On 2014-08-05 2:04 PM, FromTheRafters wrote:
> Wolf K formulated on Tuesday :
>
>> "True" files????
>
> Yes, that which is supported by whatever file system is loaded.

I think there is some confusion there.

Unless I am much mistaken,

a) The BIOS chip has a file system on it, else there could be no BIOS. 
BIOS == programs and data needed to start the boot process. Etc. As I've 
said, BIOS is a minimal OS. It has to be, else it could not (for 
example) present a screen for changing things like the boot sequence. 
AFAIK, all OSs can read the BIOS with a suitable utility, which means 
that BIOS is a collection of files. When you update the BIOS, you are 
writing data to it. Data == file(s). QED

b) No filesystem is "loaded". A storage device is formatted for a 
specific file-system. An OS must be able to read that filesystem in 
order to access any data on the storage device.

c) All HDDs must be low-level formatted, which marks all tracks and 
sectors. Only then can the disk be formatted with a filesystem. A 
filesystem organises the information about tracks and sectors so that 
the OS will not overwrite old data with new data. This is usually called 
"high level formatting". (A failing disk can sometimes be rescued by 
doing a low-level format).

e) The physical structure of the SSD is blocks of memory locations, not 
tracks and sectors. The firmware on the SSD (more files) translates 
tack/sector information into whatever block structure it contains. That 
firmware is what makes it possible to format and SSD.

Footnote: it's technically feasible to have all the filesystem stuff 
done by the disk, which would make it OS-neutral. That is, from the OS's 
POV, the disk would merely be a device to which data is sent, and from 
which data is received. A protocol analogous to TCP/IP would do the 
trick. In fact, you could use TCP/IP.

Hope this clears up any confusions.

Of course, you are at liberty to use "file" to refer only to data 
written to a disk formatted with a file system, but as the OP's post 
indicates, this usage creates some confusion about how malware that 
bypasses the boot process actually works.

Have a good day,

-- 
Best,
Wolf K
kirkwood40.blogspot.ca
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