MiSTer FPGA Forum

Hi!

I'm wondering if it's possible to point MiSTer to look for its config file on removable drive (that's not the microSD).

I see that the ini files are named in cfg.cpp, if I were to modify that to a path, would it work? Would there be issues making sure the (USB drive for example) was mounted before finding it?

Thanks

You could use a symlink with unix based systems, but I don't think it works with exfat. I don't understand why mister uses exfat.

keilmillerjr wrote: ↑Mon Apr 12, 2021 4:46 am I don't understand why mister uses exfat.

Because MiSTer still uses Linux at the back end.
You don't have to use Exfat, you can still use fat32 and NTFS .... BUT

Exfat is preferred for external drives as Fat32 is limited to 4GB for max file size, which some VHD files already surpassed.
Also Exfat lacks all the driver overhead NTFS has and is more compatible.

darksakul wrote: ↑Mon Apr 12, 2021 9:18 pm

keilmillerjr wrote: ↑Mon Apr 12, 2021 4:46 am I don't understand why mister uses exfat.

Because MiSTer still uses Linux at the back end.
You don't have to use Exfat, you can still use fat32 and NTFS .... BUT

Exfat is preferred for external drives as Fat32 is limited to 4GB for max file size, which some VHD files already surpassed.
Also Exfat lacks all the driver overhead NTFS has and is more compatible.

Why not ext4?

keilmillerjr wrote: ↑Wed Apr 14, 2021 11:39 am Why not ext4?

Case sensitive, like NTFS.

EXT4 is difficult (not impossible) to use on Windows and Mac. ExFAT is the most viable common denominator.

When I started to use USB I first used ext4 as it is Linux native. I bumped into the case sensitivity problem which is not a major issue: just rename whatever causes the problem with the correct capitalization. As my PC is windows and wanted to make backups I had to use a program which allows to read ext4 (no write feature) and is very slow. After that I used NTFS which is a much better filesystem that the FAT style. I discovered that NTFS is case sensitive which is ignored by Windows. At one point I ended up with 2 directories with the "same" name, Windows sees the 2 directories but it is a kind of optical illusion: if you change directory to either one you always end up in the same one. Not knowing that I deleted the unwanted directory and Windows deleted the other one, luckily I had a backup. Now I use only exFAT, no more headache.

jca wrote: ↑Wed Apr 14, 2021 12:50 pm

keilmillerjr wrote: ↑Wed Apr 14, 2021 11:39 am Why not ext4?

Case sensitive, like NTFS.

Why is that a bad thing?

Bas wrote: ↑Wed Apr 14, 2021 12:50 pm EXT4 is difficult (not impossible) to use on Windows and Mac. ExFAT is the most viable common denominator.

I have used MacFuse for many years on my mac, and forgot I even had it installed. It just works for multiple file systems. It is not difficult on the mac. After a quick google about ext and windows (which I ditched after v3.1), I see your point. Totally lost with windows solutions. There are many of them, and not full featured and seamless.

Does windows compatibility really matter? We can configure on the device or remotely using ssh, and transfer using usb or scp. Raspbian uses ext4. I never removed my sd card when I had a raspberry pi.

I am just curious. Trying to familiarize myself with the MiSTer project.

Plenty of people remove their MiSTer sd card to load roms. I don't because I'm lazy, but it's always faster to move the sd card over to do large copies, and it's something the project wants to support without requiring people to install file system drivers.

jca wrote: ↑Wed Apr 14, 2021 12:50 pm

keilmillerjr wrote: ↑Wed Apr 14, 2021 11:39 am Why not ext4?

Case sensitive, like NTFS.

That's not really a problem anymore.

https://www.collabora.com/news-and-blog ... e-in-ext4/