Linux <-> FAT <-> Windblows

[solarian]

Hi!

 

This might be a bit more of a Windows question, but... I don't expect anyone from the Win camp to know what I need anyway...

 

So - I have a hard drive which has two EXT3 partitions each ~60Gb (120gb hd)

I want to make hdc1 a FAT partition and leave hdc2 EXT3

I also need that Windblows is able to read the FAT partition, but...

will Windows recognize the hard drive at all if one of the partitions on the hd is EXT3?

 

 

 

p.s. I need that FAT partition so I can exchange data between these two.

The thing is that I have to use Soundforge 7 for one special task and it needs DirectX, which VMware doesn't support yet.

 

p.p.s. Maybe someone here can advise me a good audio recording and editing software that doesn't use directx with which I'd be able to apply different sound fx on the raw audio data (it needs to be at least semi-professional).

[arctic]

One note: you need to split the vfat partition. Afaik, Windows fat32 format does not support partitions larger than 30 GB.

will Windows recognize the hard drive at all if one of the partitions on the hd is EXT3?

Yes.

[tyme]

will Windows recognize the hard drive at all if one of the partitions on the hd is EXT3?

windows will recognize the drive and the windows FAT partition. Windows will also acknowledge the existance of the ext3 partition, but it would mark it "unkown", won't be able to read it, and will hence just leave it be.

Afaik, Windows fat32 format does not support partitions larger than 30 GB.

That's not completely true. Windows 2000 and XP will not format a fat32 partition larger than 32GB, but they support using partitions larger than 32GB (fat32 can go up to 2TB) - so if you format it with something else (IIRC, most Linux distro's can format fat32) you can use it.

 

See here for reference.

Edited August 23, 2005 by tyme

[solarian]

thanks!

 

p.s. I think I remember I had a FAT partition at 60gb some time ago.. ok, so it was some two years ago, I might be mistaken, haven't used win for a long time

[tyme]

*bump*

 

edited my post, to address fat32 partition size.

[scarecrow]

Audacity can be used as a very decent stereo recorder, since (under Windows) it can handle VST plugins.

http://audacityteam.org/wiki/index.pl?VstPlugIns

VST plugins are much more flexible than DirectX ones, although their format is patented (by Steinberg). Of course Steinberg's own audiorecorder, Wavelab 5, can do virtually anything PLUS not messing around with DirectX, but it is quite expensive.

Same applies for their Sequencer (Cubase).

The Orion audio sequencer ( http://www.synapse-audio.com/ ) is WAY cheaper, and extremely good /versatile (it handles VST plugins perfectly well).

With all that said: Even if you use a multimedia kernel with the lowest possible latency, you will find out that the results of audio applications running via VMWare are not satisfactory, unless you use a really pro-level audio card.

Edited August 23, 2005 by scarecrow

[solarian]

Thanks, scarecrow!

[arctic]

That's not completely true.  Windows 2000 and XP will not format a fat32 partition larger than 32GB, but they support using partitions larger than 32GB (fat32 can go up to 2TB) - so if you format it with something else (IIRC, most Linux distro's can format fat32) you can use it.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Wheee... I learned something new. :)

(Should I reinstall Windows on my box in order to learn more about it? Nah.... )

[scarecrow]

What's the point of having instead of a 32 GB FAT32 partition an 85 GB one with clustersize 32 kilobytes, when some 40% of the space is slack/wasted?

Agreed that Windows do some things coincidentally, but the 32 GB format limit on 2000 and XP is not coincidental! :D

Edited August 23, 2005 by scarecrow

[tyme]

What's the point of having instead of a 32 GB FAT32 partition an 85 GB one with clustersize 32 kilobytes, when some 40% of the space is slack/wasted?

hmm, where do you get this 40% figure? How much space is wasted depends on the size of the files you use. Even at less that 32GB you still get wasted space. My earlier reference explains portions of this and links to a description of how/why space is wasted.

Agreed that Windows do some things coincidentally, but the 32 GB format limit on 2000 and XP is not coincidental!  :D

Yes, as stated in the reference I linked, they want to force you to use NTFS for larger partitions.

[Aomighty]

Yeah, I did that kind of thing once with a FAT32 partition for exchanging data between XP and Mandrake, and both recognized them. I'm pretty sure the Mandrake CD can format FAT32.

[AussieJohn]

It certainly can.

 

John.