Commands Reference, Volume 2

dosformat Command

Syntax

dosformat [ -V Label ] [ -D Device | -4 ]

Description

The dosformat command formats a diskette with the DOS format.

The default device and DOS diskette drive format is /dev/fd0 for a 3.5-inch diskette. The density is usually either 1.44M-byte or 2.88M-byte, depending on the density that the drive supports. Other DOS diskette drive formats are implemented by using the -D or -4 flags.

To include a volume label, use the -V flag.

Note: The purpose of this command is to facilitate file transfer between this operating system and DOS systems. Using this command to format a diskette that needs to have the DOS system startup files on it is not recommended.

Flags

-V

Write the Label parameter to the diskette as the DOS volume label.

-DDevice

Specifies the diskette drive type and size. The Device parameter can be specified as:

For a 3.5-inch, 1.44M drive:

/dev/fd0: 1.44MB (default)
/dev/fd0h: 1.44MB
/dev/fd0l: 720KB
/dev/fd0.18: 1.44MB
/dev/fd0.9: 720KB

For a 3.5-inch, 2.88M drive:

/dev/fd0: 2.88MB (default)
/dev/fd0h: 2.88MB
/dev/fdol: 720KB
/dev/fd0.36: 2.88MB
/dev/fd0.18: 1.44MB
/dev/fd0.9: 720KB

For a 5.25-inch, 1.2M drive:

/dev/fd0: 1.2MB (default)
/dev/fd0.15: 1.2MB
/dev/fd0.9: 360KB

-4	Specifies the lower density for the diskette size.

Examples

To format a 3.5-inch, 1.44M-byte diskette with the volume label "homework," type the following:
```
dosformat -V homework
```
To format a 5.25-inch, 360K-byte diskette, type the following:
```
dosformat -D /dev/fd1.9
```
OR
```
dosformat -D /dev/fd1 -4
```

Files

/usr/bin/dosformat

Contains the dosformat command.

Related Information

The dosdel command, dosdir command, dosread command, doswrite command.