Xref: utzoo comp.sys.ibm.pc.programmer:423 alt.msdos.programmer:1394
Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!cs.utexas.edu!usc!snorkelwacker!bloom-beacon!eru!luth!sunic!tut!hydra!hylka!likovuori
From: likovuori@cc.helsinki.fi
Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc.programmer,alt.msdos.programmer
Subject: <None>
Message-ID: <2117.2600d38b@cc.helsinki.fi>
Date: 16 Mar 90 11:52:43 GMT
References: <16693@orstcs.CS.ORST.EDU>
Organization: University of Helsinki
Lines: 26

In article <16693@orstcs.CS.ORST.EDU>, henders@mist.cs.orst.edu (B. Scott Henderson) writes:
> How does one access a hard disk partition table?

    First you could ask NU to read absolute sectors. When
    absolute sectors are read you can access head 0 track 0 sector 1
    where the master boot sector and partition table resides.

    If you use Turbo C you could try function biosdisk(), the
    syntax is:

      int biosdisk(int cmd, int drive, int head, int track, int
                   sector, int nsects, void *buffer);

    where cmd=2 is read from disk and cmd=1 is write to disk.
    drive is 0x00..0x7f for diskettes and 0x80... for fixed
    disks. Buffer must be large enough to hold nsects of data.

    You can find a good description of biosdisk (and all other TC 
    functions) from The Waite Group's Turbo C Bible from Howard
    W. Sams & Co.


Kari Likovuori                    Decnet: HYLK::LIKOVUORI
University of Helsinki            Bitnet: likovuori@finuh
Computing Center                  Internet: likovuori@cc.helsinki.fi
Finland