rxformat(8v) — VAX
Name
rxformat − format floppy disks
Syntax
/etc/rxformat [ −d ] special
Description
The rxformat program formats a diskette in the specified drive associated with the special device special. (The special is normally /dev/rrx0, for drive 0, or /dev/rrx1, for drive 1.) By default, the diskette is formatted single density; a −d flag can be supplied to force double density formatting. Single density is compatible with the IBM 3740 standard (128 bytes/sector). In double density, each sector contains 256 bytes of data.
Before formatting a diskette rxformat prompts for verification (this allows a user to cleanly abort the operation; note that formatting a diskette will destroy any existing data). Formatting is done by the hardware. All sectors are zero-filled.
Restrictions
A floppy may not be formatted if the header information on sector 1, track 0 has been damaged. Hence, it is not possible to format a completely degaussed disk. (This is actually a problem in the hardware.)
Diagnostics
No such device
The drive is not ready, usually because no disk is in the drive or the drive door is open.
Other error messages are self-explanatory.
Files
/dev/rx?