Would someone who understands all this stuff confirm or deny the
   following things I THINK are true.

As far as I know, all of your points are correct, though I'm not sure
why a new boot block won't work with an old file system.  (Anyone care
to loan me a few hours from their day so I can do everything?  I wonder
how the IRS would tax such donations.  B-))

   Also, what exactly is the difference between level 1 and level 0?

The difference is in the format of the rotational position table.


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