Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!rpi!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!swrinde!cs.utexas.edu!uunet!munnari.oz.au!goanna!minyos.xx.rmit.oz.au!s902113 From: s902113@minyos.xx.rmit.oz.au (Luke Mewburn) Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga.misc Subject: Re: How should I organize the contents of the Harddisk? Keywords: harddisk Message-ID: <1991Apr30.000254.15229@minyos.xx.rmit.oz.au> Date: 30 Apr 91 00:02:54 GMT References: <1991Apr25.123811.9691@daimi.aau.dk> Organization: RMIT Computer Centre, Melbourne Australia. Lines: 137 pilgrim@daimi.aau.dk (Jakob G}rdsted) writes: ->This is going to be a long one. First of all, I just bought a 80 MB harddisk ->from gvp; it's for my A500, and I think it's called Impact Series II or Impact+ ->or something like that. There's a bootselector on front of it, in case that ->helps to specify it(selects whether the A500 should boot from the harddisk ->or not.). It was formatted to one, autobooting partition, when I got it, and ->newest workbench/extras was on it. ->So to the first questions: I've been told, that since it's WB 1.3, I should do ->fastfilesystem. But also, that an autobooting partition can't be fastfilesystem. Therefore: ->#Is it true, that since it autoboots on this partition, I don't do ffs on it ->currently? If the disk you boot too is 80Mb in size, then, yes, you have only one partition. ->#Should I reformat it in two or more partitions, having a small autoboot part- ->ition and one or several more ffs partits ? If you don't have much on the HD, this is a good idea. ->#Is this ffs system any good ? Does it give an increase like 1% and therefore ->isn't the extra work, or is it desirable? It gives an extra ~5% in storage (ie, OFS gives 488 bytes/sector, and FFS gives 512 bytes/sector, so you get more storage space). It is, as the name says, fast (a lot faster than the old system used on floppies) ->#What good is partitions ? Why not have only one ? In userinterface, several ->partitions means ->you get several Disk Icons on the workbench screen(instead of having them ->in the first drawer, since I presume I'll put different things in them, like ->system on one, applications on a second and my "work" files on the third, or ->something like that) That is correct. ->#If several partitions are needed/desirable, how do YOU organize your system? ->previously, on floppys, I've had no need for this. But I know from Unix, ->that i'd like a good structure for this. So this question is mostly, ->about if 20 MB wb/autoboot, rest app/data in ffs would be a good splitup, ->or what would be. Well, a good organisation is this: - Small (maybe less than 1Mb, or even just 250K) OFS boot partition, which mounts the other FFS partitions, and transfers control to the second. - 2-5Mb FFS partition, with the workbench & extras disc (if you like the stuff on it :-) in it. So, you have LIBS: C: L: S: DEVS: etc. in here this is so the disc doesn't search thru 78Mb whilest looking for the 'LS' command. - one or two more partitions. Probably one. This contains the rest of the junk. Again, this is an FFS partition. Boot off the first partition, assign the vital stuff to the second partition (the 2 - 5 Mb one) [you can use a short program call 'MoveSYS' to do all the assigns like C: DEVS: L: LIBS: FONTS: SYS: (etc) to the second partition. ->#the previous question leads to my final problem: How is the application/ ->workfiles/utilities deal handled ? I'll give some examples: ->Texts, like readmes, are given a default tool. I've both seen ->:more , :C/more and SYS:utilities/more Best thing to do here is to put your favorite more program in sys:utilities/more, and then: duplicate it in C:, or make every text file point to the one in sys:utilities. ->which one did Commodore intend ? It is further complicated by things as ->how it should work with applications: DeluxePaint, Amigabasic, Documents ->for wordprocessors, anims and modules. ->A solution to some of it is when you can select both the application and your ->own file(with shift) and then doubleclick, but I'm only glad this works. I ->really want it to work just by clicking on the documenticon. ->#is there an assign/link option for files, like applications(instead of drawers, like fonts: and SYS: ? If there is, I could solve the application problem ->by writing :deluxepaint etc. in the default tool. Well, a quick trick is this: Put your apps in their respective drawers (eg. FH1:applications/dpiii/ for dpaint three on fh1:. Now, dpaint expects a file called deluxepaint:dpaintiii (ie, dpaintiii program on a disc called 'deluxepaint'. So, just do an assign deluxepaint: fh1:applications/dpiii (using the above references to locations.) ->#Is there a way to change the line applications add to their datafiles? Two ->examples: I want amigabasic to put another default tool in the icons it ->creates, and the same goes for deluxePaint. Right now, I think they ->put :Amigabasic and :Dpaint as default tools. ->#How does : work ? I used to think of it as root, like / on unix, but now I'm ->not quite sure. Well, you're right. : refers to the root on the current drive. : refers to the root on disc so, ':more' refers to a program called 'more' in the root directory. ->#where should one put applications like deluxe paint, so they''ll work nicest? ->That is to solve the :Amigabasic :Dpaint problem. ->-------------------- ->right now, I have l, libs, c, s and all the other NoIcon directories in the root. ->And a drawer called WB, in which I've put Tools, System, Utilities, and the ->rest of the IconDrawers. So S: Fonts: l: etc are assigned to root, and ->SYS: assigned do Harddisk:WB. This works allright now, but I expext to be ->dirty, and wrong. In the root window, I therefore have three drawers: WB, App ->and Usr. You guess what I put in each; DpaintIII goes in App as an example, and ->so does games. It'll work if you do the assigns as suggested above. ->Sorry for this awful messy, long posting, but I really need some info on ->organizing the system on a harddisk. ->E-mail or post, as you find appropriate. ->-- ->From the notorious -> Jakob Gaardsted, Computer Science Department ->Bed og arbejd ! University of Aarhus, Jylland (!) ->(Pray and work!) AMIGA! | I'd rather play Moria. Don't worry, my explainations match your questions: 'orrible! hehehe -- ------------------------------------------------------------------------ | Luke Mewburn (Zak) | This side for rent... | | s902113@minyos.xx.rmit.oz.au | |