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)