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Commands Reference, Volume 2
dosformat Command
Purpose
Formats a DOS diskette.
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.
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