68 lines
1.6 KiB
Groff
68 lines
1.6 KiB
Groff
.TH FORMAT 1
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.SH NAME
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format \- format a PC floppy diskette
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.SH SYNOPSIS
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.B format
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.RB [ \-v ]
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.I device
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.RI [ media-size
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.RI [ drive-size ]]
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.SH DESCRIPTION
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.de SP
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.if t .sp 0.4
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.if n .sp
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..
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.B Format
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allows a user with read-write permission to
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.I device
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to format a floppy. Either one of the special floppy devices must be used,
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see
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.BR fd (4),
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or an automatic device may be used with the size of the floppy specified on
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the command line. Two sizes must be given when formatting a low density
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diskette in a high density drive. For example:
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.PP
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.RS
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.ft B
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.nf
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format /dev/at1
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format /dev/fd1 1200
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format /dev/fd1 360 1200
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.fi
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.ft P
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.RE
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.PP
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The first two commands format a 1.2M diskette, the last formats a 360k
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diskette in a 1.2M drive. A 1.44M drive knows when it's dealing with a low
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density floppy, so all these commands format a 720k diskette:
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.PP
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.RS
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.ft B
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.nf
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format /dev/fd0 720
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format /dev/fd0 720 1440
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format /dev/ps0
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.fi
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.ft P
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.RE
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.PP
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No sizes may be specified when using a special floppy device, a size must be
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specified when using an automatic device.
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.SH OPTIONS
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.TP
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.B \-v
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Verify the process by reading each track after formatting it. Formatting is
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normally blind, the controller has no idea whether it succeeds or not. Use
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.B \-v
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on a new box of cheap diskettes, or on a diskette that may have gone bad.
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Verifying will increase formatting time by 50%.
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.SH "SEE ALSO"
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.BR mkfs (1),
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.BR fd (4).
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.SH DIAGNOSTICS
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Numbers will be printed on standard output to show that it is busy. The
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locations of bad sectors are printed on standard error when verifying. The
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exit code is zero unless there are too many bad spots.
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.SH AUTHOR
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Kees J. Bot (kjb@cs.vu.nl)
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