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X-Mass Application

Started by Ast, 15:18, 04 March 16

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Ast

I'm looking for someone who could test iMPdos v1.0 wip. Who is interrested ? PM please !
_____________________

Ast/iMP4CT. "By the power of Grayskull, i've the power"

http://amstradplus.forumforever.com/index.php
http://impdos.wikidot.com/
http://impdraw.wikidot.com/

All friends are welcome !

CraigsBar

IRC:  #Retro4All on Freenode

Singaja

#52
Quote from: Prodatron on 17:26, 15 March 16
Really cool video!
With FAT12/FAT16 you always start searching for a free cluster at the beginning of the FAT table. Problem with such special sectors (like #ff in your case) is, that it wouldn't meet the FAT standard anymore.
Let's say iMPdos is later used with a normal SYMBiFACE II as well. Here you may have completely different data storages connected (like small CF cards, harddiscs with different sizes etc.). You may want to read/write them at a PC as well. Having a static special sector like #FF for storing non-FAT-standard information could cause problems with the filesystem integrity then, and you don't know if sector #FF is already used for storing the FAT/files/directories on other storages, so maybe you even destroy something.
If you want to speed-up the cluster search, I would recommend to store the number of the first free cluster in ram. So when doing a search for the first time after you switched on the computer you have to walk through the whole FAT once, but after this you can use the cluster number stored in memory.
Couldn't the number be stored as a file or kinda "reused" 4 byte Volume Serial Number?
FAT Partition Boot Sector

Ast

_____________________

Ast/iMP4CT. "By the power of Grayskull, i've the power"

http://amstradplus.forumforever.com/index.php
http://impdos.wikidot.com/
http://impdraw.wikidot.com/

All friends are welcome !

Joseman

Quote from: Prodatron on 17:26, 15 March 16

Let's say iMPdos is later used with a normal SYMBiFACE II as well.

We want IMPdos compatible with our symbiface II !!   :D

TFM

Quote from: Joseman on 19:51, 15 March 16
We want IMPdos compatible with our symbiface II !!   :D


Yes, it would be great to be able to use SF2 and FAT file system in the native OS (12 years after the release of the hardware) eventually.  :) :) :)
TFM of FutureSoft
Also visit the CPC and Plus users favorite OS: FutureOS - The Revolution on CPC6128 and 6128Plus

Ast

Quote from: TFM on 20:20, 15 March 16

Yes, it would be great to be able to use SF2 and FAT file system in the native OS (12 years after the release of the hardware) eventually.  :) :) :)
Joseman, TFM, and others, my priority is the X-Mass but if I could, i will do it !
_____________________

Ast/iMP4CT. "By the power of Grayskull, i've the power"

http://amstradplus.forumforever.com/index.php
http://impdos.wikidot.com/
http://impdraw.wikidot.com/

All friends are welcome !

Joseman

Quote from: Ast on 20:54, 15 March 16
Joseman, TFM, and others, my priority is the X-Mass but if I could, i will do it !

As i understood, the xmass is hardware compatible with the SF2.

Is a pity that a good DOS as IMPdos is starting to be will not work on the great SF2 (that dozens of people have!)


Ast

i don' t know if iMPdos run or not with symbiface yet but i think the answer is yes !
_____________________

Ast/iMP4CT. "By the power of Grayskull, i've the power"

http://amstradplus.forumforever.com/index.php
http://impdos.wikidot.com/
http://impdraw.wikidot.com/

All friends are welcome !

Prodatron

Quote from: Singaja on 19:35, 15 March 16
Couldn't the number be stored as a file or kinda "reused" 4 byte Volume Serial Number?
FAT Partition Boot Sector

The problem is, that other filesystem implementations won't update it. So if iMPdos is using this, it won't be actual if another system wrote something on the storage. So you have to make a check for the first free cluster once anyway....

GRAPHICAL Z80 MULTITASKING OPERATING SYSTEM

Ast

So why not in the last sector ?
_____________________

Ast/iMP4CT. "By the power of Grayskull, i've the power"

http://amstradplus.forumforever.com/index.php
http://impdos.wikidot.com/
http://impdraw.wikidot.com/

All friends are welcome !

Prodatron

The question is:
How can iMPdos be sure, if the information is up to date?
Other FAT-systems won't update such a non-standard sector. So iMPdos will probably have to search for the first free cluster anyway.

GRAPHICAL Z80 MULTITASKING OPERATING SYSTEM

Ast

Finding the first free cluster is not a problem, iMPdos already does it!
_____________________

Ast/iMP4CT. "By the power of Grayskull, i've the power"

http://amstradplus.forumforever.com/index.php
http://impdos.wikidot.com/
http://impdraw.wikidot.com/

All friends are welcome !

Singaja

#63
The remaining 2 bytes could be squeezed out of constant signature 55 aa , last 2 bytes in the boot sector for fat12 & fat16. That would probably render it unusable under Dos/Windows so a tool would be needed to restore it.

EDIT: Fat12 has no serial number though, but I reckon it's not the format of prime focus.

EDIT2: Alternatively 2 or 6 bytes could be sacrificed from 8 byte OEM name/version. It shouldn't break compatibility like the signature thingie.

I use this for reference:

The FAT filesystem: FAT

Prodatron

Quote from: Ast on 22:36, 15 March 16
Finding the first free cluster is not a problem, iMPdos already does it!
Yes sure, so I think it's better to keep the FAT standard. For improving the performance for FAT16 it makes more sense to use RAM variables.

GRAPHICAL Z80 MULTITASKING OPERATING SYSTEM

Ast

Another video to show you how iMPdos runs a program copied on a directory.
Sorry for the bad quality!
Have fun!

_____________________

Ast/iMP4CT. "By the power of Grayskull, i've the power"

http://amstradplus.forumforever.com/index.php
http://impdos.wikidot.com/
http://impdraw.wikidot.com/

All friends are welcome !

||C|-|E||

It is absolutely great!  :D

Ast

Some informations about the last iMPdos version here but in French. Thanks to Dirtybb for his feed-back.
_____________________

Ast/iMP4CT. "By the power of Grayskull, i've the power"

http://amstradplus.forumforever.com/index.php
http://impdos.wikidot.com/
http://impdraw.wikidot.com/

All friends are welcome !

Singaja

I did a test with edited Fat16 partition on Windows 8.1
With oem name/version: CPC6128 and 0x0 padding in green
and volume serial set to OWNZ (actually the number as a serial is read as big endian).
Windows didn't complain and the partition is fully useable 8)


CraigsBar

So is impdos a replacement for acmedos? Is acmedos shelved? Or are we in the crazy situation of having 2 close to completion amsdos fat32 drivers? Am I the only one confused?
IRC:  #Retro4All on Freenode

Ast

All i Know is i'm working Hard to offer you a solution to use your x-Mass. ACMEdos or iMPdos, that will be your choice ;-)

@Singaja : Thanks for informations !

_____________________

Ast/iMP4CT. "By the power of Grayskull, i've the power"

http://amstradplus.forumforever.com/index.php
http://impdos.wikidot.com/
http://impdraw.wikidot.com/

All friends are welcome !

Ast

Quote from: Singaja on 20:47, 16 March 16
I did a test with edited Fat16 partition on Windows 8.1
With oem name/version: CPC6128 and 0x0 padding in green
and volume serial set to OWNZ (actually the number as a serial is read as big endian).
Windows didn't complain and the partition is fully useable 8)

Soon you could do that directly with iMPdos...
_____________________

Ast/iMP4CT. "By the power of Grayskull, i've the power"

http://amstradplus.forumforever.com/index.php
http://impdos.wikidot.com/
http://impdraw.wikidot.com/

All friends are welcome !

Token

Quote from: CraigsBar on 20:51, 16 March 16
So is impdos a replacement for acmedos? Is acmedos shelved? Or are we in the crazy situation of having 2 close to completion amsdos fat32 drivers? Am I the only one confused?
I think it's FAT16, saying it's a replacement for Acmedos is a bit harsh. People have their preferences and some will need FAT32 for more space.

CraigsBar

Ahhh, so one is fat16 and the other fat32. I think I'll vote acmedos.
IRC:  #Retro4All on Freenode

Ast

ACMEdos is FAT16 too :)
_____________________

Ast/iMP4CT. "By the power of Grayskull, i've the power"

http://amstradplus.forumforever.com/index.php
http://impdos.wikidot.com/
http://impdraw.wikidot.com/

All friends are welcome !

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