mformat

NAME

       mformat - add an MSDOS filesystem to a low-level formatted
       diskette.

SYNOPSIS

       mformat [ -t tracks ] [ -h heads ] [ -s  sectors  ]  [  -l
       volume label ] [ -S sizecode ] [ -2 sectors on track 0 ] [
       -M software sector size ] [ -a ] [ -X ] [ -C ] [ -H hidden
       sectors ] drive:

DESCRIPTION

       Mformat adds a minimal MSDOS filesystem (boot sector, FAT,
       and root directory) to a diskette that  has  already  been
       formatted by a Unix low-level format.

       The  follow  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)

       t      The number of tracks (not 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).  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 MSDOS 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. Xdf disk are  used
              by  OS/2. This format can hold 1756k, and is faster
              than the equivalent 2m formats. 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  MSDOS
              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.

       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.

SEE ALSO

       mlabel(1)

BUGS

       Requires a low-level format utility from Unix.

       Doesn't detect (or record) bad block information.