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- iHPFS
- An HPFS Driver for DOS
- Copyright (C) 1993-1997 Marcus Better
-
- Version 1.26
- November 18, 1997
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- Overview
- ========
-
- iHPFS makes it possible for OS/2 users to use their HPFS partitions
- when they boot plain DOS. The HPFS partition is assigned a drive
- letter, and can be accessed like any DOS drive. iHPFS is restricted
- to read-only access.
-
- iHPFS is easy to install and convenient to use, as it acts like any
- DOS drive. Data files and programs on the HPFS partition may be read
- and executed, or copied to other drives.
-
-
- License
- =======
-
- iHPFS is free software, and is distributed under the GNU General
- Public License. Please see the file COPYING for details.
-
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- System requirements
- ===================
-
- In order to run iHPFS, you need a 386 processor or better. iHPFS runs
- under MS-DOS and PC DOS 3.10 and later, DR DOS 5 and 6, Novell DOS 7
- and OpenDOS 7.
-
-
- How to use iHPFS
- ================
-
- Run IHPFS.EXE from the DOS prompt. The syntax is:
-
- IHPFS [options] [d:n d:n ...]
- or IHPFS /U [d:]
-
- The brackets indicate an optional parameter.
-
- d: The drive letter that you want to assign to an iHPFS drive.
- You may specify more than one drive letter on the same command
- line. If no drive letters are specified, iHPFS will scan your
- hard drives and automatically install all HPFS partitions.
-
- n The number of the HPFS partition that you want to access.
- HPFS partitions are numbered (logically) so that you can
- specify to iHPFS which partitions you want to access. The
- first HPFS partition on the first hard disk is partition
- number 1. Note that only HPFS partitions are counted - if
- your system has two HPFS partitions, they will have numbers 1
- and 2, regardless of any other non-HPFS partitions you might
- have.
-
- iHPFS recognizes the following options:
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- /B1 Use a certain BIOS extension to access large drives. Please
- read the section `Large IDE Drives' before using this option.
-
- /B2 Disable use of the IBM/MS Extensions, another BIOS extension
- for large drives. If you have problems running iHPFS, you can
- try this option. It is only needed if you have a strange
- BIOS.
-
- /C=x Set up a cache in XMS memory. A cache can improve performance
- tremendously. x specifies the cache size, in KB, and is not
- optional. To use this option, you must have an XMS driver
- like HIMEM.SYS loaded.
-
- /L This option makes it possible to access files with long
- filenames. These files will be given a new filename and
- extension. The new name will consist of the first valid
- characters (eight or less) before the first dot in the long
- filename. The extension is computed from the long filename,
- and is made up of letters, digits and a few other characters.
- Filenames that begin with a dot will be seen as HPFS.xxx,
- where xxx is the computed extension.
-
- /M Disables multitrack operations. When this option is given,
- iHPFS will not perform BIOS calls that read sectors from
- several tracks at once. This option may be necessary if your
- BIOS cannot handle multitrack operations, and should only be
- used if iHPFS does not work otherwise.
-
- /U Uninstalls one or more iHPFS drives. If no drive letter is
- specified, this will uninstall all iHPFS drives, and remove
- the driver from memory. If a drive letter is specified, only
- that drive will be removed.
-
- If another TSR has been loaded after iHPFS, it may not be
- possible to uninstall iHPFS comletely in a safe way. In those
- cases, a few bytes of iHPFS' code will remain resident,
- although inactive.
-
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- Examples
- --------
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- To install iHPFS for all HPFS partitions, type
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- IHPFS
-
- To install iHPFS for all HPFS partitions with long filename support
- and a 128KB cache, type
-
- IHPFS /L /C=128
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- To install only HPFS partition 2 as G:, type
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- IHPFS G:2
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- To remove iHPFS drive G:, type
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- IHPFS /U G:
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- To uninstall iHPFS completely, type
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- IHPFS /U
-
-
- Setting LASTDRIVE
- =================
-
- If you get the error message "Out of drive letters" from iHPFS, you
- need to make more drive letters available. This can be done by
- placing the line
-
- LASTDRIVE=Z
-
- in your CONFIG.SYS file.
-
-
- Large IDE drives
- ================
-
- There is a problem with accessing IDE (ATA) drives larger than 528MB
- (528 million bytes). The problem arises on some configurations when a
- partition occupies any cylinders numbered 1024 or higher. iHPFS can
- access these partitions if the BIOS supports it.
-
- If iHPFS cannot access some of your HPFS partitions, you can try to
- run iHPFS with the /B1 option. This tells iHPFS to use a certain BIOS
- extension which is available on many BIOSes. If the /B option causes
- problems, then simply refrain from using it. In particular, the /B
- option may not work with Windows95.
-
- If some of your partitions cannot be accessed because the BIOS support
- is missing, there are a few possible remedies. The solution can be to
- obtain a newer BIOS from the manufacturer. In some cases, a software
- driver for the EIDE card can be used. It might also be tempting to
- experiment with various BIOS configuration settings. However, this
- can cause the sectors on the disk to be shuffled like a deck of cards,
- resulting in loss of data. Be sure to backup first.
-
- If you cannot access some partitions, you can download the program
- HPFSINFO from the iHPFS homepage. It prints some useful information
- to a file, which you can send to me.
-
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- The future of iHPFS
- ===================
-
- Many users have asked if there is going to be a read-write version of
- iHPFS. I have decided not to make such a version. The primary reason
- is lack of time. Another reason is that I think it would very unsafe
- to run such a program from DOS, because the risk of data loss in the
- event of a crash is too large. Please do not write to me to complain
- about this.
-
- I do not plan to add any new features to the program, but will attempt
- to fix any remaining bugs and problems. If you make any modifications
- to the program, you are welcome to send them to me for inclusion.
-
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- Contacting the author
- =====================
-
- You are welcome to send me any ideas, comments and suggestions for
- iHPFS. If you have found any bugs, please let me know. My email
- address is
-
- Marcus.Better@abc.se
-
- The latest version of iHPFS is available at
-
- http://www.student.nada.kth.se/~f96-bet/ihpfs/
-