Experiment 1

Setting up FreeDOS for EROS partition recognition

1 Summary

This extraordinarily simple experiment has been done basically to verify the extensibility of the FreeDOS BETA4 disk partitioning program (Free FDISK Version 0.97, GNU GPL Copyright Brian E. Reifsnyder 1998 - 1999), and as a second option it also demonstrates the interoperability of different operating systems with regard to the topic of disk partitioning. We have already done this experiment before publishing it, but instead of publishing our modified PART.INI file we are telling you how to do it yourself.

2 Preparation

To prepare for the experiment you have to download FreeDOS from the original site at [1] and make the install diskette.You can make the install diskette from Windows using the rawrite program, or from Linux using the dd command.

3 Generic how-to

In order to setup Free FDISK to recognize and report correctly EROS partitions, as well as other partition types, it is necessary to edit the file PART.INI located on the FreeDOS install diskette. Once you have prepared the install diskette you can use any ASCII editor that you might have to open the PART.INI file.

4 Specifics for EROS

EROS identifies its own partitions with the hexadecimal number 0x95 which is equal to 149 in decimal. The PART.INI file lists partition codes in decimal, so you will have to locate the following line:

149,Unknown ,Unknown        ,Unknown                                         ;

To locate the above line you can copy/paste and issue a find command if your editor has one, or you can scroll down with the cursor inside your editor. When you have located the line, edit it to read as follows:

149,EROS    ,EROS Partition ,EROS hard disk partition                        ;

Save the file. Remember that field formatting is important. Make sure that you preserve the spacing or your FDISK menus will not display properly. You might want to switch your editor to overwrite mode.

5 Tests

5.1 Creation of the EROS partition and verification

We have used a Tomsrtbt floppy to create a partition on a 3.2 GB hard disk, using 100% of the hard disk space, and we have assigned to it the code 0x95. After rebooting the machine with the modified FreeDOS install diskette we launched the FDISK program, and it correctly reported an EROS partition (select the menu option 4 - "Display partition information").

5.2 Manipulation of the EROS partition with Free FDISK Version 0.97

1. We have been unable to set the EROS partition to active (bootable status). The program reports "No partitions to make active". However, after setting the partition bootable status with the Tomsrtbt fdisk 2.8, Free FDISK V0.97 reported it correctly as being active.

2. We have been able to delete the EROS partition.

5.3 Manipulation of the EROS partition with other fdisk programs

Located on our current Tomsrtbt floppy (latest version as reported in the Tomsrtbt web site [3]) is the Linux fdisk program version 2.8, which has been able to create the EROS partition, set it to bootable, and to delete it.

6 Limitations of Free FDISK Version 0.97

Free FDISK Version 0.97 is limited in the maximum hard disk size that it can recognize. The maximum recognizable hard disk size is 8024 Mbytes (1 Mbyte = 1048576 bytes).

7 Conclusion and further testing

This experiment has been partially successful. Free FDISK Version 0.97 can report and delete an EROS partition. However it is unable to make the EROS partition active. EROS is under active development by The EROS Group, you can check the original web site at [2].

We need to test the new FreeDOS BETA9 and the latest Free FDISK version to verify what is the current status.

8 References

[1] The FreeDOS Web Site, http://www.freedos.org

[2] The EROS Web Site, http://www.eros-os.org, The EROS Group, LLC

[3] Tomsrtbt Web Site, http://www.toms.net/rb/