RXFORMAT(8) System Manager's Manual RXFORMAT(8)
NAME
rxformat - format floppy disks (2.11BSD)
SYNOPSIS
rxformat special
DESCRIPTION
The rxformat program formats a diskette in the specified drive associated with the special device special. Special is normally /dev/rrx0?,
for drive 0, or /dev/rrx1?, for drive 1, where ``?'' is either "a" or "b" to indicate single or double density access. The ``raw'' device
must be used. Single density is compatible with the IBM 3740 standard (128 bytes/sector). In double density, each sector contains 256
bytes of data.
Before formatting a diskette rxformat prompts for verification if standard input is a tty (this allows a user to cleanly abort the opera-
tion; note that formatting a diskette will destroy any existing data). Formatting is done by the hardware. All sectors are zero-filled.
DIAGNOSTICS
`No such device' means that the drive is not ready, usually because no disk is in the drive or the drive door is open. Other error mes-
sages are selfexplanatory.
FILES
/dev/rrx??
SEE ALSO
rx(4)
AUTHOR
Helge Skrivervik
BUGS
A floppy may not be formatted if the header info on sector 1, track 0 has been damaged. Hence, it is not possible to format a completely
degaussed disk. (This is actually a problem in the hardware.)
3rd Berkeley Distribution November 17, 1996 RXFORMAT(8)