xref: /netbsd-src/usr.bin/fdformat/fdformat.1 (revision 8b0f9554ff8762542c4defc4f70e1eb76fb508fa)
1.\"	$NetBSD: fdformat.1,v 1.16 2006/07/22 08:36:14 wiz Exp $
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37.Dd July 22, 2006
38.Dt FDFORMAT 1
39.Os
40.Sh NAME
41.Nm fdformat
42.Nd format a floppy diskette
43.Sh SYNOPSIS
44.Nm
45.Bk -words
46.Op Fl f Ar device
47.Ek
48.Bk -words
49.Op Fl t Ar type
50.Ek
51.Op Fl n
52.Bk -words
53.Op Fl B Ar nbps
54.Ek
55.Bk -words
56.Op Fl S Ar nspt
57.Ek
58.Bk -words
59.Op Fl T Ar ntrk
60.Ek
61.Bk -words
62.Op Fl C Ar ncyl
63.Ek
64.Bk -words
65.Op Fl P Ar stepspercyl
66.Ek
67.Bk -words
68.Op Fl G Ar gaplen
69.Ek
70.Bk -words
71.Op Fl F Ar fillbyte
72.Ek
73.Bk -words
74.Op Fl X Ar xfer_rate
75.Ek
76.Bk -words
77.Op Fl I Ar interleave
78.Ek
79.Sh DESCRIPTION
80The
81.Nm
82utility formats a floppy diskette.
83With no arguments, it formats the default floppy device with the default
84density parameters (as provided by the floppy diskette device driver).
85.Pp
86As the each track of the floppy diskette is formatted, it is read to
87verify the format was successful.
88.Pp
89The
90.Nm
91utility does not create a filesystem of any kind.
92Use tools like
93.Xr newfs 8 ,
94.Xr newfs_msdos 8 ,
95or
96.Xr mformat 1
97(part of the pkgsrc/sysutils/mtools package) depending on what filesystem
98type you want to use on the floppy disk to do so.
99.Pp
100Available command-line flags are:
101.Bl -tag -width indent -compact
102.It Fl f Ar device
103Format the floppy using
104.Ar device
105instead of the default
106.Pa /dev/rfd0a .
107.It Fl t Ar type
108Format the floppy using parameters for the diskette named
109.Ar type
110in
111.Pa /etc/floppytab
112instead of the device default parameters.
113.It Fl n
114Do not verify each track as it is read.
115.It Fl B Ar nbps
116Set the number of bytes per sector for the formatted diskette.
117.It Fl S Ar nspt
118Set the number of sectors per track for the formatted diskette.
119.It Fl T Ar ntrk
120Set the number of tracks (heads) per cylinder for the formatted diskette.
121.It Fl C Ar ncyl
122Set the number of cylinders for the formatted diskette.
123.It Fl P Ar stepspercyl
124Set the number of motor steps per cylinder for the formatted diskette.
125.It Fl G Ar gaplen
126Set the sector gap length for the formatted diskette.
127.It Fl F Ar fillbyte
128Set the fill byte for the formatted diskette.
129.It Fl X Ar xfer_rate
130Set the bit transfer rate for the formatted diskette.
131.It Fl I Ar interleave
132Set the interleave factor for the formatted diskette.
133.El
134.Sh SEE ALSO
135.Xr fdc 4
136(amiga, i386 and sparc ports)
137.Sh HISTORY
138The
139.Nm
140utility appeared in
141.Nx 1.3 .
142.Sh BUGS
143Some floppy drive units have physical
144diskette format sensors which automatically select a diskette
145density for reading.
146Such drives can format at alternate densities, but
147they cannot successfully verify the formatted diskette except at the
148diskette's normal density.
149