Real hardware: How to read/write data from another partition

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videlux
Posts: 36
Joined: Tue Feb 01, 2005 12:13 am
Location: Koenigswinter, near to Bonn, Germany

Real hardware: How to read/write data from another partition

Post by videlux »

Hello

Another item, which I would like to use within ReactOS:

How to read/write files from and to another FAT-Partition?

Here are my local conditions:
Besides my Standard-Linux-Systems on my productive System, I have partition hda1, hda2 and hda9 formatted with FAT32.
Hda1 is my FreeDos / Reactos experimental part. (*)
Hda2 contains a larger FreeDOS installation
Hda9 serves as container to exchange data between my different systems and user-accounts without any troubles with user-privileges (and being aware of renouncing security of course)

Even though ReactOS cannot install on such a system, I could manage this by an effort some months ago by hiding the other partitions using Linux fdisk-tool.
Having installed ReactOS on partition 1 and being able to start it with GRUB bootloader I could reactivate the hidden partitions.

Now I would like to use ReactOS and to read and write data to partition 9. Thus data would not be lost, if ReactOS crashes and needs to be reinstalled.
As long as access to USB-media is not implemented in ReactOS and floppy-disk is not usable either, burning CDs only to transfer data would be too annoying.

Question 1: Is it possible - and if applicable, how - to make the FAT-Partition 9 visible as drive-letter within ReactOS ?

Question 2: Could it be possible to use DVD-RAM media within ReactOS? If yes, how to format them? Would a certain tool be needed to install in ReactOS, necessary to access DVD-RAM ?

(*) but not the only one. For testing purposes I usually insert another tray with a small older harddisk containing only ReactOS.
Here however I would like to use ReactOS in a "productive" environment. (I know, generally spoken, this is not yet advised)

videlux
Haos
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Re: Real hardware: How to read/write data from another partition

Post by Haos »

I can only recommend getting a small ATA disk with single partition for testing ROS. It should be smaller than 8g, (but in our side makes only first 8gb visible, possible workaround - UNIATA build) and connected as single primary master.

Freeldr has its limitations at the moment and may not take chainloading very well.

As for DVD-RAM - i doubt our current storage stack will support it. We would need to modify Livecd... theoretically possible, but no one really thought about it.
videlux
Posts: 36
Joined: Tue Feb 01, 2005 12:13 am
Location: Koenigswinter, near to Bonn, Germany

Re: Real hardware: How to read/write data from another partition

Post by videlux »

Hello Haos,
thanks for your answer.
I can only recommend getting a small ATA disk with single partition for testing ROS.
Yes I know, yes I do, yes I managed to install and run ROS by this method, as I had written in my footnote (*).
This is always the second attempt. First attempt is only to wipe the old ROS-files and then to install the new ROS-version.

If this does not work, I wipe the partition, install ReactOS.
If this does not work neither, I wipe the partition, install FreeDOS. If FreeDOS boots, the partition table and MBR are OK.
Then I install ROS, allowing ROS to format the partition.
If ROS installs, but is not bootable, I install FreeDOS besides ReactOS and try to boot ReactOS with "grub for DOS" within DOS.

Sorry, but finally this was not my question.

Question is "not" "how to install" ROS, "but" "how to use another data-partition" or data-media with ReactOS.
Is it possible to repair at least the damaged floppydisk access in the nearer future?
DVD-RAM .....but no one really thought about it.
I like DVD-RAM very much. It is the best and in a certain manner logical successor for floppy-disk and LS-120 superdisk.
DVD-RAM is the only true DVD-standard. DVD guarantees the long-term storage and security of data. (30 years)
DVD-RAM is my long-term backup-medium for personal data, for photos and for important records from Radio and TV.
(And for my successful ROS-installations)
Data on USB-Sticks or external disks are easyly wiped. Thus I do not let my backup-data on those media.

DVD-RAM and ReactOS was an idea, because it is similar to floppy disk in usage (random access read-write) and as hardware in the computer similar to CD in an IDE-drive, therefore maybe not so much to code for you coders ;-)
What about LS-120 superdrive? I still have one. Also here: usable as floppy disk, connected as IDE-drive.

Sorry, I often have some new ideas, but unfortunately I´m not able to participate in developping. It would not be much more than "Hello world", or even shorter: "Hi Haos"

videlux
Haos
Test Team
Posts: 2954
Joined: Thu Mar 22, 2007 5:42 am
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Re: Real hardware: How to read/write data from another partition

Post by Haos »

You can always use DVD-RAM as a livecd media, but the issue is to make use of its rewritability. This would force ROS to support some sort of UDF dvd access, that would enable writing on-the-fly. Not at the moment, i`d say. We havent touched CD/DVD recording yet.

I would also suspect performance issues due to I/O lagging while date would be saved on DVD-RAM, especially for a series of small files. On the other hand, it would give numerous possibilities, effectively allowing to use DVD-RAM as a very large, usb-like drive.
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