1 .\" Copyright (C) 1993, 1994, 1995, 2001 by Joerg Wunsch, Dresden
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32 .Nd format floppy disks
43 utility formats a floppy disk at
47 may either be given as a full path
48 name of a device node for a floppy disk drive
51 or using an abbreviated name that will be looked up
57 The options are as follows:
58 .Bl -tag -width ".Fl s Ar fmtstr"
62 as the fill byte for newly formatted sectors.
64 must be a number in the range 0 through 255 using common C
69 Specify the density settings for a
71 kilobyte format, as described in
74 Specify the density settings using explicit parameters, as
78 Do not verify floppy after formatting.
80 Suppress any normal output from the command, and do not ask the
81 user for a confirmation whether to format the floppy disk at
84 Do not format, verify only.
86 Do not ask for confirmation whether to format the floppy disk but
87 still report formatting status.
90 For non-autoselecting subdevices, neither
94 may be specified, since the preconfigured media density settings
95 from the kernel driver will always be used.
98 is a device with automatic media density selection (see
100 both methods can be used to override the density settings for the
101 newly formatted medium (without permanently changing the density
107 flag has not been specified, the user is asked for a confirmation
108 of the intended formatting process.
109 In order to continue, an answer
116 does only perform low-level formatting.
118 a file system on the medium, see the commands
129 An exit status of 0 is returned upon successful operation.
131 1 is returned on any errors during floppy formatting, and an exit status
132 of 2 reflects invalid arguments given to the program (along with an
133 appropriate information written to diagnostic output).
137 has been specified, a single letter is printed to standard output
138 to inform the user about the progress of work.
141 is printed when the track is being formatted, then a
143 while it is being verified, and if an error has been detected, it
144 will finally change to
146 Detailed status information (cylinder, head and sector number, and the
147 exact cause of the error) will be printed for up to 10 errors after the
148 entire formatting process has completed.
158 has been developed for
160 and upgraded to the new
163 It later became part of the
168 it uses the unified density specifications as described in
172 The program has been contributed by
174 Dresden, with changes by
177 .An Andrey A. Chernov ,