Boot Sector Layout

 The DOS boot sector of a floppy disk or a hard disk partition is expected
 to be in this format.  Prior to DOS 4.0, a smaller structure was used (see
 notes, below).

BootSectorRec
  Offset Size Contents
  ▀▀▀▀▀▀ ▀▀▀▀ ▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀
   +0      3  abJmpCode    JMP opcode to start of boot code
   +3      8  abOem        e.g., "MSDOS6.0" or "IBM  4.0"
  +0bH     2  wSectSize    bytes per sector (usually 512; 200H)
  +0dH     1  bClustSects  sectors per allocation unit (cluster)
  +0eH     2  wResSects    boot and reserved sectors
  +10H     1  bFatCnt      number of File Allocation Tables.  See FAT.
  +11H     2  wRootEntries max number of 32-byte DirEntryRecs in root
  +13H     2  wTotSects    total number of sectors in media
                           0000H means >32 MB, so use lBigTotSects
 +15H      1  bMedia       media descriptor (same as 1st byte in FAT)
 +16H      2  wFatSects    number of sectors in one FAT
 +18H      2  wSectsPerTrk sectors per track
 +1aH      2  wHeads       number of read/write heads
 +1cH      4  lHidSects    hidden sectors (ignore hiword in pre-DOS 4.0)
 +20H      4  lBigTotSects 32-bit TotSects in volume (partitions > 32M)

 +24H      1  bDrvNo       80H=first hard disk (used internally by DOS)
 +25H      1  res1         (reserved)
 +26H      1  bExtBootSig  Extended boot record signature (always 29H)
 +27H      4  lSerNo       Volume Serial Number (based on when formatted)
 +2bH     11  abVolLabel   Volume Label (11-character, blank padded)
 +36H      8  abFileSysID  contains 'FAT12   ' or 'FAT16   ')
          62               length of formatted portion of BootSectorRec

 +3eH      ?  abBootCode   code and data that performs disk bootstrap
+2ffH                      end of boot sector

 See BPBRec for a description of most of these fields.  Fields unique to
 the BootSectorRec include:

   abJmpCode  Since the Boot Sector is used as program code during system
              startup, the first bytes in the sector are a JMP opcode to get
              past the data area.  It usually jumps to abBootCode.

       abOem  This is an 8-character text field that is supposed to contain
              the signature of the version of DOS which formatted the disk
              (or otherwise laid down the boot sector).  It is not used by
              DOS.

      bDrvNo  On the first hard disk in a system, this field contains 80H.
              Otherwise it should be 00H.  Used internally by DOS.

 bExtBootSig  Prior to DOS 4.0, the formatted portion of the Boot Sector
              ended at offset 1eH and that variation is still supported.
              Boot Sectors which contain 29H in this field (offset 26H) are
              expected to contain the entire 3eH-byte record.

      lSerNo  a 32-bit volume serial number.  It is based on the time and
              date when formatted, making the disk unique for the system
              which formatted it.  This field is used by block device
              drivers which support Removable Media and Change Line
              functions (see Device Requests and fn 44H).

              On disks formatted by DOS versions prior to 4.0, there is no
              lSerNo or abVolLabel fields.  On pre-formatted diskettes,
              these fields are often non-unique.  In either case, DOS might
              not be able to detect a disk swap.

  abVolLabel  the 11-character, blank-padded, volume label.  DOS lays this
              down when the disk is formatted AND DOS updates it (along with
              the volume label entry in the root directory) when you use the
              Label command.

 abFileSysID  this 8-character, blank-padded text field identifies the file
              system.  It can be 'FAT12   ' (12-bit FAT entries) or
              'FAT16   ' (16-bit FAT entries).  See File Allocation Table.

  abBootCode  this is the start of the unformatted portion of the boot
              sector.  It contains data and code that is executed when the
              disk is booted.

Versions: ■ DOS 2.x: the formatted part of the record ended at offset 18H.
          ■ DOS 3.x: the formatted part of the record ended at offset 1eH.
          ■ DOS 4.0+: bExtBootSig contains 29H and all fields through
            offset 3eH are used.

   Notes: ■ Use absolute disk read INT 25H (DX=0) to read this sector OR
            • floppy disks: The boot sector is at BIOS INT 13H  head 0,
              track 0, sector 1
            • hard disks: read the Partition Table to determine BIOS Head,
              Track, Sector to seek before using INT 13H.

          ■ To convert a cluster number (as read from the wClustNo field of
            a Directory Entry or a FAT chain) into a absolute sector number
            (as used in INT 25H/26H calls), you may use DOS Fn 32H or read
            the Boot Sector and apply the formulae:

              wRootSects = (wRootEntries * 32) / wSectSize
              wFirstData = wResSects + (wFatSects * bFatCnt) + wRootSects
              lAbsSector = wFirstData + ((lAnyClusterNo - 2) * bClustects)

            Use the calculated value (lAbsSector) in INT 25H or INT 26H
            calls.

          ■ Very old hard disks which require an installed device driver
            (non-bootable hard disks) may contain garbage in the boot
            sector.  When possible, use DOS fns such as 32H to obtain
            information about the device.

See Also: Partition Table
          File Allocation Table
          Device Drivers
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