BIOS Parameter Block
E195201
The BIOS Parameter Block is a data structure in a disk’s boot sector that defines the volume’s layout and filesystem parameters, such as sector size, cluster size, and file allocation table details.
All labels observed (1)
| Label | Occurrences |
|---|---|
| BIOS Parameter Block canonical | 1 |
Statements (48)
| Predicate | Object |
|---|---|
| instanceOf |
data structure
ⓘ
disk layout metadata structure ⓘ |
| alsoKnownAs | BPB ⓘ |
| associatedWith | BIOS-level disk services ⓘ |
| category |
computer storage technology
ⓘ
filesystem metadata ⓘ |
| containsField |
bytes per sector
ⓘ
drive number ⓘ filesystem type string ⓘ hidden sectors ⓘ media descriptor ⓘ number of FATs ⓘ number of heads ⓘ reserved sector count ⓘ root directory entry count ⓘ sectors per FAT ⓘ sectors per cluster ⓘ sectors per track ⓘ total sectors ⓘ volume ID ⓘ volume label ⓘ |
| criticalFor |
locating file allocation table
ⓘ
locating root directory ⓘ mounting a volume ⓘ |
| dataType | binary structure ⓘ |
| definedInContextOf | disk boot sector ⓘ |
| extendedBy |
FAT32
ⓘ
surface form:
FAT32 extended BPB
NTFS extended BPB-like structure ⓘ exFAT ⓘ
surface form:
exFAT extended BPB
|
| fixedPosition | offset after jump instruction and OEM name in boot sector ⓘ |
| influences |
cluster addressing scheme
ⓘ
maximum file system capacity ⓘ maximum volume size ⓘ |
| interpretedBy |
bootloader
ⓘ
operating system kernel ⓘ |
| introducedFor |
MS-DOS
ⓘ
surface form:
MS-DOS 2.0
|
| locatedAt | first sector of a volume ⓘ |
| locatedIn | volume boot record ⓘ |
| primaryPurpose |
describe volume layout
ⓘ
provide filesystem parameters to boot code and OS ⓘ |
| standardizedIn |
File Allocation Table
ⓘ
surface form:
Microsoft FAT specification
|
| usedIn |
FAT12
ⓘ
surface form:
FAT12 file system
FAT16 ⓘ
surface form:
FAT16 file system
FAT32 file system ⓘ IBM PC-compatible systems ⓘ MS-DOS file systems ⓘ NTFS file system ⓘ exFAT file system ⓘ |
Referenced by (1)
Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.