fdformat Command fdformat
Format a floppy disk
/etc/fdformat [ option ... ] special
fdformat formats a floppy disk. The given special should be the
name of the special file that correspond to the floppy disk
drive.
fdformat recognizes the following options:
-a Print information on the standard output device during for-
mat. As it formats a cylinder, it will print a line of the
form
hd=0 cyl=25
on your screen.
-i number
Use number (0 through 7; default, 6) as the interleave fac-
tor in formatting.
-o number
Use number (default, 0) as the skew factor for sector num-
bering.
-v Verify formatting and verify data written with the -w
option.
-w file
Format the floppy disk and then copy file to it track by
track. The raw device should be used.
The command mkfs builds a COHERENT file system on a formatted
floppy disk. The command dos builds a DOS file system on a for-
matted floppy disk and transfers files to or from it. The com-
mand mount mounts a floppy disk containing a file system to allow
access to it through the COHERENT directory structure. The com-
mand umount unmounts a floppy disk.
***** Example *****
The following command formats a 2400-block, 5.25-inch floppy disk
in drive 0 (otherwise known known as drive A):
/etc/fdformat /dev/fha0
The following command formats a 1440-block, 3.5-inch floppy disk
in drive 1 (otherwise known as drive B):
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fdformat Command fdformat
/etc/fdformat /dev/fqa1
***** See Also *****
commands, dos, fd, mkfs, mount, umount
***** Diagnostics *****
When errors occur on floppy-disk devices, the driver prints on
the system console an error message that describes the error.
***** Notes *****
fdformat formats a track at a time. fdformat can be interrupted
between tracks, which may result in a partially formatted floppy
disk.
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