MSDOS utilities to access Linux ext2 file
systems from inside DOS, freeware with
source code.

MSDOS utilities to access Linux ext2 file
systems from inside DOS, freeware with
source code.
EXT2 TOOLS
==========

Version 1.0 - 17 May 1995


INTRODUCTION
------------

The ext2 tools are a set of programs that enable you to read a Linux
ext2 file system under DOS.

The ext2 tools consist of the following programs:

E2CAT analogous to the Linux cat command
E2CD analogous to the Linux cd command
E2CP analogous to the Linux cp command
E2LS analogous to the Linux ls command
E2PART lists hard disk partitions
E2PWD analogous to the Linux pwd command

All these programs have been compiled with GCC and require the GO32
DOS extender in order to execute.

There are currently no programs for writing to an ext2 file system and
probably never will be unless someone else would care to make them.

The programs are distributed in both binary and source code form.


COPYRIGHT
---------

The ext2 tools are copyright (C) 1995 Claus Tondering ([email protected]).

Note: The ext2fs routines are copyright (C) 1993, 1994 Theodore Ts'o.
For further copyrights, see the source code files.

The ext2 tools may be redistributed under the terms of the GNU General
Public License, which is included in the file called COPYING.

For your convenience the GO32 program has been included in this
distribution. It is part of the DJGPP distribution, which can be obtained
by anonymous FTP from oak.oakland.edu in the directory /SimTel/msdos/djgpp.


DISCLAIMER
----------

This is free software. Use it at your own risk. If it doesn't work,
it's your problem, not mine.



BASIC PRINCIPLES
----------------

Before you use the ext2 tools, you must set the environment variable
E2CWD using a statement similar to the following:

SET E2CWD=129:5
or
SET E2CWD=129:5:234

The three numbers after the equals sign are interpreted thus:

The first number (129 in the above example) identifies the physical
disk on which the ext2 file system is located. The number is used as
the second parameter to the DOS biosdisk() routine. Typical values
are:
0 for A: disk
1 for B: disk
128 for first hard disk
129 for second hard disk

(Your BIOS may use different values, especially if you have an SCSI
drive.)

The second number (5 in the above example) is the number of the disk
partition on which the ext2 file system is located. This number is
typically part of the Linux file name for the disk device. If, for
example, you are used to referring to the disk as /dev/hdb5 under
Linux, the partition number is 5. The E2PART program can help you
identify the partitions.

The third number is the inode number of the directory that is to be
your current working directory. If this number is omitted, 2 (the root
inode number) is used. If you don't know what an inode is, don't worry.
Just omit the final number from E2CWD.

Note: File names starting with / will be interpretet relative to the
root directory on the particular disk identified by the E2CWD
environment variable.

None of the programs support wildcards.

Be sure to have the GO32.EXE program somewhere in your PATH.



E2CAT
-----

SYNOPSIS
E2CAT [-bt] pathname

DESCTIPTION
The E2CAT program will copy the contents of the file identified
by ext2 pathname to the standard output.

The following options are available:

-bBinary mode. No translation performed.

-tText mode (default). LF translated to CR/LF.



E2CD
----

SYNOPSIS
E2CD pathname

DESCRIPTION
The pathname must identify an ext2 directory. That directory is
made the current working directory.

NOTE
E2CD is a .BAT file that creates another .BAT file (called
___E2CD.BAT) that modifies the E2CWD environment variable. It
then executes ___E2CD.BAT and deletes it. (So beware if you
alread have a file called ___E2CD.BAT.)

If you are using 4DOS, add the /Q switch to the DEL command in
E2CD.BAT.


E2CP
----

SYNOPSIS
E2CP [-bt] file1 file2

DESCTIPTION
The E2CP program will copy the contents of the file identified
by ext2 pathname 'file1' to the MSDOS file 'file2'.

The following options are available:

-bBinary mode (default). No translation performed.

-tText mode. LF translated to CR/LF.



E2LS
----

SYNOPSIS
E2LS [-adiltr] pathname

DESCRIPTION
The pathname must identify an ext2 directory or file. The E2LS
program provides a list of the contents of that directory in a
manner similar to the Linux ls program.

The following options are supported:

-aInclude file names starting with . in listing.
-dList only pathname, even if it is a directory.
-iInclude inode number in listing.
-lProduce a long listing.
-tSort by modification time.
-rReverse the sort order.




E2PART
------

SYNOPSIS
E2PART diskno

DESCRIPTION
The E2PART program lists the partitions that are available on a
particular physical disk. This program does not use the E2CWD
environment variable, instead the disk number is given as an
argument to the E2PART program.

BUGS
The program is not very good at identifying MSDOS file systems.




E2PWD
-----

SYNOPSIS
E2PWD

DESCRIPTION
The E2PWD program prints the current directory.




HOW TO CONTACT THE AUTHOR
-------------------------

The author can be contacted by e-mail at [email protected].