Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!cs.utexas.edu!texbell!uhnix1!sugar!peter
From: peter@sugar.hackercorp.com (Peter da Silva)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga.tech
Subject: Re: Sloppy read/write error handling
Keywords: It doesn't work right
Message-ID: <5574@sugar.hackercorp.com>
Date: 13 Apr 90 17:41:10 GMT
References: <556@bilver.UUCP> <15840@estelle.udel.EDU> <10595@cbmvax.commodore.com> <15878@estelle.udel.EDU> <10624@cbmvax.commodore.com> <5530@sugar.hackercorp.com> <10735@cbmvax.commodore.com>
Reply-To: peter@sugar.hackercorp.com (Peter da Silva)
Organization: Sugar Land Unix - Houston
Lines: 53

In article <10735@cbmvax.commodore.com> daveh@cbmvax (Dave Haynie) writes:
> Can you be absolutely sure that trackdisk.device is the only device that'll
> ever be a bit weird?  Just because it's the only non-block-oriented device
> right now doesn't imply that it always will be.  

No, it's NOT the only non-block-oriented device. How about RAM:? Or networks?

But more to the point, it's the most common device out there: everyone's
got it and uses it at least for software installation. Most people use it
for everything.

It should be properly supported... and that means bad block handling
*somewhere*.

And, of course, turnabout is fair play. Just because it's the only device
that presents an imperfect volume to the FS, does that imply it always
will be?

> And how about devices that automatically handle bad block mapping below the 
> FileSystem level?  In that case, you could very easily end up mapping any
> bad block twice.

I don't see how, if the driver or hardware "presents a flawless device" to
the filesystem, the filesystem should never map a block.

> Personally, I think the current DiskSalv is worth a damn.  Maybe two.  It
> can't re-create data that just plain doesn't exist anymore on the floppy, but
> if you ever find a file it can't recover, *PLEASE* send me a copy of that
> disk.  I want disks that DiskSalv can't recover.  I mean, I can make my own
> bad disks under 1.3 by repeatedly yanking and inserting, but some errors you
> just can't re-create.

I can't use DiskSalv to recover *anything*. Well, that's not true... once I get
it to work it works well enough.

I'm pretty sure I'm up to date on it, but it frequently insists that the
output device is full... even when it's a freshly formatted floppy!

And what about hard disks... how do recover them???

Well, I can assume that we'll never see a FS that handles bad blocks.

How about a trackdisk.device that does?

You have to put it *somewhere*.

And enough of this "buy a hard disk" or "buy an Amiga 2000". If I had that
kind of disposable income I would have.
-- 
 _--_|\  Peter da Silva <peter@sugar.hackercorp.com>.
/      \
\_.--._/ I haven't lost my mind, it's backed up on tape somewhere!
      v  "Have you hugged your wolf today?" `-_-'