Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!uunet!gistdev!flint From: flint@gistdev.gist.com (Flint Pellett) Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc.misc Subject: Re: Adding a Third Floppy Drivea Message-ID: <1053@gistdev.gist.com> Date: 11 Jan 91 19:31:15 GMT References: <1991Jan8.002139.9708@aplcen.apl.jhu.edu> <68yq028t04=X01@JUTS.ccc.amdahl.com> <932@VAX1.CC.UAKRON.EDU> <1991Jan10.034650.14839@ux1.cso.uiuc.edu> <1050@gistdev.gist.com> <4823@amc-gw.amc.com> Distribution: na Organization: Global Information Systems Technology Inc., Savoy, IL Lines: 51 jwbirdsa@amc-gw.amc.com (James Birdsall) writes: >>If you have one hard disk >>with partitions C, D, and E on it, then add a second hard disk with 2 >>partitions on it, the partitions on the second disk become D and F, >>and the existing ones on the first disk become C, E, G: it alternates >>disks! > What version of DOS are you using? I have exactly this setup (first >drive has 3 partitions and second has 2) and this does NOT happen. The >first drive has letters C, E, and F; the second drive is D and G. This is >with PC-DOS 3.3. You're right: (I remembered/wrote it slightly wrong) it goes to the 2nd disk for D then stays with the first disk. The effect is the same tho, every drive except c: gets relettered. > The letters are assigned at boot time as software drivers are loaded >(yes, even normal drives have device drivers which appear in the device >driver table). Messing with the CMOS or fdisk isn't going to help. Changing >the boot sequence would, but that's not easy to do for anybody but >Microsoft and they aren't... >-- >James W. Birdsall WORK: jwbirdsa@amc.com {uunet,uw-coco}!amc-gw!jwbirdsa >HOME: {uunet,uw-coco}!amc-gw!picarefy!jwbirdsa OTHER: 71261.1731@compuserve.com >========== "Think of an animal that's small and fuzzy." "Mold." -- RM ========= >=========== "For it is the doom of men that they forget." -- Merlin =========== The solution probably isn't to muck around with the boot sequence, but to create a simple aliasing system. For example, a table on the boot disk with one line for each disk with a "logical=physical" setup would let you fix all your problems by editing that one file, which might look like this, if semi-colons begin comments: ; 2 floppies, 2 partitions on 1st hard disk, 1 on 2nd hard disk, & ram disk: a=a ; 1st floppy on A: will still be referred to as A: always f=a ; Or you can also refer to the 1st floppy as F: ; Added 2 below when 2nd hard disk was added, so D: remained D: d=e ; 2nd partition on 1st hard disk referred to as D: e=d ; 1st partition on 2nd hard disk referred to as E: r=f ; RAM disk F: referred to as R: so floppy can use F: If you want an analogy, UNIX doesn't make you refer to files by their physical locations (/dev/dsk/1s3) but by names you select for the partitions (/usr) instead. DOS can do the same thing. -- Flint Pellett, Global Information Systems Technology, Inc. 1800 Woodfield Drive, Savoy, IL 61874 (217) 352-1165 uunet!gistdev!flint or flint@gistdev.gist.com