> Here's a thought: I know there are ext2/ext3 Linux partition drivers for > both Mac and Windows. I wander if you could somehow format the partition > with one of those, and have both of them read it directly?
The problem is not the formatting of the disk, but the way in which you create the partitions that the disk is split into. Apple and Microsoft (more correctly, Apple and most Intel based OS) do it in a completely different and incompatible way. You can read Apple hard disk formatting from Windows, sure. There are a number of third party tools to do this. The problem is the way in which the physical logical partition structure is created. Apple uses one where, basically, you have 2 really small partitions, for HFS - HFS+ may be slightly different, which hold the drivers for the drive. You then have as many other partitions as you care to make (iirc). On an PC you can only have 4 primary partitions. Each of these can be broken down into extended and then logical partitions. The fundamental way in which the partition schemes works is completely different - if you catch my drift. Apple systems search for a bootable volume using their in build firmware. Intel machines just execute the first chunk of the disks boot block to load the bootloader (bit hazy on this so it may be a little incorrect on the exact part of the disk the execute.) How do CD Roms manage to do it? The have multiple sessions or a clever stub that makes the rest of the disk invisible to the alternate OS (or they use the ISO9660 standard format which is universally supported now by most OS) I know all of this because of BeOS. Running it on a PowerMac you have to use Apple partition format.Running it on a PC you have to use intel partition format. There is no option to use the other scheme. On the BeBox (BeInc's own hardware, PPC based) we can use either scheme. Dunno why Be forced you down this route - probably to avoid non boot situations in the Intel/Apple world. Maybe also because the Apple Kernel only boots from Apple partition schemes and the BeBox Kernel only inherited the intel scheme when Be ported BeOS to intel in the mid-late 90's. Anyway, that's my take. Matt -- PCI-PowerMacs is sponsored by <http://lowendmac.com/> and... Small Dog Electronics http://www.smalldog.com | Refurbished Drives | -- Sonnet & PowerLogix Upgrades - start at $169 | & CDRWs on Sale! | Support Low End Mac <http://lowendmac.com/lists/support.html> PCI-PowerMacs list info: <http://lowendmac.com/lists/pci-powermacs.shtml> --> AOL users, remove "mailto:"; Send list messages to: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To unsubscribe, email: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> For digest mode, email: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subscription questions: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Archive:<http://www.mail-archive.com/pci-powermacs%40mail.maclaunch.com/> Using a Mac? Free email & more at Applelinks! http://www.applelinks.com
