Date: Tue, 30 Jul 1996 13:27:59 -0700 (MST) From: Terry Lambert <terry@lambert.org> To: rnordier@iafrica.com (Robert Nordier) Cc: jkh@time.cdrom.com, pst@shockwave.com, hackers@FreeBSD.ORG, current@FreeBSD.ORG Subject: Re: anyone working on upgrading the msdosfs to NetBSD levels? Message-ID: <199607302027.NAA00470@phaeton.artisoft.com> In-Reply-To: <199607221808.UAA00225@eac.iafrica.com> from "Robert Nordier" at Jul 22, 96 08:08:11 pm
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> The FAT fs primitives are done and tested and I'm currently working > on VFAT support. > > Microsoft is shortly to be introducing a FAT32 filesystem to Windows > 95 which will increase maximum filesystem size from 2 (or 4, for > NT) gigabytes to 2 terabytes. The new filesystem makes use of > 32-bit (as opposed to 12-bit and 16-bit) FAT entries and will > require a fundamentally different handling of boot record, FATs, > and root directory, so I'm busy on provision for this also. I have a beta copy of this in house right now. It is intended solely for the OEM market. I think it will require a reinstall to share the disk in any case, since FIPS/PARTED/etc. doesn't understand the disk layout. In general, you will only ever see it on preinstalled systems. > The changes required for FAT32 support would probably be rather > difficult to graft onto the msdosfs at this stage: possibly another > factor supporting the decision to re-implement DOS/Win filesystem > support on FreeBSD. A reimplementation of the current/NetBSD code would be necessary to handle VFAT32. It is not *that* different than FAT, since it has to support Drivespace compression, which under Windows95 uses an undocumented ioctl() to get a block list back for a file (that's how their swap file is allowed to be non-contiguous, as well). > FAT32 is supposedly due for public release in the fall. I'm > currently working towards a similar release date for the new > filesystem. I think it's ready now. The limiting factor is going to be MS's OEM release date. Don't expect to install VFAT32 yourself, since NT can't mount VFAT32 partitions, and MS wants everyone to move to NT (Windows95 has always been billed as a transition product). Terry Lambert terry@lambert.org --- Any opinions in this posting are my own and not those of my present or previous employers.
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