format(1M)                       UNIX System V                       format(1M)


NAME
      format - format floppy disk tracks

SYNOPSIS
      /bin/format [-vVE] [-f first] [-l last] [-i interleave] device [t]

DESCRIPTION
      The format command formats floppy disks.  Unless otherwise specified,
      formatting starts at track 0 and continues until an error is returned at
      the end of a partition.

      The -f and -l options specify the first and last track to be formatted.
      The default interleave of 2 may be modified by using the -i option.
      device must specify a raw (character) floppy device.  The t indicates the
      entire disk.  Absence of this letter indicates that the first track of
      the diskette cannot be accessed.

      -v        verbose.

      -V        verify. After tracks are formatted, a random sector is chosen
                and a write of test data is done into it. The sector is then
                read back and a comparison is made.

      -E        exhaustive verify. Every sector is verified by
                write/read/compare.

FILES
      /dev/rdsk/*     raw device for partition to be formatted

SEE ALSO
      mkpart(1M), fd(7).























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