[Discussion] Does "pinball.sys" Work?

[Jim Hughes]

On 2009_12_04 17:24, Thomas Clayton wrote:
> Dear POSSI:
>
> Recently downloaded (DLed) many OS2 / eCS related files to NTFS (Win: 2k, XP) HDD volume. I saw among the things I could - and DID - DL: pinball.sys and related files to ENABLe seeing / writing to HPFS volumes from "NT" type OSes.
>
> Has anyone tried using these with an NT OS to access a HPFS drive?
>
>
> I'm thinking of
>  putting a 256MB or 2.1 GB IDE drive that it ALREADY HPFS formatted onto the NT system via an external USB cable _OR_ directly onto its IDE cable
>  (while it is off  ;-)  ),
> copying these DLed files to its HPFS volume,
> then detaching it (while the system is off :-) if it was on the IDE cable),
> and, then,
> re-attaching (I guess I should have the Warp system off, too ;-D  )
> .
>
> You KNOW ... I PROBABLY could JUST use a DOS formatted drive, couldn't I?
>
> Still, I'd like to know the answer to that question.
>
> Thomas Clayton
>
>
>   
Thomas

For me, Pinball does work on a win XP system read and write, the version 
I use contains:

    Archive:  HPFSW2K.ZIP
      Length     EAs   ACLs    Date   Time    Name
     --------    ---   ----    ----   ----    ----
          182          0      0             09-15-01 03:46   hpfs.reg
       117376      0      0             09-15-01 03:46   pinball.sys
          215          0      0             09-15-01 03:46   readme
         4096         0      0             09-15-01 03:46   rs.dll
     --------  -----  -----                   -------
       121869      0      0                   4 files

Unfortunately I don't remember the source of the download,

Some caveats:

    - max size of hpfs partition(s)  < 8gig ( best to stay under 7.5 g).
    My experience under w2k was that  approaching 8 g or larger, windows
    gets confused and puts all its effort into figuring out what it is
    dealing with and won't even shut down without the aid of the power
    switch. I haven't even tried under XP.
    - customize the "recycle bin" so that it is shut off (zerospace) for
    the appliicable partition(s), unless of course, after emptying it, 
    you like being interupted every 10 seconds or so with a system
    focused popup telling you that the "desktop.ini" is corrupted and to
    run the check disk utility. On my system, because customizing
    doesn't always stay set (windows knows what I want better than me?),
    I usually have a "delete" directory and move files to it and
    actually delete them when rebooted to os2/eCS. Basically, don't use
    the recycle bin with a HPFS partition, work around it.
    - As I make a habit of turning them off anyway I can't remember if
    there are any problems with the various indexing services, fast
    finds, etc.

Regards
Jim