floppy(8) floppy(8)
NAME
floppy - format floppy disks
SYNOPSIS
floppy --createrc >/etc/floppy
floppy --format /dev/fd0
floppy --format A:
floppygtk
DESCRIPTION
The floppy utility does low-level formatting of floppy disks. floppy uses a simple interface for formatting disks in floppy controller
drives and in ATAPI IDE floppy drives, such as LS-120 "Superdisk" drives. ATAPI IDE support requires a patch to the Linux kernel. Without a
patched kernel floppy can only format disks in floppy controller drives.
NOTE: Use caution in formatting anything other than standard 3.5" 1.4MB floppy disks in ATAPI IDE floppy drives. Most LS-120 drives, for
example, accept a request to format 120MB high density disks, but most 120MB disks are not designed to be formatted. Low-level formatting
will ruin them permanently.
floppygtk is a GTK interface to the floppy utility. When started from an X terminal window, floppy will automatically run floppygtk.
OPTIONS
--probe, -p
- Probe for available floppy drives. floppy creates and displays a list of all detected floppy drives.
--createrc, -r
- Print a configuration file. floppy prints on standard output the results of the --probe option in a configuration file format.
This configuration file should be saved as /etc/floppy.
--showrc
- List floppy drives configured in /etc/floppy.
--capacity, -c
- Show the available format capacities of the floppy drive. Most floppy drives can format disks of different capacities. --capacity
lists each available format capacity as CxBxS where: C - number of cylinders, B - blocks per cylinder, S - block size, in bytes.
--capacity also calculates how much that is, in kilobytes or megabytes.
--format, -f
- Format the disk in the floppy drive.
--size=CxBxS, -s=CxBxS
- Specify the size of the disk to format. --format uses the first format capacity reported by --capacity if the --size option is not
specified.
--ext2 - Create an ext2 (Linux) filesystem on the formatted floppy. This option requires the e2fsprogs package to be installed. This option
simply runs mke2fs after formatting the floppy disk.
--fat - Create a FAT (DOS) filesystem on the formatted floppy. This option requires the dosfstools package to be installed. This option
simply runs mkdosfs after formatting the floppy disk.
--noprompt, -n
- Suppress verbose output produced by --capacity and --format. Use a raw output format that can be used by a front-end wrapper that
runs floppy on the back-end.
--eject
- Eject the floppy from the drive (IDE floppy drives only).
PROBING FOR AVAILABLE FLOPPY DRIVES
floppy --probe
This command probes the hardware and reports on the available floppy drives. A typical output from --probe would be:
floppy 0.12 Copyright 2001, Double Precision, Inc.
floppy /dev/fd0: 3.5" HD
idefloppy /dev/hda: LS-120 VER5 00 UHD Floppy
Revision: F523M5A9
Serial number: 9803M9A03464
Here, floppy detected a high density floppy drive on /dev/fd0, and an IDE floppy drive on /dev/hda.
CREATING A CONFIGURATION FILE
A configuration file, /etc/floppy must be created before floppy can format floppy disks. This configuration file can be created automati-
cally by the --createrc option. Each line in the configuration file contains the following information: type<TAB>label<TAB>device. "<TAB>"
is a single ASCII TAB character. "device" is the device entry for the floppy drive. floppy requires that all requests for formatting flop-
pies must use only the devices that appear in this configuration file. "label" is an alias for this device. floppy accepts "label:" instead
of the actual device entry, for example: "floppy --format A:". "type" is either "floppy" or "idefloppy".
The --createrc option sets "A" as the label for the first floppy drive, and "B" for the second floppy drive. If --createrc finds more than
two floppy drives, --createrc will use "FA", "FB", "FC", and so on.
DETERMINING AVAILABLE FORMAT CAPACITIES
Most floppy drives can format disks of different capacities. The --capacity option shows possible format capacities on the specified floppy
device. A typical IDE floppy drive may report the following capacities:
$ floppy --capacity B:
Formattable capacities for /dev/hda:
80x36x512 (1.40 Mb)
80x30x512 (1.17 Mb)
56x22x1024 (1.20 Mb)
A standard floppy drive attached to the floppy controller may report the following capacities:
$ floppy --capacity A:
Formattable capacities for /dev/fd0:
80x36x512 (/dev/fd0H1440, 1.40 Mb)
80x18x512 (/dev/fd0D720, 720 Kb)
80x48x512 (/dev/fd0u1920, 1.87 Mb)
80x28x512 (/dev/fd0u1120, 1.09 Mb)
80x40x512 (/dev/fd0u1660, 1.56 Mb)
80x26x512 (/dev/fd0u1040, 1.01 Mb)
80x46x512 (/dev/fd0u1840, 1.79 Mb)
80x42x512 (/dev/fd0u1680, 1.64 Mb)
The --capacity option reports each available format capacity as "cylinders x blocks-per-cylinder x block size". An IDE floppy drive actu-
ally returns a total block count. --capacity simply tries some common blocks-per-cylinder values, until it finds one that fits. Format
capacities of standard floppy drives are obtained from the floppy device driver.
NOTE: IDE floppy drives may report format capacities only after a disk is inserted. Without a floppy disk, IDE floppy drives may not
report any available format capacities, or they may report the primary format capacity that they are designed to format. For example, most
LS-120 drives default to reporting 120mb when there is no disk inserted in the drive:
$ floppy --capacity A:
Formattable capacities for /dev/hda:
6848x36x512 (120.37 Mb)
CAUTION: do not attempt to format 120Mb media in LS-120 drives. Most LS-120 disks are not user-formattable. They are factory-formatted,
and attempts to format them in LS-120 drives will render them unusable (to be sure, check the label on the floppy itself). The floppy util-
ity does not prevent one from trying to use any format capacity the IDE floppy drive claims to support. If the drive claims it can format a
disk of the given capacity, floppy will oblige.
FORMATTING
The --format option does a low-level format on the floppy.
$ ./floppy --format --size=80x36x512 A:
Formatting 1.40 Mb... 0%
--size must specify a geometry returned by --capacity. If --size is absent, the first geometry is selected.
For floppy controller drives, the status counter will go from 0% to 100%. With most IDE floppy drives the counter will remain at 0% until
the format finishes. Some IDE floppy drives are capable of reporting format progress status, which will would allow --format to count up
from 0% to 100%.
$ ./floppy --format --verify A:
The --verify option verifies the low-level format. For floppy controller drives, the floppy disk is read from start to finish, after the
low-level format concludes. For IDE floppy drives, the format request to the drive will include a request to verify the low-level format.
NOTE: Some IDE floppy drives ignore the verify request, or always verify low-level formats, whether or not it was requested.
$ ./floppy --format -V A:
The -V option is like --verify except that IDE floppy drive formats are verified manually - like floppy controller drive formats - by read-
ing the floppy disk from start to finish.
FILES
/etc/floppy
- configuration file.
/dev/fd[0-7]
- floppy controller drives.
/dev/hd[a-h]
- ATAPI IDE floppy drives.
SEE ALSO
fd(4), mkdosfs(8), mke2fs(8)
Double Precision, Inc. February 24, 2003 floppy(8)