xref: /csrg-svn/old/rxformat/rxformat.8 (revision 47470)
1*47470Scael.\" Copyright (c) 1983, 1991 The Regents of the University of California.
239889Sbostic.\" All rights reserved.
319014Smckusick.\"
443842Strent.\" %sccs.include.redist.man%
519014Smckusick.\"
6*47470Scael.\"     @(#)rxformat.8	6.6 (Berkeley) 03/16/91
739889Sbostic.\"
8*47470Scael.Dd
9*47470Scael.Dt RXFORMAT 8
10*47470Scael.Os BSD 4.2
11*47470Scael.Sh NAME
12*47470Scael.Nm rxformat
13*47470Scael.Nd format floppy disks
14*47470Scael.Sh SYNOPSIS
15*47470Scael.Nm rxformat
16*47470Scael.Op Fl d
17*47470Scael.Ar special
18*47470Scael.Sh DESCRIPTION
1919014SmckusickThe
20*47470Scael.Nm rxformat
2119014Smckusickprogram formats a diskette in the specified drive
2219014Smckusickassociated with the special device
23*47470Scael.Ar special .
24*47470Scael.Pf ( Ar Special
25*47470Scaelis normally
26*47470Scael.Pa /dev/rx0 ,
27*47470Scaelfor drive 0, or
28*47470Scael.Pa /dev/rx1 ,
2919014Smckusickfor drive 1.)
30*47470Scael.Pp
31*47470ScaelAvailable option:
32*47470Scael.Bl -tag -width Ds
33*47470Scael.It Fl d
34*47470ScaelForce double density formatting.
3519014SmckusickBy default, the diskette is formatted single density;
3619014SmckusickSingle density is compatible
37*47470Scaelwith the
38*47470Scael.Tn IBM
39*47470Scael3740 standard (128 bytes/sector).
4019014SmckusickIn double density, each sector
4119014Smckusickcontains 256 bytes of data.
42*47470Scael.El
43*47470Scael.Pp
4419014SmckusickBefore formatting a diskette
45*47470Scael.Nm rxformat
4624449Sbloomprompts for verification if standard input is a tty
4724449Sbloom(this allows a user to cleanly
4819014Smckusickabort the operation; note that
4919014Smckusickformatting a diskette will destroy any existing data).
5019014SmckusickFormatting is done by the hardware.
5119014SmckusickAll sectors are zero-filled.
52*47470Scael.Sh DIAGNOSTICS
53*47470Scael.Bl -tag -width Ds
54*47470Scael.It Sy \&No such device
55*47470Scaelmeans that the drive is not ready,
5619014Smckusickusually because no disk is in the drive or the drive door is open.
5719014SmckusickOther error messages are selfexplanatory.
58*47470Scael.El
59*47470Scael.Sh FILES
60*47470Scael.Bl -tag -width /dev/rx? -compact
61*47470Scael.It Pa /dev/rx?
62*47470Scael.El
63*47470Scael.Sh SEE ALSO
64*47470Scael.Xr rx 4
65*47470Scael.Sh AUTHOR
6628992ScucciaHelge Skrivervik
67*47470Scael.Sh BUGS
6819014SmckusickA floppy may not be formatted if the
6919014Smckusickheader info on sector 1, track 0 has been damaged.  Hence, it is not
7019014Smckusickpossible to format a completely degaussed disk.
71*47470Scael(This is actually a problem in the DEC hardware.)
72*47470Scael.Sh HISTORY
73*47470ScaelThe
74*47470Scael.Nm
75*47470Scaelcommand appeared in
76*47470Scael.Bx 4.2 .
77