🚀 go-pugleaf

JXS118@psuvm.psu.edu (Jeff Siegel) writes:
(Stuff deleted)
>3) The file IBMBIO.COM is the first file to occupy the data space. The
>clusters of the file must be in order and must be contiguous.

>4) The file IBMDOS.COM is on the disk somewhere. Can be anywhere, and doesn't
>have to be contigiuous.

>Thus a disk is 'sys'able if the first two directory slots are empty and if
>there is room to put IBMBIO.COM down as the first file in the data space.

Well, that's a start, but it tells me things I already knew.
The basic point is this: Early versions of DOS required that the slots
(for the two system files) be allocated and reserved at format time.
Hence, if a disk was formatted w/o /S, you couldn't SYS it.  Period.
You would have to reformat it with /S, in order to make it bootable.

Somewhere along the way, this changed.  Now, you can SYS a disk as long
as it is empty.  (Of course, I'm sure other restrictions apply, and your
mileage may vary)
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