@freefall.freebsd.org>
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The following reply was made to PR misc/804; it has been noted by GNATS.
From: Andreas Haakh <ah@alvman.RoBIN.de>
To: ah@alvman.RoBIN.de, luigi@labinfo.iet.unipi.it
Cc: FreeBSD-gnats-submit@freebsd.org,
haakh%socrates@socrates.st.bauing.th-darmstadt.de
Subject: Re: misc/804: fdformat - patch to add DOS-filsystem
Date: Wed, 1 Nov 1995 23:02:00 +0100
Hi Luigi,
} > I added an option (-D) to write a dos-filesystem to the floppies.
} > The changes are based on msdosfs and mformat (mtools).
}
} hmmm...
}
} I don't like very much the idea of duplicating code (and possibly
} have to mantain multiple copies). Why don't you just make fdformat
} invoke mformat with the appropriate (possibly configurable) arguments
} ? This way, once mtools 2.XX (or hfstools or whatever) are upgraded
} to write a W95 (or HFS) filesystem, you get the new capabilities
} for free.
}
} Luigi
Well, the situation was the following: I needed an MSDOS floppy and
I had both of my computers running FreeBSD (one is FreeBSD-server, the
other usually runs OS/2 and from time to time FreeBSD if needed). I
usually don't need the mtools and I don't have them installed.
My idea was the following: MDSOS for floppies _is_ standard if
you want to exchange data between different oses. So, having no docs
on FAT available I started examining msdosfs and added something to
fdformat which worked for me (a kludge ;-). Then I thought about the
questions which arise in thee newsgroups from time to time about
fdformat not beeing able to create MSDOS-floppies and decided to
invest some more time in order to change the kludge to something
real ;-)) I remembered the mtools and looked into mformat in oder
to retrieve the parameters used for the biosparameterblock. That was
all. If You don't like it this way you can add and #ifdef MSDOSFS
around the additions and let the user decide weather he wants to
activate MSDOSFS or you can hide it and make it the default to
add the FAT-filesystem. It doesn't hurt if you use newfs afterwards.
And you don't have to maintain several copies of the code. I don't
think FAT will ever change so the addition will be static. Even OS/2
uses FAT for floppies so there is no need to supply HPFS. And if
some day somebody actually should write a filesystem for W95, well
then this somebody will probably modify fdformat because there is
already support for FAT.
Mformat is part of mtools and whoever needs them will install them.
Others will use mount_msdos if necessary and appreciate the addition
to fdformat.
I persomally dislike mformat because it only supplies the other half
of a 'real MSDOS-format' the creation of the filesystem.
Andreas
--
Andreas Haakh \ ah@alvman.RoBIN.de
Kirschberg 12 b \ +49 6155 62615
64347 Griesheim \_________________________________________
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