FDFORM

Section: Maintenance Commands (8)
Updated: August 14, 1990
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NAME

fdform - Format Floppy Disk  

SYNOPSIS

fdform raw_device [ b=blocksize ] [ d=density ] [ g=gap3_length ]  

DESCRIPTION

fdform performs a full surface disk format on a floppy disk. fdform is not used for SCSI floppy disks; these must be formatted with sdform(8). fdform is normally invoked by the disk(8) program when initializing a new floppy disk; however, it may be used to re-initialize a damaged floppy. fdform should be used with extreme caution; all data on the disk being formatted is lost.

The floppy disk is formatted one track at a time; each track is read after it is formatted. Any error on the read operation results in fdform aborting the format operation.  

OPTIONS

b=blocksize
blocksize is in bytes; it must be either 512 or 1024. The default is 512.
d=density
density is the capacity of the disk in KBytes; legal values are 720, 1440, and 2880. The default value is the value intended to be used with the floppy disk being formatted; the fd(4) driver can determine this value. Specifying a density larger than the disk's capacity is an error. Specifying a capacity smaller than the disk's capacity is legal but is not recommended.
g=gap3_length
gap3_length is the length of the write splice at the end of each sector, in bytes. The default is a value chosen by the fd(4) driver for a particular sector size and density.
n=num_cylinders
num_cylinders specifies the number of cylinders to format. The default is the entire disk.
 

SEE ALSO

fd(4), disk(8)  

BUGS


 

Index

NAME
SYNOPSIS
DESCRIPTION
OPTIONS
SEE ALSO
BUGS

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