*** UNIX MANUAL PAGE BROWSER ***

fddisk(8) System Manager's Manual fddisk(8) NAME fddisk - FDI disk maintenance utility SYNOPSIS /sbin/fddisk flags special FLAGS Unless this flag is specified, an attempt to format or to install a file system fails in two cases. The first failure occurs when the de- vice has been opened since the media was inserted. The second failure occurs if the device is currently opened by another process. Formats the media to the density appropriate for that media. Copies a hex dump of sector number PSN to stdout. Uses the interleave factor nnn for formatting. If specified, ccc indicates an additional intercylinder interleave. Copies a packed-C hex dump of the entire disk to stdout. Specifies silent mode. This flag blocks informational messages from appearing on stderr. Reads the entire media. The command fails if the utility finds a bad sector. Waits for media to be inserted into the drive if none is present. Waits for new media to be inserted into the drive if none is present or if the current media has been opened since it was last inserted. Reads the disk and reports on the format of the disk. PARAMETERS Specifies an unmounted, raw device pathname. This device must be an FDI interface (fd). DESCRIPTION The fddisk utility, an FDI (integrated Floppy Disk Interface) disk maintenance program, can format a floppy disk, scan a floppy disk for bad blocks, and read and write selected blocks. It can be used in shell scripts for checking the status of floppy disks. Such status checks include checking for or waiting for the presence of media, and checking for or waiting for the user to change the media. RESTRICTIONS The fddisk utility has the following restrictions: You must have read/write access to the device. The device must not be mounted. The program can only be used with a 3.5-inch floppy disk in the RX26 drive. In some cases, it might not be possible to format a floppy disk at a higher density than it is already formatted. If this situation occurs, the floppy disk must be bulk erased before it can be reformatted at a higher density. EXAMPLES This example formats a floppy disk in drive zero: # /sbin/fddisk -fmt /dev/rfd0a This example formats a floppy disk in drive zero when the disk has been read or written since it was inserted into the drive: # /sbin/fddisk -fmt -f /dev/rfd0a RELATED INFORMATION fd(7), mount(8), restore(8), uerf(8) delim off fddisk(8)