--- John or Judy Hixson <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > Here's where I reveal my ignorance! I always > assummed the driver was a piece > of operating system software. You're suggesting that > the operating system > "flashes" the drive or something leaving it's > imprint? I know Zip disks > carry a copy of their driver on them, but I never > guessed that hard drives might.
There are several partitions on an HFS drive, even when you set it up to be one partition. One of the really small partitions is used for the disk driver. The others are used for other things tha most of the time the Mac user doesn't need to bother themselves about. :) The Mac's disk driver(s) "translate" the drive's parameters to the System so the System and the hardware don't need to have data on hundreds of possible hard drive specifications programmed in. That's the quick and simple explanation. :) If you're also familiar with PCs, think of the driver as being like the part of the BIOS setup where it automatically detects each drive's parameters. ===== "I'm sorry, but you can't list fish as 'durable goods' in your GDP statement." "What if we freeze them?" __________________________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? Yahoo! Mail Plus - Powerful. Affordable. Sign up now. http://mailplus.yahoo.com -- Vintage Macs is sponsored by <http://lowendmac.com/> and... Small Dog Electronics http://www.smalldog.com | Enter To Win A | -- Canon PowerShot Digital Cameras start at $299 | Free iBook! | Support Low End Mac <http://lowendmac.com/lists/support.html> Vintage Macs list info: <http://lowendmac.com/lists/vintagemacs.shtml> The FAQ: <http://macfaq.org/> --> 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/vintage.macs%40mail.maclaunch.com/> Using a Mac? Free email & more at Applelinks! http://www.applelinks.com
