RE: [Sheflug] floppy problems

[<Stephen.Tozer-Loft [at] xxxxxxxxxx>]

Many thanks to all who helped.  I wasn't aware of mtools, indeed it
wasn't installed.  It is now.  I want to use the floppies I'm producing
under Windoze so I was wrong to use 'cp' in the first place.  That's
also why I can't use tar or gzip or anything like that.

Ted seems to be right about the inherent limitation on the number of
files you can write to a floppy - mcopy allows about 220 files on a
floppy then reports 'no directory slots'.

Seems like I've just got to use multiple floppies.

Thanks again, everyone.

Stephen

> -----Original Message-----
> From: shef-lug-admin [at] list.sheflug.org.uk 
> [mailto:shef-lug-admin [at] list.sheflug.org.uk] On Behalf Of 
> Ted.Harding [at] nessie.mcc.ac.uk
> Sent: 30 November 2004 15:10
> To: shef-lug [at] list.sheflug.org.uk
> Subject: RE: [Sheflug] floppy problems
> 
> 
> On 30-Nov-04 Stephen.Tozer-Loft [at] sth.nhs.uk wrote:
> > trying to copy lots (a few hundred) of little (2k or so) files to a 
> > floppy disk under redhat 7.2.
> > 
> > after the first 200 or so, the floppy is only 40% full,
> > but reports 'cp: cannot create regular file....No space
> > left on device'
> > 
> > i have a feeling that this has something to do with inodes, rather 
> > than physical space.  Is there a limit on the number of files I can 
> > cram on? Can I get rounding this by mounting the floppy as 
> a specific 
> > type?
> > 
> > grateful for any crumbs you can offer
> 
> Since you're using 'cp' rather than 'mcopy' I'm inferring 
> that you put a Linux filesystem on it to start with, e.g. using
> 
>   mkfs -t ext2 /dev/fd0H1440
> 
> I just did this on a floppy and got the message that there were
> 
>   184 inodes  1440 blocks
>   72 blocks (5%) reserved for superuser
> 
> So you're not going to get more than 184 (perhaps + the 5%) 
> files onto a floppy with ext2 on it 
> 
> I don't know off-hand what the maximum number of directory 
> entries is on a floppy with msdos filesystem on it, but I'd 
> be surprised if it was much different.
> 
> So that's where your limit is coming from.
> 
> There are higher-density options if you use floppy devices
> like
> 
> /dev/fd0u1743   /dev/fd0u3840  /dev/fd0h1494  /dev/fd0u1760
> /dev/fd0h1660   /dev/fd0u1840  /dev/fd0u1920  /dev/fd0u2880
> /dev/fd0u1660  /dev/fd0u3200   /dev/fd0u1680  /dev/fd0u3520
> /dev/fd0u1722
> 
> (selected from the output of ls /dev/fd0*), but I don't know
> (a) How many of these would work with a given floppy and drive;
> (b) How many more inodes (if any) you would get.
> 
> Anyway, on the assumption that you don't absolutely have to
> get everything on a single physical floppy, just use 2 or 
> more and never mind the empty space!
> 
> Cheers,
> Ted.
> 
> 
> --------------------------------------------------------------------
> E-Mail: (Ted Harding) <Ted.Harding [at] nessie.mcc.ac.uk>
> Fax-to-email: +44 (0)870 094 0861  [NB: New number!]
> Date: 30-Nov-04                                       Time: 15:09:46
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