FORMAT(8)                   (native)                    FORMAT(8)

     NAME
          format - format floppy diskette

     SYNOPSIS
          disk/format [ -t type ] [ -f ] [ -d ] [ -b bfile ] [ -c
          csize ] [ -l label ] drive [ files ... ]

     DESCRIPTION
          Format initialises the floppy diskette in the disk file
          named drive, for example /dev/fd0disk.  By default it for-
          mats the diskette and copies in the given files. The options
          are:

          -f   Do not physically format the disc. Used to install an
               MS-DOS filesystem on a previously formatted disc. With
               this option, drive can be a plain file.

          -t   specify a density and type of disk to be prepared.  The
               possible types are:

               3½DD 3½" double density, 737280 bytes

               3½HD 3½" high density, 1474560 bytes

               5¼DD 5¼" double density, 368640 bytes

               5¼HD 5¼"  high density, 1146880 bytes

               hard Hard disc, used in conjunction with -f to format
                    arbitrary sized plain files.

               The default is the highest possible on the device,
               unless -f is used, in which case the default is 3½HD.

          -d   add MS-DOS parameter block, file access table (FAT),
               and root directory to the start of the floppy.

          The remaining options have effect only when -d is specified:

          -b   use the contents of bfile as the bootstrap block
               installed in sector 0.

          -c   use a DOS cluster size of csize sectors when creating
               the DOS FAT.

          -l   add a label when creating the DOS parameter block.

          Again under -d, any files listed are added, in order, to the
          root directory of the MS-DOS filesystem.  The files are con-
          tiguously allocated and created with the READONLY attribute

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     FORMAT(8)                   (native)                    FORMAT(8)

          set.

          The file /os/boot/pc/bb is an example of a suitable bfile to
          make the diskette a boot diskette.  It gets loaded by the
          BIOS at 0x7C00, reads the root directory into address
          0x7E00, and looks at the first root directory entry.  If
          that file is called B.COM, it uses single sector reads to
          load the file into address 0x10000 and then jumps to the
          loaded file image.

     EXAMPLE
          Create a boot floppy on a previously formatted diskette:

               disk/format -f -b bb -d /dev/fd0disk /os/boot/pc/b.com

          Format an ftl(3) file system:

               disk/format -fdt hard '#'X/ftldata

     SOURCE
          /appl/cmd/disk/format.b
          /os/boot/pc/bb.s

     SEE ALSO
          floppy(3), b.com(8)

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