CrossDOS/MSH IBM Partition
Dylan Kucera
Has anyone managed to successfully set up CrossDOS or MSH to access an
IBM Partition (not a Hardfile) created with PC TASK?
I include below the definitions I used for the parition, the first is for
PC-TASK, and it works fine. The second is for CrossDos and it doesn't
recognize the drive. I have tried a very similar definition with MSH and
that failed with the same problem.
If someone understands how to set up the CrossDos/MSH partition, please
take a quick look and comment!
This is what my IBMC paritition definition looks like:
IBMC:
Device = scsi.device
Unit = 0
Surfaces = 4
BlocksPerTrack = 34
LowCyl = 1435 ; HighCyl = 1541
DosType = 0x4D534800
#
Hence, I have a similar definition to CROSSDOS:
DHI0:
Device = scsi.device
Unit = 0
Flags = 0
Surfaces = 4
BlocksPerTrack = 34
Reserved = 1
Interleave = 0
/* SecOrg = 1 */
LowCyl = 1435 ; HighCyl = 1541
FileSystem = L:MSDOSFileSystem
Stacksize = 4000
Priority = 5
GlobVec = -1
DosType = 0x4D534800
Buffers = 5
BufMemType = 1
#
That's it. Any clues? Do I have to skip or reorganize any cylinders for
CrossDos to recognize the bootblock????
Thanks for looking!
DK.
Mark Habinski
I'm afraid I can't help you here. I have the same problem though, and its
quiite annoying. When I try to access my IBMC: from Pc-Tasks through
Cross Dos, I'm told that the device is not the right Dostype for an ms dos
device. From Pc-tasks, it works fine, but its a pain, having to dl files
onto my amiga partion, copy them onto ms-dos floppies, and then onto the
ms-dos partition, rather than onto the partition directly. I too would
appreciate any suggestions on how to correct this problem.
--
_____ _
( \ \ \ /__/ ) | A mind is a terrible thing to waste.
\ \ \ark_/ /abinski | A waist is a terrible thing to mind.
| So why do we find ourselves constantly doing both?
Bill Kindel
> IBM Partition (not a Hardfile) created with PC TASK?
>
> I include below the definitions I used for the parition, the first is for
> PC-TASK, and it works fine. The second is for CrossDos and it doesn't
> recognize the drive. I have tried a very similar definition with MSH and
> that failed with the same problem.
>
> If someone understands how to set up the CrossDos/MSH partition, please
> take a quick look and comment!
I had the same problem with an MS-DOS partition that I created with the
ATonce board in my A500. Fortunately, an earlier post in this newsgroup
provided the missing (but essential) pieces. In order to minimize
confusion, I'll use the following prefix codes to identify the context in
which each potentially-ambiguous term is viewed.
HD is the hard drive perspective, as viewed by HDToolbox.
AD is the AmigaDOS perspective.
CD is the CrossDOS perspective. I can't speak for MsH.
MS is the MS-DOS perspective. For example, one can use fdisk to
create two MS-partitions in a single HD-partition.
There are two tricks that made the difference when I finally got things
to work between ATonce and CrossDOS. The first is that even though
ATonce ignores the DosType, the CrossDOS mountlist entry must specify it
as you have done, which is "DosType = 0x4D534800". The second trick
is that CrossDOS is sensitive to the device name of the CD-partition
being mounted. If it is MS-partition 0, then it must end with a "C". If
it is MS-partition 1, then it must end with a "D". In looking at your
CD-mountlist entry (below), that looks to be what is preventing you
from mounting the partition successfully. You do NOT have to do any
magic calculations to act as if the geometry of the CD-partition is
different than the actual HD-partition geometry. (Thank goodness! 8^)
In my own case, I've marked the HD-partition (which points to the
AmigaDOS FFS in order to make it recognizable to the ATonce configuration
program) so that it does NOT automount. The ATonce boot process mounts
it at first reference, which means I'm not presented at AmigaDOS boot
time with an icon for an AD-partition that can't be used by the FFS.
No, thankfully (see above). There ARE a couple of other considerations
you must be made aware of.
- As warned in an earlier posting, Vortex (ATonce & bridgeboard) users
who want to use SMARTDRV from MS-DOS MUST specify double buffering in
the MS-DOS CONFIG.SYS file. (This might not apply to the case at hand.)
The consequences are improper SCSI operation for their MS-partitions.
- CrossDOS and MsH don't currently know how to decompress MS-partitions
that use STACKER or MS-DOS V6 compression. The latter would make a
nice addition for CrossDOS v6.0, but I haven't heard anything from
Consultron thus far. (hint, hint 8^)
Good luck. I consider MS-DOS to be an "evil necessity", which is why I
put up with all of the above. Now that I can easily pass files between
AmigaDOS and MS-DOS, things are almost tolerable.
--
========================================================================
Bill Kindel Voice: (617) 621-7395
Research Institute Fax: (617) 621-8696
Open Software Foundation Internet: kin...@osf.org
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Standard Disclaimer: The opinions expressed above are my own and do
not necessarily represent those of my employer.
========================================================================
Terry Ricketts
>I'm afraid I can't help you here. I have the same problem though, and its
>quiite annoying. When I try to access my IBMC: from Pc-Tasks through
>Cross Dos, I'm told that the device is not the right Dostype for an ms dos
>device. From Pc-tasks, it works fine, but its a pain, having to dl files
>onto my amiga partion, copy them onto ms-dos floppies, and then onto the
>ms-dos partition, rather than onto the partition directly. I too would
>appreciate any suggestions on how to correct this problem.
Well I replied to the original poster via email but it seems that others
might also need the info too. The mountlist shown by the original poster
was using an old version of CrossDos. That may have been the problem. In
your case I would bet that when you setup the partition you did not do two
things that are important. 1. the file system must be set to 'custom'.
2. The ID mask must be set to the value in the mountlist. I do not know
what your partitioning software was. I used HDToolBox. You just click on the
appropriate gadgets and enter the data.
Terry
| Terry Ricketts | Internet: te...@lick.ucsc.edu
| Senior Electronics Engineer | lo...@lick.ucsc.edu
| UCO/Lick Observatory, Electronics Lab | Phone: 408-459-2110
| University of Calif, Santa Cruz |
Dan E Babcock
>>
>
> - CrossDOS and MsH don't currently know how to decompress MS-partitions
> that use STACKER or MS-DOS V6 compression. The latter would make a
> nice addition for CrossDOS v6.0, but I haven't heard anything from
> Consultron thus far. (hint, hint 8^)
Hmm, not likely. :-)
> Good luck. I consider MS-DOS to be an "evil necessity", which is why I
> put up with all of the above. Now that I can easily pass files between
> AmigaDOS and MS-DOS, things are almost tolerable.
Another thing to remember is to never access the HD partition used by your
ATonce (or whatever) while the IBM is running (unless you really know what
you're doing!). CrossPC sends an Inhibit message to the filesystem (CrossDOS)
to prevent this.
Dan
Dan E Babcock
>In article <C7q0q...@freenet.carleton.ca> ad...@Freenet.carleton.ca (Mark Habinski) writes:
>
>was using an old version of CrossDos. That may have been the problem. In
>your case I would bet that when you setup the partition you did not do two
>things that are important. 1. the file system must be set to 'custom'.
>2. The ID mask must be set to the value in the mountlist. I do not know
>what your partitioning software was. I used HDToolBox. You just click on the
>appropriate gadgets and enter the data.
Well, you can do those things, but you'll still need a mountlist, unless you
also install the CrossDOSFileSystem on your RDB (which is NOT recommended).
It would be nice if the RDB spec allowed a pathname to a filesystem, but it
doesn't. Anyway, if you're using a mountlist it does not matter one iota
what's on the RDB. The commercial CrossDOS comes with a utility to automaticallygenerate the right mountlist (actually mountfile).
Dan
Joseph Luk
> Alright, I give up!
>
> Has anyone managed to successfully set up CrossDOS or MSH to access an
> IBM Partition (not a Hardfile) created with PC TASK?
I haven't tried it yet myself, but you should download IBeM and read the
docs contained in the package. It tells you how to calculate the proper
cylinder and surfaces values so that CrossDOS will bypass the partition
table and treat the disk as a normal MS-DOS disk.
Chris Hames
>In a previous article, djku...@undergrad.math.uwaterloo.ca (Dylan Kucera) says:
>>Has anyone managed to successfully set up CrossDOS or MSH to access an
>>IBM Partition (not a Hardfile) created with PC TASK?
>>
Yes I have of course as well as others.
>> FileSystem = L:MSDOSFileSystem
This is what I think is the problem. The CrossDOS filesystem has been
names "CrossDOSFileSystem" for quite some time now. This suggests you are
using a old version of CrossDOS which might not know how to get past MSDOS
partition info or how to handle the MSH\0 DosType.
The Workbench 2.1/3.0 CrossDOS filesystem is named "CrossDOSFilesystem" as
well as the one that comes with the CrossDOS 5 disk.
>I'm afraid I can't help you here. I have the same problem though, and its
>quiite annoying. When I try to access my IBMC: from Pc-Tasks through
>Cross Dos, I'm told that the device is not the right Dostype for an ms dos
>device. From Pc-tasks, it works fine, but its a pain, having to dl files
>onto my amiga partion, copy them onto ms-dos floppies, and then onto the
>ms-dos partition, rather than onto the partition directly. I too would
>appreciate any suggestions on how to correct this problem.
It seems you have the same problem.
If you have seperate mountlist entries for PC-Task and CrossDOS and have a
recent version of CrossDOS it should work fine.
Email me if you need any more help.
--
Chris Hames
Internet: by...@werple.apana.org.au
ADSP: chr...@hames.adsp.sub.org
FidoNet: 3:633/353
Mattias Dahlberg
> If you have seperate mountlist entries for PC-Task and CrossDOS and have a
> recent version of CrossDOS it should work fine.
I thoght the Mountlist was kind of obselete in WB 2.1 and 3.0. Is there an
'icon system' to mount those mentioned partitions?
--
=========================================================
= Regards = email: = 1280x512x262000+ =
= Mattias = matt...@dsv.su.se = I love it. =
=========================================================
= If we don't *buy* our programs, there soon won't be =
= any new software for the Amiga. Obvious, is it not? =
=========================================================
Jeremy Elgin
: Chris Hames (by...@werple.apana.org.au) wrote:
: I thoght the Mountlist was kind of obselete in WB 2.1 and 3.0. Is there an
: 'icon system' to mount those mentioned partitions?
In 2.1+ the icons are cosmetics, if you view the file in DOSDrivers you will
see a mountlist style entry there, C:Mount uses the file name for the device
node (ie. what used to be the first line in a mountlist entry eg. RAD:) and
doesn't want the # at the end either. One mount entry for each file, the new
startup-sequence mounts everything in DEVS:DOSDrivers and this DOSDrivers
can be used similarly to WBStartup - for devices though.
Or if you place a mountlist entry in SYS:Storage/DOSDrivers then it will not
be mounted at boot time, but you in the Shell you typed `Mount BLARG:' and
there was a file called SYS:Storage/DOSDrivers/BLARG then Mount will find
it, neat eh!
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Jer...@l42south.equinox.gen.nz 42degrees South
B...@l42south.equinox.gen.nz Development Partnership
Gr...@l42south.equinox.gen.nz Christchurch New Zealand.
Mattias Dahlberg
> Or if you place a mountlist entry in SYS:Storage/DOSDrivers then it will not
> be mounted at boot time, but you in the Shell you typed `Mount BLARG:' and
> there was a file called SYS:Storage/DOSDrivers/BLARG then Mount will find
> it, neat eh!
Alright, then I have a question. Does anyone, with a stock A4000/040 system,
have a PC partition that both PC-Task and CrossDOS can use? If YOU can answer
'yes' to that question, could you pleease tell me (and some others) how to do
that, step by step? Thanks in advance.
Mark Andrew Hawling
>Mattias Dahlberg (matt...@dsv.su.se) wrote:
>: Chris Hames (by...@werple.apana.org.au) wrote:
>
>: I thoght the Mountlist was kind of obselete in WB 2.1 and 3.0. Is there an
>: 'icon system' to mount those mentioned partitions?
>
>In 2.1+ the icons are cosmetics, if you view the file in DOSDrivers you will
Not realy, because you can also mount via double clicking.
Then again for CLI freeks icons are cosmetic :-)
George
David Salamon
>Alright, then I have a question. Does anyone, with a stock A4000/040 system,
>have a PC partition that both PC-Task and CrossDOS can use? If YOU can answer
>'yes' to that question, could you pleease tell me (and some others) how to do
>that, step by step? Thanks in advance.
Yes, I've gotten one to work. There is a bit of a trick, since PC-Task
has trouble with the CrossDOS partitions. Chris Hames says he is working
on it.
Anyway, what you do is this: you create a normal partition with CrossDOS
and FDISK it with CrossPC. You will then have a mountlist entry created by
CrossDOS, but PC-Task will not boot off of it, or even recognize it. Say
that partition is IBMC: (the one that works for CrossPC and CrossDOS). Now
create a clone of that mountlist and call it something different, say IBMC2:
Then, edit the IBMC2: mountlist and *delete* the line that reads:
Filesystem = L:CrossDOSFileSystem
Then, bring up PC-Task and put IBMC2: as the hard disk device. When you
try to boot now, everything should work.
David
--------------------------------------------------------------
David Salamon Physics Graduate Student (Slave)
d-sa...@uiuc.edu University of Illinois
--------------------------------------------------------------
Chris Hames
>Yes, I've gotten one to work. There is a bit of a trick, since PC-Task
>has trouble with the CrossDOS partitions. Chris Hames says he is working
>on it.
The CrossDOS Filesystem will change the BlocksPerTrack/Surfaces/LowCyl/HiCyl
to get past the MSDOS partition information. So the StartSector is no
longer the start of the MSDOS harddisk but is instead the start of the first
partition. So all you need to do is have a mountlist without the
CrossDOSFilesystem stuff for PC-Task. No problem with PC-Task or CrossDOS,
just have separate mountlists.
See the PC-Task V2.0 FAQ for a step by step how to create a CrossDOS/PC-Task
partition.