Talk:BIOS parameter block

untitled
The referenced page: http://homepage.ntlworld.com./jonathan.deboynepollard/FGA/bios-parameter-block.html is far more useful than this wiki page. 80.176.88.36 (talk) —Preceding undated comment added 14:30, 24 October 2009 (UTC).

JdBP 12.8
The interesting article by JdPB listed in the external references suggests a fix for what he identifies as BPB version 7.0. Later he jumps to the conclusion that 0x80 indicates version 8.0 at offset 0x26 for NTFS. However, he correctly identified magic 0x28 as version 4.0, with the common 0x29 also used for version 4.0. Other sources claim that 0x28 differed in the last bytes, and/or that it was used for what is known as the "European DOS 4.0", a multi-tasking DOS created by MS for Siemens.

All sources I'm aware of agree that the magic hex. value corresponds to a decimal version, e.g., the fix suggested by JdPB uses 0x46 for 7.0 (4*16+6=70). In other words, I don't believe that 0x80 is any version 8.0, it would be version 12.8, and that makes no sense. Nothing to do in the article, just be very careful with the given sources, e.g., there were a few hard to spot errors in the FAT article some weeks ago. IIRC the word at offset 0x26 is used as data by the boot code, just DEBUG an NTFS boot sector to check this theory. –82.113.103.164 (talk) 13:52, 20 August 2011 (UTC)

Move?

 * The following discussion is an archived discussion of a requested move. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made in a new section on the talk page. Editors desiring to contest the closing decision should consider a move review. No further edits should be made to this section. 

The result of the move request was: not moved. Rough but clear consensus against. Andrewa (talk) 10:02, 28 July 2013 (UTC)


 * BIOS parameter block → BIOS Parameter Block – The article BIOS Parameter Block is not about some random kind of parameter block, but about the so called BIOS Parameter Block (BPB), a specific data structure known under this name. The term BIOS Parameter Block is a proper noun and has written in uppercase in the relevant (printed) literature for decades, therefore we should use the uppercase form as well in order to avoid confusion. Matthiaspaul (talk) 00:25, 20 July 2013 (UTC)
 * Oppose – not usually capitalized in sources; most capitalized uses are in titles and headings and definitions of the acronyms (like here), while uses in sentences are usually lowercase. Dicklyon (talk) 01:11, 20 July 2013 (UTC)
 * Hm, I don't see this reflected in my pile of books on this particular subject (several meters). I just checked a couple of them, and most of them use the uppercase form BIOS Parameter Block. There are, however, a few exceptions.
 * Using the uppercase form also makes sense from a linguistical point of view, as there are many BIOS parameter blocks, that is parameter blocks used in conjunction with some BIOS functions, which don't have anything to do with a certain and distinct data structure named the BIOS Parameter Block (BPB), which is present in (many) boot sectors and which is the subject of this article. --Matthiaspaul (talk) 08:10, 23 July 2013 (UTC)


 * Oppose per above. Also, uniqueness within a specific situation or environment may be a necessary but not sufficient requirement for capitalization. --Article editor (talk) 23:44, 26 July 2013 (UTC)
 * The above discussion is preserved as an archive of a requested move. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made in a new section on this talk page or in a move review. No further edits should be made to this section.

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