Copyright (c) 1996, 1997 The NetBSD Foundation, Inc.
All rights reserved.
This code is derived from software contributed to The NetBSD Foundation
by John Kohl.
Redistribution and use in source and binary forms, with or without
modification, are permitted provided that the following conditions
are met:
1. Redistributions of source code must retain the above copyright
notice, this list of conditions and the following disclaimer.
2. Redistributions in binary form must reproduce the above copyright
notice, this list of conditions and the following disclaimer in the
documentation and/or other materials provided with the distribution.
THIS SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED BY THE NETBSD FOUNDATION, INC. AND CONTRIBUTORS
``AS IS'' AND ANY EXPRESS OR IMPLIED WARRANTIES, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED
TO, THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR
PURPOSE ARE DISCLAIMED. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE FOUNDATION OR CONTRIBUTORS
BE LIABLE FOR ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, EXEMPLARY, OR
CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES (INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, PROCUREMENT OF
SUBSTITUTE GOODS OR SERVICES; LOSS OF USE, DATA, OR PROFITS; OR BUSINESS
INTERRUPTION) HOWEVER CAUSED AND ON ANY THEORY OF LIABILITY, WHETHER IN
CONTRACT, STRICT LIABILITY, OR TORT (INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE OR OTHERWISE)
ARISING IN ANY WAY OUT OF THE USE OF THIS SOFTWARE, EVEN IF ADVISED OF THE
POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGE.
.Dd July 22, 2006 .Dt FDFORMAT 1 .Os .Sh NAME .Nm fdformat .Nd format a floppy diskette .Sh SYNOPSIS .Nm .Op Fl n .Op Fl B Ar nbps .Op Fl C Ar ncyl .Op Fl F Ar fillbyte .Op Fl f Ar device .Op Fl G Ar gaplen .Op Fl I Ar interleave .Op Fl P Ar stepspercyl .Op Fl S Ar nspt .Op Fl T Ar ntrk .Op Fl t Ar type .Op Fl X Ar xfer_rate .Sh DESCRIPTION The .Nm utility formats a floppy diskette. With no arguments, it formats the default floppy device with the default density parameters (as provided by the floppy diskette device driver).
p As the each track of the floppy diskette is formatted, it is read to verify the format was successful.
p The .Nm utility does not create a filesystem of any kind. Use tools like .Xr newfs 8 , .Xr newfs_msdos 8 , or .Xr mformat 1 (part of the pkgsrc/sysutils/mtools package) depending on what filesystem type you want to use on the floppy disk to do so.
p Available command-line flags are: l -tag -width indent -compact t Fl f Ar device Format the floppy using .Ar device instead of the default
a /dev/rfd0a . t Fl t Ar type Format the floppy using parameters for the diskette named .Ar type in
a /etc/floppytab instead of the device default parameters. t Fl n Do not verify each track as it is read. t Fl B Ar nbps Set the number of bytes per sector for the formatted diskette. t Fl S Ar nspt Set the number of sectors per track for the formatted diskette. t Fl T Ar ntrk Set the number of tracks (heads) per cylinder for the formatted diskette. t Fl C Ar ncyl Set the number of cylinders for the formatted diskette. t Fl P Ar stepspercyl Set the number of motor steps per cylinder for the formatted diskette. t Fl G Ar gaplen Set the sector gap length for the formatted diskette. t Fl F Ar fillbyte Set the fill byte for the formatted diskette. t Fl X Ar xfer_rate Set the bit transfer rate for the formatted diskette. t Fl I Ar interleave Set the interleave factor for the formatted diskette. .El .Sh SEE ALSO .Xr fdc 4 (amiga, i386 and sparc ports) .Sh HISTORY The .Nm utility appeared in .Nx 1.3 . .Sh BUGS Some floppy drive units have physical diskette format sensors which automatically select a diskette density for reading. Such drives can format at alternate densities, but they cannot successfully verify the formatted diskette except at the diskette's normal density.