Re: Net-tools followup
>>>>> "Michael" == Michael Epting <epting@ix.netcom.com> writes:
Michael> OK, so I'll format the floppy ext2. The book says to
Michael> fdformat /dev/fd0H1440 but my system informs me that
Michael> fdformat is obsolete and no longer available and that I
Michael> should use superformat instead. The man page for
Michael> superformat implies that I am going to get an msdos
Michael> filesystem on the floppy whether I want it or not.
Superformat, I believe, only writes the track/sector information (ie
low level format). It does not write the file system. Use mkfs for
that.
Of course, the documentation is poor.
eg:
When the disk is formatted, superformat automatically
invokes mformat in order to put an MS-DOS filesystem on
it. You may ignore this filesystem, if you don't need it.
contradicts with
-D drive
--dosdrive dos-drive
Selects DOS drive letter for mformat (for example
a: or b:). The colon may be omitted. The default
is derived from the minor device number. If the
drive letter cannot be guessed, and is not given on
the command line, mformat is skipped.
because I always use "superformat /dev/fd0" and don't use this
parameter. I never see any messages about mformat being run either.
Michael> Hmmm, the only thing there is lost and found. WTF? OK,
Michael> back to the workstation. When I put the diskette in, it
Michael> immediately starts bitching at me, and I now remember
Michael> that one must dismount a floppy before one removes it.
Common problem. I frequently do that myself. Even if I remember after
removing the disk, it is too late, as the kernel has decided to flush
the buffers because it has detected a disk change (this might vary
depending on the kernel version).
(for this reason and this reason alone, I prefer to manage floppy
disks with mtools where possible, you probably don't even need kernel
support for the msdos file-system either.)
--
Brian May <bam@debian.org>
Reply to: