I have GOT to ask the question...

For OS4... FFS or SFS?

Simple question. Is there a simple answer? I'm currently using FFS (The theory being it's been rewritten for OS4 so it must be the better choice. Does anyone else know otherwise?

FuZion,

I am confused. Is SFS universal as far as classic OS3.9 and AmigaOne OS4.0 go, or is there a specific version for each?

@FuZion

Simple, maybe

If you like un-validated partitions, slow write/transfer speed, & slow deleting/reading of directories then go with FFS. A plus with FFS is the maintenance tools that come with the OS.

SFS, no un-validated partitions, write/transfer is twice as fast, directory reading is a lot faster, deleting of directories is 1 sec or less.

FastFileSystem & SmartFileSystem should be in the Kickstart directory only, if they are in L:, remove them. Do not install them in MTB/RDB, FFS is default & SFS is custom. To install SFS, change to custom, type in ID 53465300, sfs/00 will show, buffer size 1000 to start, block size 512.

SFS is bootable, I just wish I could find the maintenance tools for it. Changing to SFS requires re-formating, so make backups.

Last edited by sundown on 16-Feb-2005 at 02:13 AM.

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@x56h34

I asked that same question on the sfs mailing list & this is the reply.

>The change log does make things a little confusing. Is the OS4
>& 68k version one & the same?

They are in sync as far as bugfixes is respected, but the 68k version
has less features (no support for CDRW media, IIRC).

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@sundown
Quote:

A plus with FFS is the maintenance tools that come with the OS.

The maintenance tools are for FFS only????? Damn, that gives me a reason to never use SFS in my life!!

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@mwoof

Not sure if that's the way it's supposed to be, but when I tried the Partition Wizard on a SFS partition I got the GR. MTB supports both, no problem. A collection of tools exists for the 68k version, so they may exist for the OS4 version, just haven't found them yet.

I've used PFS3 for years on my classic & never lost anything. I will switch over from FFS to SFS on my µA1 as soon as I get it loaded & all the programs working.

A good test is to set up a cache partition for the web browser & make it SFS.
That's the worst punishment you can submit to any filesystem. I'll do that first to see how SFS holds up to the load.

If SFS never breaks, who needs tools. Backups, backups, the only safe tool for both filesystems.

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@sundown

Quote:
Not sure if that's the way it's supposed to be, but when I tried the Partition Wizard on a SFS partition I got the GR. MTB supports both, no problem. A collection of tools exists for the 68k version, so they may exist for the OS4 version, just haven't found them yet.


I got errors with SFS yesterday. Don't know if OS4 versions of tools exist, but I founded latest sfs from aminet and this lha is 68k tools incluided. They worked with hd1 but not sys: partition (grim...). There is sources included also...

In here P-Wizard worked w/o grims, but all SFS partitions were shaded.

BTW. this SFS 1.236 binary was for 68k.

x56h34 wrote:

Quote:

I am confused. Is SFS universal as far as classic OS3.9 and AmigaOne OS4.0 go, or is there a specific version for each?

The OS3.x binary on my homepage is m68k and doesn't support CD/DVD+-RW, the OS4 versions, which are inlcuded in the AmigaOS4 pre-release and updates, are PPC native. Except for that they are the same and build from the same sources.

Edit: AmigaOS4 users should keep using the PPC native SFS version, there is nothing in the m68k 1.236 version which is missing in the PPC native 1.234 from OS4 update2.

mwoof wrote:

Quote:

The maintenance tools are for FFS only?

No. Fix-in-place Repair, Undelete and Unformat are FFS-only, but Check, Salvage, Optimize and FindPartitions support SFS as well.

@mlehto

"Don't know if OS4 versions of tools exist, but I founded latest sfs from aminet and this lha is 68k tools incluided. They worked with hd1 but not sys: partition (grim...)."
--------------------------------------------------------

I have that archive & I ran sfsquery to check for proper buffer size, but got a lockup. I did ask on the sfs ml if any OS4 tools existed, no answer yet. I'll post if I get any info.

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"In here P-Wizard worked w/o grims, but all SFS partitions were shaded."
--------------------------------------------------------

My partitions weren't ghosted, so I had to try.

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"BTW. this SFS 1.236 binary was for 68k."
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I wasn't sure, but I know now.

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@joerg

"Check, Salvage, Optimize and FindPartitions support SFS as well"
---------------------------------------------------------------

Cool, thanks for the clarification on support tools for SFS/OS4.

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@sundown

Quote:
My partitions weren't ghosted, so I had to try.


I can use check, but not repair ... can you repair them ???


Quote:
I wasn't sure, but I know now.


list68k from od4depot is our friend ...

@mlehto

"I can use check, but not repair ... can you repair them ???"
-------------------------------------------------------------

No, repair does not support SFS. I assume because a SFS partition does not become un-validated or corrupt like FFS.

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@joerg:

Thanks for the clarification. I have updated the classic machine to the 1.236 version.

. To install SFS, change to custom, type in ID 53465300, sfs/00 will show, buffer size 1000 to start, block size 512.
------------------------------------------------------

So you are saying there is NOTHING to install? That is ALL that needs to be done?

I keep looking for the promised tutorial on IntutionBase with no luck.

Why has this filesystem not been adopted as default in OS4?

Probably because it's not quite ready for "production" use yet - as you can tell from the other posters, there are still some problems. In a filesystem, you have to have a very high threshold for quality, because bugs usually result in data loss.

I personally think it's a pretty good filesystem, judging from the feature list and people's reports on it. I think that when I get my XE fixed up I'll be giving it a try.

PS: Speaking of which... Hey Russ, if you're reading this, did you get my email from last Friday?

Quote:

So you are saying there is NOTHING to install? That is ALL that needs to be done?

Maybe that's what is getting you hung up. There is nothing to install, it is all built-in, just like FFS. I guess it could be more obvious if they made a pulldown to select the different filesystems instead of having to type in the hex. After the first one it's easier.

Scott Woodall

Last edited by swoodall on 16-Feb-2005 at 04:58 AM.

So these updates are NOT for OS4. OK, if there is an OS4 update how can we install it? Wait for a kickstart update, correct?

@rinaldo00

"So you are saying there is NOTHING to install? That is ALL that needs to be done?"

Just make sure SmartFileSystem exists in SYS:Kickstart. Check SYS:L & delete SmartFileSystem if it exists there. Do the same with FastFileSystem, even if you're not using SFS. Any OS updates will update the kickstart files, but not the files in L:. OS4 uses the filesystems in Kickstart, not in L:.

I suggest you install SFS on an empty partition first, just to get comfortable with making the change. After saving the changes, you must reboot & you will see an un-formated disk on WorkBench. Just quick format it & you're done. Hi-light the new disk & select menu/icons/information & it should say handler: SFS.

Just remember to backup any data to another partition before making the change & restore after formatting.

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@rinaldo00

"So these updates are NOT for OS4. OK, if there is an OS4 update how can we install it? Wait for a kickstart update, correct?"
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

If a new version of SFS for OS4 (PPC) comes out, you would just put the new version in Kickstart & reboot.

Last edited by sundown on 16-Feb-2005 at 05:32 AM.

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