> ... but which would be considered the most logical place to deal with
> things such as setting hd parameters for the machine on bootup like
> the 'echo dma on > /dev/sdC0/ctl' example above?

also see dmaon(8).  just as an obvious note, this only
affects interfaces using ide or ide emulation.  you can
tell which driver you're using by catting /dev/sdctl.  for
example, the first drive is ide.  unfortunately, the driver
calls itself "ata".

ladd# cat /dev/sdctl
sdC ata port 1F0 ctl 3F4 irq 14
sdE ahci sb600 port 0xe0022800: 64a alp clo coal led mps ncq ntf pm pslum slum iss 2 ncs 31 np 4 ghc 80000002 isr 0 pi f 0-3 ver 10100

> > Kfs is the older disk file system for standalone terminals and the like.
> > For most purposes, fossil replaces it. Fossil is user-mode, while kfs
> > is a "kernel file system." See in kfs(4).
> >
>
> Ok, so I may simply generally disregard any mention of kfs in any docs or
> scripts and config files I might happen upon? Since fossil has effectively
> deprecated kfs?

both (as noted) are user-level fses.  and while kfs is older and
simpler, it is very robust.  there may be more kfs in operation
than any other plan 9 fs.  fossil does snapshots, talks to venti
and other things, but being more complicated, there are more
ways for it to go sideways.

so like anything else you don't use, feel free to ignore.  but
that doesn't mean kfs is "deprecated".  i think it's just a different
tool for a different task.

- erik