Re: HFS question

[SlickRCBD <slickrcbdnews@gmail.com>]

On May 23, 12:30 am, mojoehand <mojoeh...@gmail.com> wrote:
> As I understand it, GS/OS can create and use both ProDOS and HFS
> volumes. Other than needing a ProDOS volume to boot from, is there any
> reason that an HFS volume couldn't be used for everything else, thus
> eliminating the 32 MB size restriction?
>
> In other words, can I have a CF card with one ProDOS boot partition
> and the rest as an HFS partition to store programs and data? What
> can't I do with an HFS volume under GS/OS?
>
> ProDOS 8 or 16 doesn't support HFS, only GS/OS, right?

I have such a partition. The downside is that you can't run any ProDOS
8 applications on it, nor can you access it from ProDOS 8. If you want
to use the text-based AppleWorks Classic, you won't be able to access
HFS partitions.

There are several drawbacks. Number one is that this is HFS, not the
HFS+ introduced in Mac OS 8.1. As such on volumes above 32mb you have
a file bloating problem. A Finder.DATA file usually takes up only 512
bytes on a ProDOS volume. It takes up 2k on a 132mb HFS volume.

The other downside is if you have a problem, which will happen
eventually, the only recourse is to back up everything on the volume,
erase the partition, and copy everything back. Not as much of an issue
if you have a Mac with a relatively big hard drive that you can copy
the files to. No repair utilities will work. Also, many tools such as
Super Info II that can alter file atributes will not function on an
HFS partition, but that may not be a major issue. I've found that only
the Finder can lock and unlock files, things like Disk Witch or File
Manager don't work and don't report any errors.

For GS/OS only applications such as AppleWorks GS and most ProDOS 16
apps, you shouldn't have any problems with an HFS partition. Depending
on what you've got, you probably want to have a couple of 32mb
partitions and the rest on a larger HFS volume.

The issues with HFS are minor, and worth the benefit of larger volumes.