1 FDFORMAT(1) User Commands FDFORMAT(1) 2 3 4 5 NAME 6 fdformat - format floppy diskette or PCMCIA memory card 7 8 SYNOPSIS 9 fdformat [-dDeEfHlLmMUqvx] [-b label] [-B filename] 10 [-t dostype] [devname] 11 12 13 DESCRIPTION 14 The fdformat utility has been superseded by rmformat(1), which provides 15 most but not all of fdformat's functionality. 16 17 18 fdformat is used to format diskettes and PCMCIA memory cards. All new 19 blank diskettes or PCMCIA memory cards must be formatted before they 20 can be used. 21 22 23 fdformat formats and verifies the media and indicates whether any bad 24 sectors were encountered. All existing data on the diskette or PCMCIA 25 memory card, if any, is destroyed by formatting. If no device name is 26 given, fdformat uses the diskette as a default. 27 28 29 By default, fdformat uses the configured capacity of the drive to 30 format the diskette. A 3.5 inch high-density drive uses diskettes with 31 a formatted capacity of 1.44MB. A 5.25 inch high-density drive uses 32 diskettes with a formatted capacity of 1.2MB. In either case, a density 33 option does not have to be specified to fdformat. However, a density 34 option must be specified when using a diskette with a lower capacity 35 than the drive's default. Use the -H option to format high-density 36 diskettes (1.44MB capacity) in an extra-high-density (ED) drive. Use 37 the -D option, the -l option, or the -L option to format double- 38 density (or low-density) diskettes (720KB capacity) in an HD or ED 39 drive. To format medium-density diskettes (1.2MB capacity), use the -M 40 option with -t nec (this is the same as using the -m option with -t 41 nec). 42 43 44 Extended density uses double-sided, extended-density or extra-high- 45 density (DS/ED) diskettes. Medium and high densities use the same 46 media: double-sided, high-density (DS/HD) diskettes. Double (low) 47 density uses double-sided, double-density (DS/DD 48 49 50 D) diskettes. Substituting diskettes of one density for diskettes of 51 either a higher or lower density generally does not work. Data 52 integrity cannot be assured whenever a diskette is formatted to a 53 capacity not matching its density. 54 55 56 A PCMCIA memory card with densities from 512KB to 64MB may be 57 formatted. 58 59 60 fdformat writes new identification and data fields for each sector on 61 all tracks unless the -x option is specified. For diskettes, each 62 sector is verified if the -v option is specified. 63 64 65 After formatting and verifying, fdformat writes an operating-system 66 label on block 0. Use the -t dos option (same as the -d option) to put 67 an MS-DOS file system on the diskette or PCMCIA memory card after the 68 format is done. Use the -t nec option with the -M option (same as the 69 -m option) to put an NEC-DOS file system on a diskette. Otherwise, 70 fdformat writes a SunOS label in block 0. 71 72 OPTIONS 73 The following options are supported: 74 75 -b label 76 Labels the media with volume label. A SunOS volume label 77 is restricted to 8 characters. A DOS volume label is 78 restricted to 11 upper-case characters. 79 80 81 -B filename 82 Installs special boot loader in filename on an MS-DOS 83 diskette. This option is only meaningful when the -d 84 option (or -t dos) is also specified. 85 86 87 -D 88 Formats a 720KB (3.5 inch) or 360KB (5.25 inch) double- 89 density diskette (same as the -l or -L options). This is 90 the default for double-density type drives. It is needed 91 if the drive is a high- or extended-density type. 92 93 94 -e 95 Ejects the diskette when done. This feature is not 96 available on all systems. 97 98 99 -E 100 Formats a 2.88MB (3.5 inch) extended-density diskette. 101 This is the default for extended-density type drives. 102 103 104 -f 105 Forces formatting, that is, this option does not ask for 106 confirmation before starting format. 107 108 109 -H 110 Formats a 1.44MB (3.5 inch) or 1.2MB (5.25 inch) high- 111 density diskette. This is the default for high-density 112 type drives; it is needed if the drive is the extended- 113 density type. 114 115 116 -M 117 Writes a 1.2MB (3.5 inch) medium-density format on a 118 high-density diskette (use only with the -t nec option). 119 This is the same as using -m. 120 121 This feature is not available on all systems. 122 123 124 -q 125 Quiet; does not print status messages. 126 127 128 -t dos 129 Installs an MS-DOS file system and boot sector 130 formatting. This is equivalent to the DOS format command 131 or the -d option. 132 133 134 -t nec 135 Installs an NEC-DOS file system and boot sector on the 136 disk after formatting. This should be used only with the 137 -M option. This feature is not available on all systems. 138 139 140 -U 141 Performs umount on any file systems and then formats. 142 See mount(1M). 143 144 145 -v 146 Verifies each block of the diskette after the format. 147 148 149 -x 150 Skips the format and only writes a SunOS label or an MS- 151 DOS file system. 152 153 154 OPERANDS 155 The following operands are supported: 156 157 devname 158 Replaces devname with rdiskette0 (systems without volume 159 management) or floppy0 (systems with volume management) to 160 use the first drive or rdiskette1 (systems without volume 161 management) or floppy1 (systems with volume management) to 162 use the second drive. If devname is omitted, the first 163 drive, if one exists, is used. For PCMCIA memory cards, 164 replace devname with the device name for the PCMCIA memory 165 card which resides in /dev/rdsk/cNtNdNsN or 166 /dev/dsk/cNtNdNsN. If devname is omitted, the default 167 diskette drive, if one exists, is used. 168 169 If devname is omitted, the default diskette drive, if one 170 exists, will be used. N represents a decimal number and can 171 be specified as follows: 172 173 cN 174 Controller N 175 176 177 tN 178 Technology type N: 179 180 181 0x1 ROM 182 0x2 OTPROM 183 0x3 EPROM 184 0x4 EEPROM 185 0x5 FLASH 186 0x6 SRAM 187 0x7 DRAM 188 189 190 191 192 dN 193 Technology region in type N. 194 195 196 sN 197 Slice N. 198 199 The following options are provided for compatibility with 200 previous versions of fdformat. Their use is discouraged. 201 202 -d 203 Formats an MS-DOS floppy diskette or PCMCIA memory 204 card (same as -t dos). This is equivalent to the MS- 205 DOS FORMAT command. 206 207 208 -l 209 Formats a 720KB (3.5 inch) or 360KB (5.25 inch) 210 double-density diskette (same as -D or -L). This is 211 the default for double-density type drives; it is 212 needed if the drive is the high- or extended-density 213 type. 214 215 216 -L 217 Formats a 720KB (3.5 inch) or 360KB (5.25 inch) 218 double-density diskette (same as -l or -D). This is 219 the default for double-density type drives. 220 221 222 -m 223 Writes a 1.2 MB (3.5 inch) medium- density format on a 224 high-density diskette (use only with the -t nec 225 option). This is the same as using -M. This feature is 226 not available on all systems. 227 228 229 230 FILES 231 /dev/diskette0 232 Directory providing block device access for the 233 media in floppy drive 0. 234 235 236 /dev/diskette0 237 Directory providing character device access for 238 the media in floppy drive 0. 239 240 241 /dev/aliases/floppy0 242 Symbolic link to the character device for the 243 media in floppy drive 0. 244 245 246 /dev/rdiskette 247 Directory providing character device access for 248 the media in the primary floppy drive, usually 249 drive 0. 250 251 252 /dev/dsk/cNtNdNsN 253 Directory providing block device access for the 254 PCMCIA memory card. See OPERANDS for a 255 description of N. 256 257 258 /dev/rdsk/cNtNdNsN 259 Directory providing character device access for 260 the PCMCIA memory card. See OPERANDS for a 261 description of N. 262 263 264 /dev/aliases/pcmemS 265 Symbolic link to the character device for the 266 PCMCIA memory card in socket S where S 267 represents a PCMCIA socket number. 268 269 270 /dev/rdsk/cNtNdNsN 271 Directory providing character device access for 272 the PCMCIA memory card. See OPERANDS for a 273 description of N. 274 275 276 /dev/dsk/cNtNdNsN 277 Directory providing block device access for the 278 PCMCIA memory card. See OPERANDS for a 279 description of N. 280 281 282 SEE ALSO 283 cpio(1), eject(1), rmformat(1), tar(1), volcheck(1), mount(1M), 284 newfs(1M), prtvtoc(1M), attributes(5), pcfs(7FS) 285 286 x86 Only 287 fd(7D) 288 289 NOTES 290 A diskette or PCMCIA memory card containing a ufs file system created 291 on a SPARC based system (by using fdformat and newfs(1M)), is not 292 identical to a diskette or PCMCIA memory card containing a ufs file 293 system created on an x86 based system. Do not interchange ufs diskettes 294 or memory cards between these platforms. Use cpio(1) or tar(1) to 295 transfer files on diskettes or memory cards between them. A diskette or 296 PCMCIA memory card formatted using the -t dos option (or -d) for MS-DOS 297 does not have the necessary system files, and is therefore not 298 bootable. Trying to boot from it on a PC produces the following 299 message: 300 301 Non-System disk or disk error. 302 Replace and strike any key when ready 303 304 305 306 BUGS 307 Currently, bad sector mapping is not supported on floppy diskettes or 308 PCMCIA memory cards. Therefore, a diskette or memory card is unusable 309 if fdformat finds an error (bad sector). 310 311 312 313 May 2, 2014 FDFORMAT(1)