[techtalk] request for ideas

[R Pickett]

On Mon, 11 Oct 1999, Laurel Fan wrote:

> Excerpts from linuxchix: 11-Oct-99 Re: [techtalk] request for .. by R
> Pickett at hayseed.net 
> > I can see a scenario where 'dir a:' coughed up the incorrect information
> > from the cache, and therefore lead to user error that caused the loss of
> > data.
> 
> It is possible for a cache to cause misplaced data:
> [snip long correct scenario]

Indeed;  I was just trying to respond to the allegation that typing 'dir a:'
would fubar a disk after a disk change.
 
> A similar user error can also occur if the media changes from under you,
> but you will have the protection of having to open the file for write,
> which won't work if the directory structures are different, while a
> write to a block will always work. 

The 'user error' I was talking about above was more along the lines of:

dir a:
(DOS coughs up cached info erroneously)
(Aha, this is that disk I can afford to do without.)
format a:, or del a:\*.*


For the record, Linux has the same potential problem:


mount /mnt/floppy
cd /mnt/floppy
ls -l
(Eject floppy, put in another one)
ls -l
(Cached contents of the first floppy come up, continue as above....)

So, I continue to allege that the PC hardware floppy model is horribly
broken.  Thank God almost all other removable media can have the correct
conversation with the OS....

-- 
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R Pickett                Look around you. This is what the world
emerson at hayseed.net      looks like at the end of the millenium.
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