Partition Table structure
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A partition table is a structure of 16 bytes.  There can be up to 4 tables in a boot sector, and the first record always starts at location 0x1BE.  An example is shown below.



0001B0   00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 - CA EE BA 36 00 00 00 01            Êîº6   

0001C0   01 00 07 FE 7F D7 3F 00 - 00 00 99 FF 14 13 00 00     þ×?   ™ÿ 



Each table is the same structure - or may be blank


Location        Description


0x0                0x80, this partition is the boot partition, 0x00 not bootable


0x1                Address of first cylinder


0x2                Address of first head


0x3                Address of first sector


0x4                Partition type.  This can have many values, but the list below represent the most common values

0x00        Unused - means this partition table is not used


0x01        FAT 12


0x04        FAT 16 - upto 32MB


0x05

0x0f        Extended partition.  This will point to a new sector, acting like a MBR


0x06

0x0e

0xde        FAT 16


0x07        NTFS


0x0b

0x0c        FAT32

0x1b

0x1c        Hidden FAT32


0x63        Unix SCO


0xa8

0xab        Apple Macintosh


For more values


0x5                Address of last cylinder - often not valid for large disks


0x6                Address of last head - often not valid for large disks


0x7                Address of last sector - often not valid for large disks


0x8-0xb        LBA of first sector in partition.  Will point to a Parameter block.  0x3f is a very typcial value

 

0xc-0xf        LBA of final sector in partition.  For a single partition disk this will normally be the end of the disk