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Re: Silence is golden but The AOD Virtual Partition waits for no man (or woman)

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"Benjamin David Lunt" wrote:
> "Mike Gonta" wrote:
>> The first draft of The AOD Virtual Partition Specification
>> is out and at:
>> https://groups.google.com/forum/#!topic/alt.os.development/xog2w8JqOmI
>> as well as your favorite newsreader.

> For example, once the kernel file(s) are found on this
> FAT32, you have to read the FAT table and transverse
> through it to read all sectors of that file(s).

A simple system does not need the complex process of reading
sectors. It simply transfers one cluster (by following the
chain) at a time until the file is loaded. Nothing as
complex as fread.

> If you know you already have to do that, why can't you
> just integrate it into your FAT32 boot code and read the
> Root Directory just like it was a file?

The Virtual Partition has nothing to do with boot code,
which is simple enough already. The difference between
loading and traversing a "fixed" size table vs loading and
traversing a large dynamic file (a directory can be up to
2MB) is considerably more than a "few lines code" as well as
much more complex.

> As for the size of the FAT, most of the time, say 99% of
the time, all needed files for booting are in the same
place, relative to each other.  Once you figure out where,
you really only have to read that part of the FAT table.

Loading and traversing a manageable (64K) "fixed" size FAT
table is much less code and complexity vs a potentially very
large FAT table.
Accessing the root and FAT table of the Virtual Partition is
simple and easy 100% of the time.

> My FAT32 boot code ....

The Virtual Partition is designed for the beginner. It is a
way to begin a simple system, easy to implement and easy to
understand (like a simple FAT12 system). It is fully
compliant with the MS FAT32 specification and fully
supported by all existing FAT32 systems (even yours). The
only difference is that those (and yours) are not a simple
specification for a simple FAT32 system that a beginner
could implement.
Moreover, when faced with the question of where to begin, it
is always best to begin at the beginning.


Mike Gonta
look and see - many look but few see

http://mikegonta.com
http://tawk.to/mikegonta

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Silence is golden but The AOD Virtual Partition waits for no man (or woman) "Mike Gonta" <mikegonta@gmail.com> - 2016-04-05 16:22 -0400
  Re: Silence is golden but The AOD Virtual Partition waits for no man (or woman) "Benjamin David Lunt" <zfysz@fysnet.net> - 2016-04-05 19:21 -0700
    Re: Silence is golden but The AOD Virtual Partition waits for no man (or woman) "Mike Gonta" <mikegonta@gmail.com> - 2016-04-10 18:22 -0400
      Re: Silence is golden but The AOD Virtual Partition waits for no man (or woman) "Benjamin David Lunt" <zfysz@fysnet.net> - 2016-04-10 17:42 -0700
        Re: Silence is golden but The AOD Virtual Partition waits for no man (or woman) "Mike Gonta" <mikegonta@gmail.com> - 2016-04-11 04:55 -0400
    Re: Silence is golden but The AOD Virtual Partition waits for no man (or woman) "Mike Gonta" <mikegonta@gmail.com> - 2016-04-11 05:15 -0400
      Re: Silence is golden but The AOD Virtual Partition waits for no man (or woman) "Benjamin David Lunt" <zfysz@fysnet.net> - 2016-04-11 13:15 -0700
        Re: Silence is golden but The AOD Virtual Partition waits for no man (or woman) "Mike Gonta" <mikegonta@gmail.com> - 2016-04-11 18:21 -0400

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