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 |
How this entity was disambiguated
This entity first appeared as the object of triple T1724682 — resolving that mention is where its identity was fixed. The disambiguator weighed these candidate entities and picked the highlighted one (or “None”, minting a new entity). This is how homonymy is resolved: the same surface form can point to different entities.
NED1
Entity disambiguation (via context triple)
gpt-5-mini-2025-08-07
Target entity: BIOS Parameter Block Context triple: [FAT16, bootSectorContains, BIOS Parameter Block]
-
A.
ROM BIOS
ROM BIOS is the built-in firmware in early IBM PCs that initializes hardware and provides low-level services for loading and running operating systems.
-
B.
IBM PC XT BIOS
IBM PC XT BIOS is the low-level firmware that initializes and controls the hardware of the IBM PC XT, providing essential system services for its operating systems and software.
-
C.
Boot Record Volume Descriptor
Boot Record Volume Descriptor is a special ISO 9660 volume descriptor type that provides boot-related information enabling systems to start (boot) from an optical disc.
-
D.
FAT16
FAT16 is an older 16-bit File Allocation Table file system widely used on early DOS and Windows systems, known for its simplicity and limitations in maximum partition and file sizes.
-
E.
MS-DOS
MS-DOS is a command-line operating system that became the foundational software platform for early IBM-compatible personal computers in the 1980s and early 1990s.
- F. None of above. chosen
- G. Unsure - the case is ambiguous/there is not enough information to decide.
NED2
Entity disambiguation (via description)
gpt-5-mini-2025-08-07
Target entity: BIOS Parameter Block Target entity description: 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.
-
A.
ROM BIOS
ROM BIOS is the built-in firmware in early IBM PCs that initializes hardware and provides low-level services for loading and running operating systems.
-
B.
IBM PC XT BIOS
IBM PC XT BIOS is the low-level firmware that initializes and controls the hardware of the IBM PC XT, providing essential system services for its operating systems and software.
-
C.
Boot Record Volume Descriptor
Boot Record Volume Descriptor is a special ISO 9660 volume descriptor type that provides boot-related information enabling systems to start (boot) from an optical disc.
-
D.
FAT16
FAT16 is an older 16-bit File Allocation Table file system widely used on early DOS and Windows systems, known for its simplicity and limitations in maximum partition and file sizes.
-
E.
MS-DOS
MS-DOS is a command-line operating system that became the foundational software platform for early IBM-compatible personal computers in the 1980s and early 1990s.
- F. None of above. chosen
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 extended BPB
ⓘ
linked to:
FAT32
NTFS extended BPB-like structure ⓘ exFAT extended BPB ⓘ
linked to:
exFAT
|
| 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 2.0
ⓘ
linked to:
MS-DOS
|
| locatedAt | first sector of a volume ⓘ |
| locatedIn | volume boot record ⓘ |
| primaryPurpose |
describe volume layout
ⓘ
provide filesystem parameters to boot code and OS ⓘ |
| standardizedIn |
Microsoft FAT specification
ⓘ
linked to:
File Allocation Table
|
| usedIn |
FAT12 file system
ⓘ
linked to:
FAT12
FAT16 file system ⓘ
linked to:
FAT16
FAT32 file system ⓘ IBM PC-compatible systems ⓘ MS-DOS file systems ⓘ NTFS file system ⓘ exFAT file system ⓘ |
How these facts were elicited
The pipeline generated the facts above by prompting gpt-5.1 with this entity's name + description and the instruction below.
Instruction
You are a knowledge base construction expert. Given a subject entity and a description of it, return factual statements that you know for the subject as a JSON list of dictionaries(triples), where keys must be "subject", "predicate" and "object". The number of facts may be very high, between 25 to 50 or more, for very popular subjects. For less popular subjects, the number of facts can be very low, like 5 or 10. # Requirements - If you don't know the subject at all, return an empty list. - If the subject is not a named entity, return an empty list. - Include at least one triple where predicate is "instanceOf". - Do not get too wordy. - Separate several objects into multiple triples with one object.
Input
Subject: BIOS Parameter Block Description of subject: 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.
Referenced by (1)
Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.