Distinguishing between different devices

[computer_freak_8]

Hello,

So far, this place has been the most helpful as far as Linux-oriented forums go.

Okay, I was wondering how Linux distinguishes one device from another. I have a U3 drive, and just as on Windows, Linux thinks it is a hard drive and a flash drive when I plug it in. Why is this? I mean, what specifically makes the operating system believe that there are really two different drives? As a test, I copied an ISO image of a CD to a partition on a flash drive (that was not U3). It showed up as "isofs" when I viewed the properties of the drive in Nautilus, but it still showed up as /dev/sdd2 instead of /dev/scd2, or something similar. (It also still had the "drive" icon - not the "CD" icon like the U3 drive has.)

Also, I noticed that on the (fake) data "drive" (data part of U3 real drive), it had what appeared to fdisk and sfdisk as the wrong ending cylinders, heads, and sectors. The "logical" or "expected" c/h/s values were less than the "physical" or "found" c/h/s values.

When I try to manually edit the c/h/s setup of a non-U3 drive, I end up changing the starting and ending cylinders - not just the ending. (I used the "sfdisk -C#-H#-S# /dev/sdd"-format command.)

My questions:
1. How can I change only the ending cylinders?
2. How can I make Linux think that I really have two different drives when I really only have one?

Any pointers on how this works would be greatly appreciated!!!

Thanks,
computer_freak_8

[computer_freak_8]

Okay, maybe I'm asking the wrong questions.

Apparently, it's a firmware thing. So maybe I should be asking questions like:

1. How do I flash/dump firmware in Linux?
2. How do I edit firmware in Linux?
3. What language is good for programming firmware in Linux?
4. What are some good tutorials (for a beginner) on programming firmware in Linux?


Thanks much,
computer_freak_8