LIF questions

[J-F Garnier]

It depends on the context.
For LIF volumes in general, volumes can be very large, since the pointers to the 256-byte records are stored on 32 bits. So the maximum size may be something like 1TB, however there may be other limitations.

For LIF volumes in the field of our calculators and HP-IL drives (real or emulated), the size is much less, since the Filbert protocol used by the HP-41C/71B/75C uses pointers coded on 16 bits, so the maximum size is 16MB "only".

Then, you should know that the HP-41C can only manage 128kB volume with the standard functions of the HP-IL module. It can, however, manage up to 1MB with the Extended-IL module (do not confuse it with the X-IO module).

For the second question, yes you can store HP-41C and HP-71B files on the same volume, however this is not recommended, because if you later purge or update files, bad things can happen.
So for archival purpose, yes it is possible (many archive volumes have both types of files), but for working purpose, it is not recommended and it is better to keep 41C files on a dedicated volume.

J-F