Re: VB6 - accessing CompactFlash bootsector & FAT



On Fri, 29 Jul 2005 19:22:27 GMT, "IED" <i.davis@xxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

>Hi,
>hoping for some guidance.
>I want to be able to read individual bytes & words from a CompactFlash card.
>The data on the CF does not conform to FAT so I want to get right down into
>the sectors.
>The CF isn't readable under Windows, but I can view the contents with
>WinHex.
>Is it possible with VB6 to get down to this level?
>I am using the CF in another embedded system and don't want the overhead of
>FAT but want a way of retrieving the data via PC easily.
>Any help would be appreciated.

Does the card show up as a drive ?

You just might be able to read the card using Int 25h
- absolute sector read

Under Windows one gets at that using DeviceIoControl
- also things depend on the version of Windows

Under the NT, 2K, XP one can open a drive

Just a few pointers - not a solution

Incidentally the overheads of FAT are very low.
What some people used to do in the old days was to format up the first
few sectors to look like FAT with just one huge 'preformatted' file,
then write directly to the card.

If you have control of the other embedded system, them I would
seriously suggest that you look into that approach
.



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