MBR (Master Boot Record) partition table: Go parsing library

MBR (Master Boot Record) partition table is a traditional way of MS-DOS to partition larger hard disc drives into distinct partitions.

This table is stored in the end of the boot sector (first sector) of the drive, after the bootstrap code. Original DOS 2.0 specification allowed only 4 partitions per disc, but DOS 3.2 introduced concept of "extended partitions", which work as nested extra "boot records" which are pointed to by original ("primary") partitions in MBR.

This page hosts a formal specification of MBR (Master Boot Record) partition table using Kaitai Struct. This specification can be automatically translated into a variety of programming languages to get a parsing library.

Go source code to parse MBR (Master Boot Record) partition table

mbr_partition_table.go

// Code generated by kaitai-struct-compiler from a .ksy source file. DO NOT EDIT.

import (
	"github.com/kaitai-io/kaitai_struct_go_runtime/kaitai"
	"bytes"
)


/**
 * MBR (Master Boot Record) partition table is a traditional way of
 * MS-DOS to partition larger hard disc drives into distinct
 * partitions.
 * 
 * This table is stored in the end of the boot sector (first sector) of
 * the drive, after the bootstrap code. Original DOS 2.0 specification
 * allowed only 4 partitions per disc, but DOS 3.2 introduced concept
 * of "extended partitions", which work as nested extra "boot records"
 * which are pointed to by original ("primary") partitions in MBR.
 */
type MbrPartitionTable struct {
	BootstrapCode []byte
	Partitions []*MbrPartitionTable_PartitionEntry
	BootSignature []byte
	_io *kaitai.Stream
	_root *MbrPartitionTable
	_parent interface{}
}
func NewMbrPartitionTable() *MbrPartitionTable {
	return &MbrPartitionTable{
	}
}

func (this *MbrPartitionTable) Read(io *kaitai.Stream, parent interface{}, root *MbrPartitionTable) (err error) {
	this._io = io
	this._parent = parent
	this._root = root

	tmp1, err := this._io.ReadBytes(int(446))
	if err != nil {
		return err
	}
	tmp1 = tmp1
	this.BootstrapCode = tmp1
	for i := 0; i < int(4); i++ {
		_ = i
		tmp2 := NewMbrPartitionTable_PartitionEntry()
		err = tmp2.Read(this._io, this, this._root)
		if err != nil {
			return err
		}
		this.Partitions = append(this.Partitions, tmp2)
	}
	tmp3, err := this._io.ReadBytes(int(2))
	if err != nil {
		return err
	}
	tmp3 = tmp3
	this.BootSignature = tmp3
	if !(bytes.Equal(this.BootSignature, []uint8{85, 170})) {
		return kaitai.NewValidationNotEqualError([]uint8{85, 170}, this.BootSignature, this._io, "/seq/2")
	}
	return err
}
type MbrPartitionTable_PartitionEntry struct {
	Status uint8
	ChsStart *MbrPartitionTable_Chs
	PartitionType uint8
	ChsEnd *MbrPartitionTable_Chs
	LbaStart uint32
	NumSectors uint32
	_io *kaitai.Stream
	_root *MbrPartitionTable
	_parent *MbrPartitionTable
}
func NewMbrPartitionTable_PartitionEntry() *MbrPartitionTable_PartitionEntry {
	return &MbrPartitionTable_PartitionEntry{
	}
}

func (this *MbrPartitionTable_PartitionEntry) Read(io *kaitai.Stream, parent *MbrPartitionTable, root *MbrPartitionTable) (err error) {
	this._io = io
	this._parent = parent
	this._root = root

	tmp4, err := this._io.ReadU1()
	if err != nil {
		return err
	}
	this.Status = tmp4
	tmp5 := NewMbrPartitionTable_Chs()
	err = tmp5.Read(this._io, this, this._root)
	if err != nil {
		return err
	}
	this.ChsStart = tmp5
	tmp6, err := this._io.ReadU1()
	if err != nil {
		return err
	}
	this.PartitionType = tmp6
	tmp7 := NewMbrPartitionTable_Chs()
	err = tmp7.Read(this._io, this, this._root)
	if err != nil {
		return err
	}
	this.ChsEnd = tmp7
	tmp8, err := this._io.ReadU4le()
	if err != nil {
		return err
	}
	this.LbaStart = uint32(tmp8)
	tmp9, err := this._io.ReadU4le()
	if err != nil {
		return err
	}
	this.NumSectors = uint32(tmp9)
	return err
}
type MbrPartitionTable_Chs struct {
	Head uint8
	B2 uint8
	B3 uint8
	_io *kaitai.Stream
	_root *MbrPartitionTable
	_parent *MbrPartitionTable_PartitionEntry
	_f_sector bool
	sector int
	_f_cylinder bool
	cylinder int
}
func NewMbrPartitionTable_Chs() *MbrPartitionTable_Chs {
	return &MbrPartitionTable_Chs{
	}
}

func (this *MbrPartitionTable_Chs) Read(io *kaitai.Stream, parent *MbrPartitionTable_PartitionEntry, root *MbrPartitionTable) (err error) {
	this._io = io
	this._parent = parent
	this._root = root

	tmp10, err := this._io.ReadU1()
	if err != nil {
		return err
	}
	this.Head = tmp10
	tmp11, err := this._io.ReadU1()
	if err != nil {
		return err
	}
	this.B2 = tmp11
	tmp12, err := this._io.ReadU1()
	if err != nil {
		return err
	}
	this.B3 = tmp12
	return err
}
func (this *MbrPartitionTable_Chs) Sector() (v int, err error) {
	if (this._f_sector) {
		return this.sector, nil
	}
	this.sector = int((this.B2 & 63))
	this._f_sector = true
	return this.sector, nil
}
func (this *MbrPartitionTable_Chs) Cylinder() (v int, err error) {
	if (this._f_cylinder) {
		return this.cylinder, nil
	}
	this.cylinder = int((this.B3 + ((this.B2 & 192) << 2)))
	this._f_cylinder = true
	return this.cylinder, nil
}