mformat(1)
Name
mformat - add an MSDOS filesystem to a low-level formatted
floppy disk
Note
This manpage has been automatically generated from
mtools's texinfo documentation. However, this process is
only approximative, and some items, such as crossrefer-
ences, footnotes and indices are lost in this translation
process. Indeed, this items have no appropriate represen-
tation in the manpage format. Moreover, only the items
specific to each command have been translated, and the
general information about mtools has been dropped in the
manpage version. Thus I strongly advise you to use the
original texinfo doc.
* To generate a printable copy from the texinfo doc,
run the following commands:
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* To generate a html copy, run:
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A premade html can be found at:
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* To generate an info copy (browsable using emacs'
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The texinfo doc looks most pretty when printed or as html.
Indeed, in the info version certain examples are difficult
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Description
The mformat command is used to add an MS-DOS filesystem to
a low-level formatted diskette. Its syntax is:
mformat [-t cylinders] [-h heads] [-s sectors] [-l vol-
ume_label] [-F] [-I fsVersion] [-S sizecode] [-2 sec-
tors_on_track_0] [-M software_sector_size] [-a] [-X] [-C]
[-H hidden_sectors] [-r root_sectors] [-B boot_sector]
[-k] drive:
Mformat adds a minimal MS-DOS filesystem (boot sector,
FAT, and root directory) to a diskette that has already
been formatted by a Unix low-level format.
The following options are supported: (The S, 2, 1 and M
options may not exist if this copy of mtools has been com-
piled without the USE_2M option)
Options
t The number of cylinders.
h The number of heads (sides).
s The number of sectors per track. If the 2m option
is given, number of 512-byte sector equivalents on
generic tracks (i.e. not head 0 track 0). If the
2m option is not given, number of physical sectors
per track (which may be bigger than 512 bytes).
l An optional volume label.
S The sizecode. The size of the sector is 2 ^ (size-
code + 7).
2 2m format. The parameter to this option describes
the number of sectors on track 0, head 0. This
option is recommended for sectors bigger than nor-
mal.
1 don't use a 2m format, even if the current geometry
of the disk is a 2m geometry.
M software sector size. This parameter describes the
sector size in bytes used by the MS-DOS filesystem.
By default it is the physical sector size.
a If this option is given, an Atari style serial num-
ber is generated. Ataris store their serial number
in the OEM label.
X formats the disk as an XDF disk. See section XDF
for more details. The disk has first to be low-
level formatted using the xdfcopy utility included
in the fdutils package.
C creates the disk image file to install the MS-DOS
filesystem on it. Obviously, this is useless on
physical devices such as floppies and hard disk
partitions.
H number of hidden sectors. This parameter is useful
for formatting hard disk partition, which are not
aligned on track boundaries (i.e. first head of
first track doesn't belong to the partition, but
contains a partition table). In that case the num-
ber of hidden sectors is in general the number of
sectors per cylinder. This is untested.
n serial number
F Format the partition as FAT32 (experimental).
I Sets the fsVersion id when formatting a FAT32
drive. In order to find this out, run minfo on an
existing FAT32 drive, and mail me about it, so I
can include the correct value in future versions of
mtools.
c Sets the size of a cluster (in sectors). If this
cluster size would generate a FAT that too big for
its number of bits, mtools automatically increases
the cluster size, until the FAT is small enough.
r Sets the size of the root directory (in sectors).
Only applicable to 12 and 16 bit FATs.
B Use the bootsector stored in the given file or
device, instead of using its own. Only the geome-
try fields are updated to match the target disks
parameters.
k Keep the existing boot sector as much as possible.
Only the geometry fields are updated to match the
target disks parameters.
To format a diskette at a density other than the default,
you must supply (at least) those command line parameters
that are different from the default.
Mformat returns 0 on success or 1 on failure.
It doesn't record bad block information to the Fat, use
mkmanifest for that.
See Also
Mtools' texinfo doc