Bug#1095936: mtools.5: Some remarks and a patch with editorial changes for this man page
Package: mtools
Version: 4.0.47-1
Severity: minor
Tags: patch
* What led up to the situation?
Checking for defects with a new version
test-[g|n]roff -mandoc -t -K utf8 -rF0 -rHY=0 -rCHECKSTYLE=10 -ww -z < "man page"
[Use "groff -e ' $' -e '\\~$' <file>" to find obvious trailing spaces.]
["test-groff" is a script in the repository for "groff"; is not shipped]
(local copy and "troff" slightly changed by me).
[The fate of "test-nroff" was decided in groff bug #55941.]
* What was the outcome of this action?
troff:<stdin>:20: warning: trailing space in the line
troff:<stdin>:21: warning: font name 'CW' is deprecated
troff:<stdin>:229: warning: trailing space in the line
troff:<stdin>:426: warning: trailing space in the line
troff:<stdin>:463: warning: trailing space in the line
troff:<stdin>:467: warning: trailing space in the line
* What outcome did you expect instead?
No output (no warnings).
-.-
General remarks and further material, if a diff-file exist, are in the
attachments.
-- System Information:
Debian Release: trixie/sid
APT prefers testing
APT policy: (500, 'testing')
Architecture: amd64 (x86_64)
Kernel: Linux 6.12.12-amd64 (SMP w/2 CPU threads; PREEMPT)
Locale: LANG=is_IS.iso88591, LC_CTYPE=is_IS.iso88591 (charmap=ISO-8859-1), LANGUAGE not set
Shell: /bin/sh linked to /usr/bin/dash
Init: sysvinit (via /sbin/init)
Versions of packages mtools depends on:
ii libc6 2.40-6
mtools recommends no packages.
Versions of packages mtools suggests:
pn floppyd <none>
-- no debconf information
Input file is mtools.5
Output from "mandoc -T lint mtools.5": (shortened list)
1 input text line longer than 80 bytes: are called \fR\&\f(C...
1 input text line longer than 80 bytes: defined in \fR\&\f(C...
1 input text line longer than 80 bytes: earlier file, you ne...
1 input text line longer than 80 bytes: files. In order to a...
1 input text line longer than 80 bytes: the more general \fR...
1 input text line longer than 80 bytes: using the \fR\&\f(CW...
1 input text line longer than 80 bytes: with configurable ge...
1 skipping paragraph macro: IP empty
1 skipping paragraph macro: PP after SH
12 skipping paragraph macro: PP after SS
17 skipping paragraph macro: PP empty
8 skipping paragraph macro: sp after PP
6 whitespace at end of input line
-.-.
Output from "test-groff -mandoc -t -ww -z mtools.5": (shortened list)
1 font name 'CW' is deprecated
5 trailing space in the line
-.-.
Remove space characters (whitespace) at the end of lines.
Use "git apply ... --whitespace=fix" to fix extra space issues, or use
global configuration "core.whitespace".
Number of lines affected is
54
-.-.
Change two HYPHEN-MINUSES (code 0x2D) to an em-dash (\(em),
if one is intended.
" \(em " creates a too big gap in the text (in "troff").
An en-dash is usually surrounded by a space,
while an em-dash is used without spaces.
"man" (1 byte characters in input) transforms an en-dash (\(en) to one
HYPHEN-MINUS,
and an em-dash to two HYPHEN-MINUSES without considering the space
around it.
If "--" are two single "-"
(begin of an option or end of options)
then use "\-\-".
mtools.5:451:\&\fR\&\f(CW--enable-new-vold\fR option before compilation.
-.-.
Change -- in x--y to \(em (em-dash), or, if an
option, to \-\-
451:\&\fR\&\f(CW--enable-new-vold\fR option before compilation.
-.-.
Add a (no-break, "\ " or "\~") space between a number and a unit,
as these are not one entity.
262:Example: the following drive section describes a 1.44M drive:
300:describes a 320k disk and is equivalent to:
505:disks and /dev/fd0H720 for 720k (double density) disks. On Linux, this
-.-.
Use the word (in)valid instead of (il)legal,
if not related to legal matters.
See "www.gnu.org/prep/standards".
Think about translations into other languages!
mtools.5:91:which are mixed-case, but otherwise legal dos filenames. This is useful
-.-.
Change a HYPHEN-MINUS (code 0x2D) to a minus(-dash) (\-),
if it
is in front of a name for an option,
is a symbol for standard input,
is a single character used to indicate an option,
or is in the NAME section (man-pages(7)).
N.B. - (0x2D), processed as a UTF-8 file, is changed to a hyphen
(0x2010, groff \[u2010] or \[hy]) in the output.
4:mtools.conf - mtools configuration files
372:On some variants of Solaris, it is necessary to call 'volcheck -v'
374:there is indeed a disk in the drive. \fR\&\f(CWprecmd="volcheck -v"\fR in the
-.-.
Add a comma (Oxford comma) (or \&) after "e.g." and "i.e.", or use English words
(man-pages(7)).
Abbreviation points should be protected against being interpreted as
an end of sentence, if they are not, and that independent of the
current place on the line.
187:i.e. partitioned devices. The \fR\&\f(CWpartition\fR flag is also useful DOSEMU
533:end of the list (i.e. it will be tried last), and the first adds it to
-.-.
Wrong distance between sentences in the input file.
Separate the sentences and subordinate clauses; each begins on a new
line. See man-pages(7) ("Conventions for source file layout") and
"info groff" ("Input Conventions").
The best procedure is to always start a new sentence on a new line,
at least, if you are typing on a computer.
Remember coding: Only one command ("sentence") on each (logical) line.
E-mail: Easier to quote exactly the relevant lines.
Generally: Easier to edit the sentence.
Patches: Less unaffected text.
Search for two adjacent words is easier, when they belong to the same line,
and the same phrase.
The amount of space between sentences in the output can then be
controlled with the ".ss" request.
Mark a final abbreviation point as such by suffixing it with "\&".
Some sentences (etc.) do not begin on a new line.
N.B.
The number of lines affected can be too large to be in a patch.
20:This manual page describes the configuration files for mtools. They
21:are called \fR\&\f(CW\(if/etc/mtools.conf\(is\fR and \fR\&\f(CW\(if~/.mtoolsrc\(is\fR. If
23:as the filename for a third configuration file. These configuration
41:The configuration files is made up of sections. Each section starts
43:Then follow variable assignments and flags. Variable assignments take
55:Lines starting with a hash (\fR\&\f(CW#\fR) are comments. Newline characters
56:are equivalent to whitespace (except where ending a comment). The
64:floppy drives. On the other hand, the configuration file is needed if
75:If this is set to 1, mtools skips most of its sanity checks. This is
80:If this is set to 1, mtools skips the fat size checks. Some disks have
81:a bigger FAT than they really need to. These are rejected if this
86:lowercase. This has been done to allow a behavior which is consistent
149:Per drive flags and values may be described in a drive section. A
175:The name of the file or device holding the disk image. This is
176:mandatory. The file name should be enclosed in quotes.
180:given partition. Only primary partitions are accessible using this
181:method, and they are numbered from 1 to 4. For logical partitions, use
182:the more general \fR\&\f(CWoffset\fR variable. The \fR\&\f(CWpartition\fR variable
184:magneto-optical disks. Although traditional DOS sees Syquest disks and
187:i.e. partitioned devices. The \fR\&\f(CWpartition\fR flag is also useful DOSEMU
188:hdimages. It is not recommended for hard disks for which direct access
192:Describes where in the file the MS-DOS file system starts. This is useful
193:for logical partitions in DOSEMU hdimages, and for ATARI ram disks. By
200:disk. Its has three purposes:
204:made disk. However, you may also describe the geometry information on
205:the command line. See section mformat, for details.
209:geometry. For instance, you might need a different node to access a disk
210:as high density or as low density. The geometry is compared to the
212:node is able to correctly read the disk. If the geometry doesn't match,
214:letter is tried. See section multiple descriptions, for more details on
218:disks are accepted. On Linux (and on SPARC) there exist device nodes
234:information is also used to set the initial geometry. This initial
244:Wrong geometry information may lead to very bizarre errors. That's why I
253:The number of cylinders. (\fR\&\f(CWcylinders\fR is the preferred form,
283:high density 3 1/2 disk. Equivalent to:
287:high density 5 1/4 disk. Equivalent to:
291:double density 3 1/2 disk. Equivalent to:
295:double density 5 1/4 disk. Equivalent to:
298:The shorthand format descriptions may be amended. For example,
311:The device or file is opened with the O_NDELAY flag. This is needed on
315:The device or file is opened with the O_EXCL flag. On Linux, this
316:ensures exclusive access to the floppy drive. On most other
326:The number of FAT bits. This may be 12 or 16. This is very rarely
328:boot sector. On the contrary, describing the number of fat bits may
329:actually be harmful if you get it wrong. You should only use it if
334:Describes the DOS code page used for short filenames. This is a number
335:between 1 and 999. By default, code page 850 is used. The reason for
337:also available in ISO-Latin-1. You may also specify a global code page
339:(outside of any drive description). This parameters exists starting at
343:Remaps data from image file. This is useful for image files which
344:might need additional zero-filled sectors to be inserted. Such is the
345:case for instance for IBM 3174 floppy images. These images represent
346:floppy disks with fewer sectors on their first cylinder. These missing
348:filesystem layout. The data_map allows to fake these missing sectors
349:for the upper layers of mtools. A data_map is a comma-separated
350:sequence of source type and size. Source type may be \fR\&\f(CWzero\fR for
353:(copied) from the raw image. Datamap is automatically complemented by
355:to end of file. Each size is a number followed by a unit: \fR\&\f(CWs\fR for
362:3174 floppy images. First sector (\fR\&\f(CW1s\fR, boot sector) is used as
363:is. Then follow 31 fake zero-filled sectors (\fR\&\f(CWzero31s\fR), then the
374:there is indeed a disk in the drive. \fR\&\f(CWprecmd="volcheck -v"\fR in the
389:Only the \fR\&\f(CWfile\fR variable is mandatory. The other parameters may
390:be left out. In that case a default value or an auto-detected value is
395:A flag can either be set to 1 (enabled) or 0 (disabled). If the value is
407:the standard read/write calls to access the device. Currently, this is
459:disk as an XDF disk. XDF is a high capacity format used by OS/2. This
460:is off by default. See section XDF, for more details.
475:It is possible to supply multiple descriptions for a drive. In that
477:fits. Descriptions may fail for several reasons:
505:disks and /dev/fd0H720 for 720k (double density) disks. On Linux, this
526:drive if it contains a disk. If the first drive doesn't contain a disk,
531:files. In order to avoid this, use the \fR\&\f(CWdrive+\fR or \fR\&\f(CW+drive\fR
532:keywords instead of \fR\&\f(CWdrive\fR. The first adds a description to the
533:end of the list (i.e. it will be tried last), and the first adds it to
554:earlier files. Drives defined in earlier files persist if they are not
555:overridden in the later files. For instance, drives A and B may be
559:drive A in \fR\&\f(CW\(if/etc/mtools.conf\(is\fR instead of adding to it. If
566:The syntax described herein is new for version \fR\&\f(CWmtools-3.0\fR. The
567:old line-oriented syntax is still supported. Each line beginning with a
569:syntax. Old style and new style drive sections may be mixed within the
570:same configuration file, in order to make upgrading easier. Support for
-.-.
Split lines longer than 80 characters into two or more lines.
Appropriate break points are the end of a sentence and a subordinate
clause; after punctuation marks.
Line 21, length 89
are called \fR\&\f(CW\(if/etc/mtools.conf\(is\fR and \fR\&\f(CW\(if~/.mtoolsrc\(is\fR. If
Line 182, length 82
the more general \fR\&\f(CWoffset\fR variable. The \fR\&\f(CWpartition\fR variable
Line 219, length 94
with configurable geometry (\fR\&\f(CW\(if/dev/fd0\(is\fR, \fR\&\f(CW\(if/dev/fd1\(is\fR etc),
Line 410, length 87
using the \fR\&\f(CWread\fR and \fR\&\f(CWwrite\fR system calls, because the OS expects
Line 433, length 87
\&\fR\&\f(CW\(if$MTOOLSRC\(is\fR). Obviously, this option is also a no op if mtools is
Line 440, length 82
\&\fR\&\f(CWprivileged\fR or \fR\&\f(CWscsi\fR drive variables. If you do not use
Line 449, length 85
\&\fR\&\f(CWmedia_oldaliases()\fR functions of the \fR\&\f(CWvolmgt\fR library. This
Line 531, length 81
files. In order to avoid this, use the \fR\&\f(CWdrive+\fR or \fR\&\f(CW+drive\fR
Line 550, length 89
\&\fR\&\f(CW\(if$MTOOLSRC\(is\fR (file pointed by the \fR\&\f(CWMTOOLSRC\fR environmental
Line 557, length 93
defined in \fR\&\f(CW\(if~/.mtoolsrc\(is\fR However, if \fR\&\f(CW\(if~/.mtoolsrc\(is\fR also
Line 561, length 83
earlier file, you need to use either the \fR\&\f(CW+drive\fR or \fR\&\f(CWdrive+\fR
-.-.
Write the name for numeric prefixes if used with a unit, for example
"kilobytes", not "kbytes"
356:a 512 byte sector, \fR\&\f(CWK\fR for Kbytes, \fR\&\f(CWM\fR for megabytes,
-.-.
Use \(en (en-dash) for a dash at the beginning (en) of a line,
or between space characters,
not a minus (\-) or a hyphen (-), except in the NAME section.
mtools.5:4:mtools.conf - mtools configuration files
-.-.
Use the name of units in text; use symbols in tables and
calculations.
The rule is to have a (no-break, \~) space between a number and
its units (see "www.bipm.org/en/publications/si-brochure")
262:Example: the following drive section describes a 1.44M drive:
504:This instructs mtools to use /dev/fd0H1440 for 1.44m (high density)
-.-.
Put a parenthetical sentence, phrase on a separate line,
if not part of a code.
See man-pages(7), item "semantic newline".
Not considered in a patch, too many lines.
mtools.5:56:are equivalent to whitespace (except where ending a comment). The
mtools.5:58:quotes (such as filenames).
mtools.5:105:If 1, uses the European notation for times (twenty four hour clock),
mtools.5:172:stored (image file, physical device, partition, offset).
mtools.5:218:disks are accepted. On Linux (and on SPARC) there exist device nodes
mtools.5:219:with configurable geometry (\fR\&\f(CW\(if/dev/fd0\(is\fR, \fR\&\f(CW\(if/dev/fd1\(is\fR etc),
mtools.5:220:and thus filtering is not needed (and ignored) for disk drives. (Mtools
mtools.5:221:still does do filtering on plain files (disk images) in Linux: this is
mtools.5:233:On devices that support it (usually floppy devices), the geometry
mtools.5:254:\&\fR\&\f(CWtracks\fR is considered obsolete)
mtools.5:323:(precmd, postcmd) or an integer (all others)
mtools.5:362:3174 floppy images. First sector (\fR\&\f(CW1s\fR, boot sector) is used as
mtools.5:471:Tells mtools to connect to floppyd (see section floppyd).
mtools.5:504:This instructs mtools to use /dev/fd0H1440 for 1.44m (high density)
mtools.5:505:disks and /dev/fd0H720 for 720k (double density) disks. On Linux, this
mtools.5:533:end of the list (i.e. it will be tried last), and the first adds it to
-.-.
Remove quotes when there is a printable
but no space character between them
and the quotes are not for emphasis (markup),
for example as an argument to a macro.
2:.TH mtools 5 "19Jan25" MTOOLS MTOOLS
-.-.
Output from "test-groff -mandoc -t -K utf8 -rF0 -rHY=0 -rCHECKSTYLE=10 -ww -z ":
troff:<stdin>:20: warning: trailing space in the line
troff:<stdin>:21: warning: font name 'CW' is deprecated
troff:<stdin>:229: warning: trailing space in the line
troff:<stdin>:426: warning: trailing space in the line
troff:<stdin>:463: warning: trailing space in the line
troff:<stdin>:467: warning: trailing space in the line
-.-
'.TQ' changed to '.TP'
-.-
Excessive "\&" removed; it has no functional purpose.
--- mtools.5 2025-02-14 00:28:25.883576251 +0000
+++ mtools.5.new 2025-02-14 01:55:11.207721025 +0000
@@ -1,7 +1,9 @@
'\" t
-.TH mtools 5 "19Jan25" MTOOLS MTOOLS
+.ie \n(.g .ds cF \f(CR
+.el .ds cF \f(CW
+.TH mtools 5 "19 Jan 25" MTOOLS MTOOLS
.SH Name
-mtools.conf - mtools configuration files
+mtools.conf \- mtools configuration files
'\" t
.de TQ
.br
@@ -14,30 +16,24 @@ mtools.conf - mtools configuration files
.tr \(pd"
.ds St Mtools\ 4.0.47
-.PP
.SH Description
-.PP
-This manual page describes the configuration files for mtools. They
-are called \fR\&\f(CW\(if/etc/mtools.conf\(is\fR and \fR\&\f(CW\(if~/.mtoolsrc\(is\fR. If
-the environmental variable \fR\&\f(CWMTOOLSRC\fR is set, its contents is used
-as the filename for a third configuration file. These configuration
-files describe the following items:
+This manual page describes the configuration files for mtools. They
+are called \fR\*(cF\(if/etc/mtools.conf\(is\fR
+and \fR\*(cF\(if~/.mtoolsrc\(is\fR.
+If the environmental variable \fR\*(cFMTOOLSRC\fR is set,
+its contents is used as the filename for a third configuration file.
+These configuration files describe the following items:
.TP
-* \ Global\ configuration\ flags\ and\ variables\
+* \ Global\ configuration\ flags\ and\ variables
.TP
-* \ Per\ drive\ flags\ and\ variables\
-.PP
+* \ Per\ drive\ flags\ and\ variables
.SS Location\ of\ the\ configuration\ files
-.PP
-.PP
-\&\fR\&\f(CW\(if/etc/mtools.conf\(is\fR is the system-wide configuration file,
-and \fR\&\f(CW\(if~/.mtoolsrc\(is\fR is the user's private configuration file.
+\fR\*(cF\(if/etc/mtools.conf\(is\fR is the system-wide configuration file,
+and \fR\*(cF\(if~/.mtoolsrc\(is\fR is the user's private configuration file.
.PP
On some systems, the system-wide configuration file is called
-\&\fR\&\f(CW\(if/etc/default/mtools.conf\(is\fR instead.
-.PP
+\fR\*(cF\(if/etc/default/mtools.conf\(is\fR instead.
.SS \ \ General\ configuration\ file\ syntax
-.PP
The configuration files is made up of sections. Each section starts
with a keyword identifying the section followed by a colon.
Then follow variable assignments and flags. Variable assignments take
@@ -47,16 +43,17 @@ the following form:
name=value
.fi
.ft R
-
+
Flags are lone keywords without an equal sign and value following
them. A section either ends at the end of the file or where the next
section begins.
.PP
-Lines starting with a hash (\fR\&\f(CW#\fR) are comments. Newline characters
-are equivalent to whitespace (except where ending a comment). The
-configuration file is case insensitive, except for item enclosed in
-quotes (such as filenames).
-.PP
+Lines starting with a hash (\fR\*(cF#\fR) are comments. Newline characters
+are equivalent to whitespace
+(except where ending a comment).
+The configuration file is case insensitive,
+except for item enclosed in quotes
+(such as filenames).
.SS Default\ values
For most platforms, mtools contains reasonable compiled-in defaults for
physical floppy drives. Thus, you usually don't need to bother with the
@@ -64,48 +61,46 @@ configuration file, if all you want to d
floppy drives. On the other hand, the configuration file is needed if
you also want to use mtools to access your hard disk partitions and
DOSEMU image files.
-.PP
.SS Global\ variables
-.PP
Global flags may be set to 1 or to 0.
.PP
The following global flags are recognized:
.TP
-\&\fR\&\f(CWMTOOLS_SKIP_CHECK\fR\
+\fR\*(cFMTOOLS_SKIP_CHECK\fR
If this is set to 1, mtools skips most of its sanity checks. This is
needed to read some Atari disks which have been made with the earlier
ROMs, and which would not be recognized otherwise.
.TP
-\&\fR\&\f(CWMTOOLS_FAT_COMPATIBILITY\fR\
+\fR\*(cFMTOOLS_FAT_COMPATIBILITY\fR
If this is set to 1, mtools skips the fat size checks. Some disks have
a bigger FAT than they really need to. These are rejected if this
option is not set.
.TP
-\&\fR\&\f(CWMTOOLS_LOWER_CASE\fR\
+\fR\*(cFMTOOLS_LOWER_CASE\fR
If this is set to 1, mtools displays all-upper-case short filenames as
lowercase. This has been done to allow a behavior which is consistent
with older versions of mtools which didn't know about the case bits.
.TP
-\&\fR\&\f(CWMTOOLS_NO_VFAT\fR\
+\fR\*(cFMTOOLS_NO_VFAT\fR
If this is set to 1, mtools won't generate VFAT entries for filenames
-which are mixed-case, but otherwise legal dos filenames. This is useful
+which are mixed-case, but otherwise valid dos filenames. This is useful
when working with DOS versions which can't grok VFAT long names, such as
FreeDOS.
.TP
-\&\fR\&\f(CWMTOOLS_DOTTED_DIR\fR\
+\fR\*(cFMTOOLS_DOTTED_DIR\fR
In a wide directory, prints the short name with a dot instead of spaces
separating the basename and the extension.
.TP
-\&\fR\&\f(CWMTOOLS_NAME_NUMERIC_TAIL\fR\
+\fR\*(cFMTOOLS_NAME_NUMERIC_TAIL\fR
If this is set to one (default), generate numeric tails for all long
names (~1). If set to zero, only generate numeric tails if otherwise a
clash would have happened.
.TP
-\&\fR\&\f(CWMTOOLS_TWENTY_FOUR_HOUR_CLOCK\fR\
+\fR\*(cFMTOOLS_TWENTY_FOUR_HOUR_CLOCK\fR
If 1, uses the European notation for times (twenty four hour clock),
else uses the UK/US notation (am/pm)
.TP
-\&\fR\&\f(CWMTOOLS_LOCK_TIMEOUT\fR\
+\fR\*(cFMTOOLS_LOCK_TIMEOUT\fR
How long, in seconds, to wait for a locked device to become free.
Defaults to 30.
.PP
@@ -121,9 +116,6 @@ mtools to skip the sanity checks:
.in -0.3i
.ft R
.PP
-
-\&\fR
-.PP
Global variables may also be set via the environment:
.nf
@@ -134,21 +126,15 @@ Global variables may also be set via the
.in -0.3i
.ft R
.PP
-
-\&\fR
-.PP
Global string variables may be set to any value:
.TP
-\&\fR\&\f(CWMTOOLS_DATE_STRING\fR\
+\fR\*(cFMTOOLS_DATE_STRING\fR
The format used for printing dates of files. By default, is dd-mm-yyyy.
-.PP
.SS Per\ drive\ flags\ and\ variables
-.PP
.SS \ \ General\ information
-.PP
Per drive flags and values may be described in a drive section. A
drive section starts with
-\&\fR\&\f(CWdrive\fR "\fIdriveletter\fR" :
+\fR\*(cFdrive\fR "\fIdriveletter\fR" :
.PP
Then follow variable-value pairs and flags.
.PP
@@ -162,49 +148,47 @@ This is a sample drive description:
.fi
.in -0.3i
.ft R
-.PP
-
-\&\fR
-.PP
.SS \ \ Location\ information
-.PP
For each drive, you need to describe where its data is physically
stored (image file, physical device, partition, offset).
.TP
-\&\fR\&\f(CWfile\fR\
+\fR\*(cFfile\fR
The name of the file or device holding the disk image. This is
mandatory. The file name should be enclosed in quotes.
.TP
-\&\fR\&\f(CWpartition\fR\
+\fR\*(cFpartition\fR
Tells mtools to treat the drive as a partitioned device, and to use the
given partition. Only primary partitions are accessible using this
method, and they are numbered from 1 to 4. For logical partitions, use
-the more general \fR\&\f(CWoffset\fR variable. The \fR\&\f(CWpartition\fR variable
-is intended for removable media such as Syquest disks, ZIP drives, and
-magneto-optical disks. Although traditional DOS sees Syquest disks and
-magneto-optical disks as \fR\&\f(CW\(ifgiant floppy disks\(is\fR which are
-unpartitioned, OS/2 and Windows NT treat them like hard disks,
-i.e. partitioned devices. The \fR\&\f(CWpartition\fR flag is also useful DOSEMU
-hdimages. It is not recommended for hard disks for which direct access
-to partitions is available through mounting.
+the more general \fR\*(cFoffset\fR variable.
+The \fR\*(cFpartition\fR variable
+is intended for removable media such as Syquest disks,
+ZIP drives,
+and magneto-optical disks.
+Although traditional DOS sees Syquest disks
+and magneto-optical disks as \fR\*(cF\(ifgiant floppy disks\(is\fR
+which are unpartitioned,
+OS/2 and Windows NT treat them like hard disks,
+i.e., partitioned devices.
+The \fR\*(cFpartition\fR flag is also useful DOSEMU hdimages.
+It is not recommended for hard disks
+for which direct access to partitions is available through mounting.
.TP
-\&\fR\&\f(CWoffset\fR\
+\fR\*(cFoffset\fR
Describes where in the file the MS-DOS file system starts. This is useful
for logical partitions in DOSEMU hdimages, and for ATARI ram disks. By
default, this is zero, meaning that the file system starts right at the
beginning of the device or file.
-.PP
.SS \ \ Disk\ Geometry\ Configuration
-.PP
Geometry information describes the physical characteristics about the
disk. Its has three purposes:
.TP
-formatting\
+formatting
The geometry information is written into the boot sector of the newly
made disk. However, you may also describe the geometry information on
the command line. See section mformat, for details.
.TP
-filtering\
+filtering
On some Unixes there are device nodes which only support one physical
geometry. For instance, you might need a different node to access a disk
as high density or as low density. The geometry is compared to the
@@ -216,25 +200,27 @@ supplying several descriptions for one d
.IP
If no geometry information is supplied in the configuration file, all
disks are accepted. On Linux (and on SPARC) there exist device nodes
-with configurable geometry (\fR\&\f(CW\(if/dev/fd0\(is\fR, \fR\&\f(CW\(if/dev/fd1\(is\fR etc),
+with configurable geometry
+(\fR\*(cF\(if/dev/fd0\(is\fR, \fR\*(cF\(if/dev/fd1\(is\fR etc),
and thus filtering is not needed (and ignored) for disk drives. (Mtools
still does do filtering on plain files (disk images) in Linux: this is
mainly intended for test purposes, as I don't have access to a Unix
which would actually need filtering).
.IP
If you do not need filtering, but want still a default geometry for
-mformatting, you may switch off filtering using the \fR\&\f(CWmformat_only\fR
+mformatting, you may switch off filtering using the \fR\*(cFmformat_only\fR
flag.
.IP
-If you want filtering, you should supply the \fR\&\f(CWfilter\fR flag. If you
-supply a geometry, you must supply one of both flags.
+If you want filtering, you should supply the \fR\*(cFfilter\fR flag.
+If you supply a geometry,
+you must supply one of both flags.
.TP
-initial\ geometry\
+initial\ geometry
On devices that support it (usually floppy devices), the geometry
information is also used to set the initial geometry. This initial
geometry is applied while reading the boot sector, which contains the
real geometry. If no geometry information is supplied in the
-configuration file, or if the \fR\&\f(CWmformat_only\fR flag is supplied, no
+configuration file, or if the \fR\*(cFmformat_only\fR flag is supplied, no
initial configuration is done.
.IP
On Linux, initial geometry is not really needed, as the configurable
@@ -242,26 +228,25 @@ devices are able to auto-detect the disk
most common formats) to read the boot sector.
.PP
Wrong geometry information may lead to very bizarre errors. That's why I
-strongly recommend that you add the \fR\&\f(CWmformat_only\fR flag to your
+strongly recommend that you add the \fR\*(cFmformat_only\fR flag to your
drive description, unless you really need filtering or initial geometry.
.PP
The following geometry related variables are available:
.TP
-\&\fR\&\f(CWcylinders\fR\
-.TQ
-\&\fR\&\f(CWtracks\fR
-The number of cylinders. (\fR\&\f(CWcylinders\fR is the preferred form,
-\&\fR\&\f(CWtracks\fR is considered obsolete)
+\fR\*(cFcylinders\fR
+.TP
+\fR\*(cFtracks\fR
+The number of cylinders. (\fR\*(cFcylinders\fR is the preferred form,
+\fR\*(cFtracks\fR is considered obsolete)
.TP
-\&\fR\&\f(CWheads\fR\
+\fR\*(cFheads\fR
The number of heads (sides).
.TP
-\&\fR\&\f(CWsectors\fR\
+\fR\*(cFsectors\fR
The number of sectors per track.
.PP
-Example: the following drive section describes a 1.44M drive:
+Example: the following drive section describes a 1.44\~MB drive:
.PP
-
.nf
.ft 3
.in +0.3i
@@ -274,55 +259,48 @@ Example: the following drive section des
.in -0.3i
.ft R
.PP
-
-\&\fR
-.PP
The following shorthand geometry descriptions are available:
.TP
-\&\fR\&\f(CW1.44m\fR\
+\fR\*(cF1.44m\fR
high density 3 1/2 disk. Equivalent to:
-\&\fR\&\f(CWfat_bits=12 cylinders=80 heads=2 sectors=18\fR
+\fR\*(cFfat_bits=12 cylinders=80 heads=2 sectors=18\fR
.TP
-\&\fR\&\f(CW1.2m\fR\
+\fR\*(cF1.2m\fR
high density 5 1/4 disk. Equivalent to:
-\&\fR\&\f(CWfat_bits=12 cylinders=80 heads=2 sectors=15\fR
+\fR\*(cFfat_bits=12 cylinders=80 heads=2 sectors=15\fR
.TP
-\&\fR\&\f(CW720k\fR\
+\fR\*(cF720k\fR
double density 3 1/2 disk. Equivalent to:
-\&\fR\&\f(CWfat_bits=12 cylinders=80 heads=2 sectors=9\fR
+\fR\*(cFfat_bits=12 cylinders=80 heads=2 sectors=9\fR
.TP
-\&\fR\&\f(CW360k\fR\
+\fR\*(cF360k\fR
double density 5 1/4 disk. Equivalent to:
-\&\fR\&\f(CWfat_bits=12 cylinders=40 heads=2 sectors=9\fR
+\fR\*(cFfat_bits=12 cylinders=40 heads=2 sectors=9\fR
.PP
The shorthand format descriptions may be amended. For example,
-\&\fR\&\f(CW360k sectors=8\fR
-describes a 320k disk and is equivalent to:
-\&\fR\&\f(CWfat_bits=12 cylinders=40 heads=2 sectors=8\fR
-.PP
+\fR\*(cF360k sectors=8\fR
+describes a 320\~kB disk and is equivalent to:
+\fR\*(cFfat_bits=12 cylinders=40 heads=2 sectors=8\fR
.SS \ \ Open\ Flags
-.PP
Moreover, the following flags are available:
.TP
-\&\fR\&\f(CWsync\fR\
+\fR\*(cFsync\fR
All i/o operations are done synchronously
.TP
-\&\fR\&\f(CWnodelay\fR\
+\fR\*(cFnodelay\fR
The device or file is opened with the O_NDELAY flag. This is needed on
some non-Linux architectures.
.TP
-\&\fR\&\f(CWexclusive\fR\
+\fR\*(cFexclusive\fR
The device or file is opened with the O_EXCL flag. On Linux, this
ensures exclusive access to the floppy drive. On most other
architectures, and for plain files it has no effect at all.
-.PP
.SS \ \ General\ Purpose\ Drive\ Variables
-.PP
The following general purpose drive variables are available.
Depending to their type, these variables can be set to a string
(precmd, postcmd) or an integer (all others)
.TP
-\&\fR\&\f(CWfat_bits\fR\
+\fR\*(cFfat_bits\fR
The number of FAT bits. This may be 12 or 16. This is very rarely
needed, as it can almost always be deduced from information in the
boot sector. On the contrary, describing the number of fat bits may
@@ -330,16 +308,16 @@ actually be harmful if you get it wrong.
mtools gets the auto-detected number of fat bits wrong, or if you want
to mformat a disk with a weird number of fat bits.
.TP
-\&\fR\&\f(CWcodepage\fR\
+\fR\*(cFcodepage\fR
Describes the DOS code page used for short filenames. This is a number
between 1 and 999. By default, code page 850 is used. The reason for
this is because this code page contains most of the characters that are
also available in ISO-Latin-1. You may also specify a global code page
-for all drives by using the global \fR\&\f(CWdefault_codepage\fR parameter
+for all drives by using the global \fR\*(cFdefault_codepage\fR parameter
(outside of any drive description). This parameters exists starting at
version 4.0.0
.TP
-\&\fR\&\f(CWdata_map\fR\
+\fR\*(cFdata_map\fR
Remaps data from image file. This is useful for image files which
might need additional zero-filled sectors to be inserted. Such is the
case for instance for IBM 3174 floppy images. These images represent
@@ -347,142 +325,142 @@ floppy disks with fewer sectors on their
sectors are not stored in the image, but are still counted in the
filesystem layout. The data_map allows to fake these missing sectors
for the upper layers of mtools. A data_map is a comma-separated
-sequence of source type and size. Source type may be \fR\&\f(CWzero\fR for
-zero-filled sectors created by map, \fR\&\f(CWskip\fR for data in raw image
+sequence of source type and size. Source type may be \fR\*(cFzero\fR for
+zero-filled sectors created by map, \fR\*(cFskip\fR for data in raw image
to be ignored (skipped), and nothing for data to be used as is
(copied) from the raw image. Datamap is automatically complemented by
an implicit last element of data to be used as is from current offset
-to end of file. Each size is a number followed by a unit: \fR\&\f(CWs\fR for
-a 512 byte sector, \fR\&\f(CWK\fR for Kbytes, \fR\&\f(CWM\fR for megabytes,
-\&\fR\&\f(CWG\fR for gigabytes, and nothing for single bytes.
+to end of file. Each size is a number followed by a unit: \fR\*(cFs\fR for
+a 512 byte sector, \fR\*(cFK\fR for kilobytes, \fR\*(cFM\fR for megabytes,
+\fR\*(cFG\fR for gigabytes, and nothing for single bytes.
.IP
Example:
.IP
-\&\fR\&\f(CWdata_map=1s,zero31s,28s,skip1s\fR would be a map for use with IBM
-3174 floppy images. First sector (\fR\&\f(CW1s\fR, boot sector) is used as
-is. Then follow 31 fake zero-filled sectors (\fR\&\f(CWzero31s\fR), then the
-next 28 sectors from image (\fR\&\f(CW28s\fR) are used as is (they contain
+\fR\*(cFdata_map=1s,zero31s,28s,skip1s\fR would be a map for use with IBM
+3174 floppy images. First sector (\fR\*(cF1s\fR, boot sector) is used as
+is. Then follow 31 fake zero-filled sectors (\fR\*(cFzero31s\fR), then the
+next 28 sectors from image (\fR\*(cF28s\fR) are used as is (they contain
FAT and root directory), then one sector from image is skipped
-(\fR\&\f(CWskip1s\fR), and finally the rest of image is used as is
+(\fR\*(cFskip1s\fR), and finally the rest of image is used as is
(implicit)
-.IP
.TP
-\&\fR\&\f(CWprecmd\fR\
+\fR\*(cFprecmd\fR
Executes the given command before opening the device.
-On some variants of Solaris, it is necessary to call 'volcheck -v'
+On some variants of Solaris, it is necessary to call 'volcheck \-v'
before opening a floppy device, in order for the system to notice that
-there is indeed a disk in the drive. \fR\&\f(CWprecmd="volcheck -v"\fR in the
+there is indeed a disk in the drive. \fR\*(cFprecmd="volcheck -v"\fR in the
drive clause establishes the desired behavior.
.TP
-\&\fR\&\f(CWpostcmd\fR\
+\fR\*(cFpostcmd\fR
Executes the given command after closing the device.
May be useful if mtools shares the image file with some other application,
in order to release the image file to that application.
.TP
-\&\fR\&\f(CWblocksize\fR\
+\fR\*(cFblocksize\fR
This parameter represents a default block size to be always used on this
device. All I/O is done with multiples of this block size,
independently of the sector size registered in the file system's boot
sector. This is useful for character devices whose sector size is not
512, such as for example CD-ROM drives on Solaris.
.PP
-Only the \fR\&\f(CWfile\fR variable is mandatory. The other parameters may
+Only the \fR\*(cFfile\fR variable is mandatory. The other parameters may
be left out. In that case a default value or an auto-detected value is
used.
-.PP
.SS \ \ General\ Purpose\ Drive\ Flags
-.PP
A flag can either be set to 1 (enabled) or 0 (disabled). If the value is
-omitted, it is enabled. For example, \fR\&\f(CWscsi\fR is equivalent to
-\&\fR\&\f(CWscsi=1\fR
+omitted, it is enabled. For example, \fR\*(cFscsi\fR is equivalent to
+\fR\*(cFscsi=1\fR
.TP
-\&\fR\&\f(CWnolock\fR\
+\fR\*(cFnolock\fR
Instruct mtools to not use locking on this drive. This is needed on
systems with buggy locking semantics. However, enabling this makes
operation less safe in cases where several users may access the same
drive at the same time.
.TP
-\&\fR\&\f(CWscsi\fR\
+\fR\*(cFscsi\fR
When set to 1, this option tells mtools to use raw SCSI I/O instead of
the standard read/write calls to access the device. Currently, this is
supported on HP-UX, Solaris and SunOS. This is needed because on some
architectures, such as SunOS or Solaris, PC media can't be accessed
-using the \fR\&\f(CWread\fR and \fR\&\f(CWwrite\fR system calls, because the OS expects
-them to contain a Sun specific "disk label".
+using the \fR\*(cFread\fR and \fR\*(cFwrite\fR system calls,
+because the OS expects them to contain a Sun specific "disk label".
.IP
As raw SCSI access always uses the whole device, you need to specify the
"partition" flag in addition
.IP
On some architectures, such as Solaris, mtools needs root privileges to
-be able to use the \fR\&\f(CWscsi\fR option. Thus mtools should be installed
+be able to use the \fR\*(cFscsi\fR option. Thus mtools should be installed
setuid root on Solaris if you want to access Zip/Jaz drives. Thus, if
-the \fR\&\f(CWscsi\fR flag is given, \fR\&\f(CWprivileged\fR is automatically
-implied, unless explicitly disabled by \fR\&\f(CWprivileged=0\fR
+the \fR\*(cFscsi\fR flag is given, \fR\*(cFprivileged\fR is automatically
+implied, unless explicitly disabled by \fR\*(cFprivileged=0\fR
.IP
Mtools uses its root privileges to open the device, and to issue the
actual SCSI I/O calls. Moreover, root privileges are only used for
drives described in a system-wide configuration file such as
-\&\fR\&\f(CW\(if/etc/mtools.conf\(is\fR, and not for those described in
-\&\fR\&\f(CW\(if~/.mtoolsrc\(is\fR or \fR\&\f(CW\(if$MTOOLSRC\(is\fR.
+\fR\*(cF\(if/etc/mtools.conf\(is\fR, and not for those described in
+\fR\*(cF\(if~/.mtoolsrc\(is\fR or \fR\*(cF\(if$MTOOLSRC\(is\fR.
.TP
-\&\fR\&\f(CWprivileged\fR\
+\fR\*(cFprivileged\fR
When set to 1, this instructs mtools to use its setuid and setgid
privileges for opening the given drive. This option is only valid for
drives described in the system-wide configuration files (such as
-\&\fR\&\f(CW\(if/etc/mtools.conf\(is\fR, not \fR\&\f(CW\(if~/.mtoolsrc\(is\fR or
-\&\fR\&\f(CW\(if$MTOOLSRC\(is\fR). Obviously, this option is also a no op if mtools is
-not installed setuid or setgid. This option is implied by 'scsi=1', but
-again only for drives defined in system-wide configuration files.
+\fR\*(cF\(if/etc/mtools.conf\(is\fR, not \fR\*(cF\(if~/.mtoolsrc\(is\fR or
+\fR\*(cF\(if$MTOOLSRC\(is\fR).
+Obviously,
+this option is also a no op
+if mtools is not installed setuid or setgid.
+This option is implied by 'scsi=1',
+but again only for drives defined in system-wide configuration files.
Privileged may also be set explicitly to 0, in order to tell mtools not
-to use its privileges for a given drive even if \fR\&\f(CWscsi=1\fR is set.
+to use its privileges for a given drive even if \fR\*(cFscsi=1\fR is set.
.IP
Mtools only needs to be installed setuid if you use the
-\&\fR\&\f(CWprivileged\fR or \fR\&\f(CWscsi\fR drive variables. If you do not use
-these options, mtools works perfectly well even when not installed
-setuid root.
+\fR\*(cFprivileged\fR or \fR\*(cFscsi\fR drive variables.
+If you do not use these options,
+mtools works perfectly well even when not installed setuid root.
.TP
-\&\fR\&\f(CWvold\fR\
+\fR\*(cFvold\fR
.IP
Instructs mtools to interpret the device name as a vold identifier
rather than as a filename. The vold identifier is translated into a
-real filename using the \fR\&\f(CWmedia_findname()\fR and
-\&\fR\&\f(CWmedia_oldaliases()\fR functions of the \fR\&\f(CWvolmgt\fR library. This
-flag is only available if you configured mtools with the
-\&\fR\&\f(CW--enable-new-vold\fR option before compilation.
+real filename using the \fR\*(cFmedia_findname()\fR and
+\fR\*(cFmedia_oldaliases()\fR functions of the \fR\*(cFvolmgt\fR
+library.
+This flag is only available
+if you configured mtools with the
+\fR\*(cF\-\-enable-new-vold\fR option before compilation.
.TP
-\&\fR\&\f(CWswap\fR\
+\fR\*(cFswap\fR
.IP
Consider the media as a word-swapped Atari disk.
.TP
-\&\fR\&\f(CWuse_xdf\fR\
+\fR\*(cFuse_xdf\fR
If this is set to a non-zero value, mtools also tries to access this
disk as an XDF disk. XDF is a high capacity format used by OS/2. This
is off by default. See section XDF, for more details.
.TP
-\&\fR\&\f(CWmformat_only\fR\
-Tells mtools to use the geometry for this drive only for mformatting and
+\fR\*(cFmformat_only\fR
+Tells mtools to use the geometry for this drive only for mformatting and
not for filtering.
.TP
-\&\fR\&\f(CWfilter\fR\
-Tells mtools to use the geometry for this drive both for mformatting and
+\fR\*(cFfilter\fR
+Tells mtools to use the geometry for this drive both for mformatting and
filtering.
.TP
-\&\fR\&\f(CWremote\fR\
+\fR\*(cFremote\fR
Tells mtools to connect to floppyd (see section floppyd).
-.PP
.SS \ \ Supplying\ multiple\ descriptions\ for\ a\ drive
-.PP
It is possible to supply multiple descriptions for a drive. In that
case, the descriptions are tried in order until one is found that
fits. Descriptions may fail for several reasons:
.TP
-1.\
+1.
because the geometry is not appropriate,
.TP
-2.\
+2.
because there is no disk in the drive,
.TP
-3.\
+3.
or because of other problems.
.PP
Multiple definitions are useful when using physical devices which are
@@ -498,18 +476,14 @@ Example:
.in -0.3i
.ft R
.PP
-
-\&\fR
-.PP
-This instructs mtools to use /dev/fd0H1440 for 1.44m (high density)
-disks and /dev/fd0H720 for 720k (double density) disks. On Linux, this
+This instructs mtools to use /dev/fd0H1440 for 1.44\~MB (high density)
+disks and /dev/fd0H720 for 720\~kB (double density) disks. On Linux, this
feature is not really needed, as the /dev/fd0 device is able to handle
any geometry.
.PP
You may also use multiple drive descriptions to access both of your
physical drives through one drive letter:
.PP
-
.nf
.ft 3
.in +0.3i
@@ -519,57 +493,55 @@ physical drives through one drive letter
.in -0.3i
.ft R
.PP
-
-\&\fR
-.PP
-With this description, \fR\&\f(CWmdir z:\fR accesses your first physical
+With this description, \fR\*(cFmdir z:\fR accesses your first physical
drive if it contains a disk. If the first drive doesn't contain a disk,
mtools checks the second drive.
.PP
When using multiple configuration files, drive descriptions in the files
parsed last override descriptions for the same drive in earlier
-files. In order to avoid this, use the \fR\&\f(CWdrive+\fR or \fR\&\f(CW+drive\fR
-keywords instead of \fR\&\f(CWdrive\fR. The first adds a description to the
-end of the list (i.e. it will be tried last), and the first adds it to
-the start of the list.
-.PP
+files.
+In order to avoid this,
+use the \fR\*(cFdrive+\fR
+or \fR\*(cF+drive\fR keywords instead of \fR\*(cFdrive\fR.
+The first adds a description to the end of the list
+(i.e., it will be tried last),
+and the first adds it to the start of the list.
.SS Location\ of\ configuration\ files\ and\ parsing\ order
-.PP
The configuration files are parsed in the following order:
.TP
-1.\
+1.
compiled-in defaults
.TP
-2.\
-\&\fR\&\f(CW\(if/etc/mtools.conf\(is\fR
+2.
+\fR\*(cF\(if/etc/mtools.conf\(is\fR
.TP
-3.\
-\&\fR\&\f(CW\(if~/.mtoolsrc\(is\fR.
+3.
+\fR\*(cF\(if~/.mtoolsrc\(is\fR.
.TP
-4.\
-\&\fR\&\f(CW\(if$MTOOLSRC\(is\fR (file pointed by the \fR\&\f(CWMTOOLSRC\fR environmental
-variable)
+4.
+\fR\*(cF\(if$MTOOLSRC\(is\fR
+(file pointed by the \fR\*(cFMTOOLSRC\fR environmental variable)
.PP
Options described in the later files override those described in the
earlier files. Drives defined in earlier files persist if they are not
overridden in the later files. For instance, drives A and B may be
-defined in \fR\&\f(CW\(if/etc/mtools.conf\(is\fR and drives C and D may be
-defined in \fR\&\f(CW\(if~/.mtoolsrc\(is\fR However, if \fR\&\f(CW\(if~/.mtoolsrc\(is\fR also
+defined in \fR\*(cF\(if/etc/mtools.conf\(is\fR
+and drives C and D may be defined in \fR\*(cF\(if~/.mtoolsrc\(is\fR.
+However,
+if \fR\*(cF\(if~/.mtoolsrc\(is\fR also
defines drive A, this new description would override the description of
-drive A in \fR\&\f(CW\(if/etc/mtools.conf\(is\fR instead of adding to it. If
+drive A in \fR\*(cF\(if/etc/mtools.conf\(is\fR instead of adding to it. If
you want to add a new description to a drive already described in an
-earlier file, you need to use either the \fR\&\f(CW+drive\fR or \fR\&\f(CWdrive+\fR
-keyword.
-.PP
+earlier file,
+you need to use either the \fR\*(cF+drive\fR
+or \fR\*(cFdrive+\fR keyword.
.SS Backwards\ compatibility\ with\ old\ configuration\ file\ syntax
-.PP
-The syntax described herein is new for version \fR\&\f(CWmtools-3.0\fR. The
+The syntax described herein is new for version \fR\*(cFmtools-3.0\fR. The
old line-oriented syntax is still supported. Each line beginning with a
single letter is considered to be a drive description using the old
syntax. Old style and new style drive sections may be mixed within the
same configuration file, in order to make upgrading easier. Support for
the old syntax will be phased out eventually, and in order to discourage
its use, I purposefully omit its description here.
-.PP
.SH See also
mtools
Any program (person), that produces man pages, should check the output
for defects by using (both groff and nroff)
[gn]roff -mandoc -t -ww -b -z -K utf8 <man page>
The same goes for man pages that are used as an input.
For a style guide use
mandoc -T lint
-.-
Any "autogenerator" should check its products with the above mentioned
'groff', 'mandoc', and additionally with 'nroff ...'.
It should also check its input files for too long (> 80) lines.
This is just a simple quality control measure.
The "autogenerator" may have to be corrected to get a better man page,
the source file may, and any additional file may.
Common defects:
Not removing trailing spaces (in in- and output).
The reason for these trailing spaces should be found and eliminated.
Not beginning each input sentence on a new line.
Line length should thus be reduced.
The script "reportbug" uses 'quoted-printable' encoding when a line is
longer than 1024 characters in an 'ascii' file.
See man-pages(7), item "semantic newline".
-.-
The difference between the formatted output of the original and patched file
can be seen with:
nroff -mandoc <file1> > <out1>
nroff -mandoc <file2> > <out2>
diff -d -u <out1> <out2>
and for groff, using
\"printf '%s\n%s\n' '.kern 0' '.ss 12 0' | groff -mandoc -Z - \"
instead of 'nroff -mandoc'
Add the option '-t', if the file contains a table.
Read the output from 'diff -d -u ...' with 'less -R' or similar.
-.-.
If 'man' (man-db) is used to check the manual for warnings,
the following must be set:
The option \"-warnings=w\"
The environmental variable:
export MAN_KEEP_STDERR=yes (or any non-empty value)
or
(produce only warnings):
export MANROFFOPT=\"-ww -b -z\"
export MAN_KEEP_STDERR=yes (or any non-empty value)
-.-
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