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FDFORMAT(1)                 General Commands Manual                FDFORMAT(1)

NAME
     fdformat - format a floppy diskette

SYNOPSIS
     fdformat [-n] [-B nbps] [-C ncyl] [-F fillbyte] [-f device] [-G gaplen]
              [-I interleave] [-P stepspercyl] [-S nspt] [-T ntrk] [-t type]
              [-X xfer_rate]

DESCRIPTION
     The fdformat utility formats a floppy diskette.  With no arguments, it
     formats the default floppy device with the default density parameters (as
     provided by the floppy diskette device driver).

     As the each track of the floppy diskette is formatted, it is read to
     verify the format was successful.

     The fdformat utility does not create a filesystem of any kind.  Use tools
     like newfs(8), newfs_msdos(8), or mformat(1) (part of the
     pkgsrc/sysutils/mtools package) depending on what filesystem type you
     want to use on the floppy disk to do so.

     Available command-line flags are:
     -f device
             Format the floppy using device instead of the default /dev/rfd0a.
     -t type
             Format the floppy using parameters for the diskette named type in
             /etc/floppytab instead of the device default parameters.
     -n      Do not verify each track as it is read.
     -B nbps
             Set the number of bytes per sector for the formatted diskette.
     -S nspt
             Set the number of sectors per track for the formatted diskette.
     -T ntrk
             Set the number of tracks (heads) per cylinder for the formatted
             diskette.
     -C ncyl
             Set the number of cylinders for the formatted diskette.
     -P stepspercyl
             Set the number of motor steps per cylinder for the formatted
             diskette.
     -G gaplen
             Set the sector gap length for the formatted diskette.
     -F fillbyte
             Set the fill byte for the formatted diskette.
     -X xfer_rate
             Set the bit transfer rate for the formatted diskette.
     -I interleave
             Set the interleave factor for the formatted diskette.

SEE ALSO
     fdc(4) (amiga, i386 and sparc ports)

HISTORY
     The fdformat utility appeared in NetBSD 1.3.

BUGS
     Some floppy drive units have physical diskette format sensors which
     automatically select a diskette density for reading.  Such drives can
     format at alternate densities, but they cannot successfully verify the
     formatted diskette except at the diskette's normal density.

NetBSD 10.99                     July 22, 2006                    NetBSD 10.99