Re: [Freedos-user] very small FAT12 partition?

[Christian M. <cm...@bt...>]

> - a boot block (MBR) containing a valid description of the FS (number and
> 	size of FAT[s], CHS geometry, etc. - not all of which can be tuned
> 	using standard tools probably) - "BIOS Parameter Block" is what
> 	you want to look for (and compare against actual values in a
> 	standard size floppy image)

The CHS information is usually ignored by the driver and might be bogus.  
It sure is ignored if the partition is accessed directly by the operating  
system (from a file or RAM or ROM). Note that the FAT file system  
internally uses a sector addressing scheme like LBA: there is a sector  
number that counts the sectors starting from zero. Nothing else. The FAT  
driver doesn't care about heads and cylinders that might be addressed at a  
lower level.

The boot block is also called boot sector, but not MBR (Master Boot  
Record). The MBR isn't contained in any partition.

> - one or two FATs (starting with the magic code), big enough for your  
> *data* blocks

You certainly want only one if you have to utilize a very small partition.

Regards,
Christian