[comp.unix.xenix] IBM PC disks

rogerk@sco.COM (Roger Knopf 5502) (02/01/90)

In article <22576@usc.edu> kjh@pollux.usc.edu (Kenneth J. Hendrickson N8DGN) writes:
>I have heard that MS-DOS (yech!) can only handle fixed disks of 32 MB
>and smaller.  I assume that Xenix has no such limit.  My question is
 this:

You assume correct re: xenix.

>What do MS-DOS users do when they want to use a disk larger than 32 MB?
>Do they partition the physical disk into many logical disks of 32MB or
>smaller?  Do they use a seperate device driver that uses memory?
>[Perhaps do they abandon MS-DOS in favour of Xenix? :-)]
>
>What do people do when they want to use a large disk for both MS-DOS and
>Xenix?  Do they use the MS-DOS fdisk program to set up the partitions?
>Does Xenix come with a similar program?  Does the Xenix version of this
>program have the ability to set up partitions on MS-DOS disks?
 
They set up their MS-DOS partitions as the first partition on their HD
and Xenix on the rest. Xenix also has an fdisk program but you need
to use DOS fdisk to work with DOS partitions (other than change the
active partition).

Roger Knopf
SCO Consulting Services
disclaimer: the usual

william.pipher@canremote.uucp (WILLIAM PIPHER) (02/03/90)

In article <22576@usc.edu> kjh@pollux.usc.edu (Kenneth J. Hendrickson
N8DGN) writes: 
      >I have heard that MS-DOS (yech!) can only handle fixed disks 
      >of 32 MB and smaller.  

Roger Knopf (SCO Consulting Services) replies:
 
      rM>They set up their MS-DOS partitions as the first partition on
      rM>their HD and Xenix on the rest. 


Or the second if they like.  The second partition can be as large as 
desired, so long as it is divided into logical drives such that no 
single logical drive is > 32M.  This is true for MS DOS 3.3.  Other 
versions and OEM MS DOS's may have different capabilities.

Of course, it may be that this "extended dos" partition might not be
accessable from a Xenix/Dos bridge -- but that question wasn't asked.

--WmP--
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mark.levy@canremote.uucp (MARK LEVY) (02/06/90)

ku>From: kjh@pollux.usc.edu (Kenneth J. Hendrickson N8DGN)
ku>Orga: EE-Systems, Univ. of So. Calif., Los Angeles

ku>I have heard that MS-DOS (yech!) can only handle fixed disks of 32 MB
ku>and smaller.  I assume that Xenix has no such limit.  My question is
ku>this:
   MS-DOS 3.3 and earlier versions were only able to deal with 32MB
partitions on a hard drive, although aftermarket drivers like V-
Feature Deluxe, Speedstore, and Disk Manager (Mangler) allowed 
extended partitions greater than 32 MB.

ku>What do MS-DOS users do when they want to use a disk larger than 32
ku>MB? Do they partition the physical disk into many logical disks of
ku>32MB or smaller?  Do they use a seperate device driver that uses
ku>memory? [Perhaps do they abandon MS-DOS in favour of Xenix? :-)]
   Larger disks can be partitioned into primary and extended DOS
partitions using FDISK, and FDISK allows logical drive creation of
drives up to 32 MB (DOS 3.3).  Other "FDISK"s like NEC's, Compaq's,
and some others, support large partitions, greater than 32MB, as does
messy-dos 4.XX.

ku>What do people do when they want to use a large disk for both MS-DOS
ku>and Xenix?  Do they use the MS-DOS fdisk program to set up the
ku>partitions? Does Xenix come with a similar program?  Does the Xenix
ku>version of this program have the ability to set up partitions on
ku>MS-DOS disks?
   XENIX supports this.  What you have to do is first create the DOS 
partitions using the DOS FDISK.  You must make sure that the DOS 
partition is not the active partition, otherwise XENIX won't boot.
Then install the XENIX, and you'll be OK.  If you create a primary
and extended DOS partition, XENIX won't be able to access the 
extended DOS partition.  I don't know if XENIX can access the pri-
mary partitions greater than 32 MB.

Mark
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