🚀 go-pugleaf

Hi out there,

   The following is the text of a flier that a friend of a friend passed
along to me so that I could hopefully get some responses/help/input from
the people on the net.  It was a project in a sort of science fair or
competition of sorts, and the author of this needs help with the next step.
Anyway, read on, and if you have any info, read the bottom of this post
to get in touch (probably best by e-mail), and thanks in advance.

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     The purpose of my project was to reconfigure my hard disk to be more
efficient.  256,000 bytes of hard disk memory were used to store 12,000
bytes of data file information contained in 127 files.  My hard disk was
5% efficient storing a menu program containing many small files: 95% of this
memory allocated on the hard disk had nothing stored in it, this memory was
unusable.
    I researched DOS' method of disk reorganization.  I hypothesized that if
I could reconfigure the hard disk to read/write one sector per cluster and
run reliably, the hard disk would be more efficient and store more 
information.
    I researched how disk memory is organized, how DOS keeps a record (map)
of the disk, and how sectors are used in a File Allocation Table to know
where each file is located on a disk.  I carefully calculated the number of 
sectors needed to locate the larger number of clusters in my one cluster
per cluster disk.  (* Note: This is how it is written on the printout I have,
but I guessed he may mean "my one sector per cluster disk"..but I'm not sure.)
I found the bytes in the boot record that determine sectors per cluster and 
File Allocation Table size.  I used DEBUG to change these bytes in the boot
record.  I deleted DOS' original File Allocation Table without deleting my
modified boot record.
    I wrote a program in C to automatically perform the task of changing the
boot record that I had been doing manually.
    My reconfigured hard disk works reliably without special programming or
drivers.  My disk has 400 bytes of unusable dead space or slack, instead of
1900 bytes slack per 100 byte file.  Instead of requiring 255.7 K, my menu
program requires only 64.7 K of disk space.  Memory efficiency increased 
from 5% to 18.5%.
    Because the maximum length of a cluster address in the FAT is 16 bits,
I can address a maximum of 65535 clusters in one partition.  Since each 
cluster in a one sector per cluster partition is 512 bytes, the maximum size
partition I can make is 32 Megabytes.  I want more than 32 megabytes in a one 
sector per cluster partition.  If I could make a larger address size, such
as a 20 bit to 32 bit address, I could make one large partition.  I think
DOS 4 uses a 32 bit FAT, but I want to use DOS 5.  For larger partitions, 
I have read that DOS 5 simply increases sector size to allow for fewer
sectors per cluster.
    
    If you know of a way that I can have more than 65535 clusters, know
of a book that explains what I want, or would like to discuss the problem
with me, PLEASE write to me or call me.  (*Note: his name and address follow
in the flier.)

-------------------------------------------------------------------------


If you can help my friend's friend here, then please e-mail me.  His phone
is in the 215 area code in PA, and I'll be happy to send it to you if
you have info on this you want to discuss, so either send me any references
or hints by e-mail, or let me know, and I'll give you his name and phone.
Obviously, he does not have an e-mail account, but I'll gather mail
every so often and get it to him.  Again, I do not have any more info on this
other than what I typed here, so questions to me won't help, but I will get
you in touch with him.   And again, thanks in advance, it is appreciated.


						-George Bertele
						bertele@eniac.seas.upenn.edu

P.S.  If you know of any other groups where I might post this, let me
      know that also, thanks!