flformat(1M)                                                   flformat(1M)

NAME
     flformat - format floppy disk

SYNOPSIS
     flformat [options] specialfile

DESCRIPTION
     flformat is used to format floppy disks. flformat is called from the
     command line.

     flformat can only format floppies for Reliant UNIX systems. Floppy
     disks for the MS-DOS operating system must be formatted with the
     dosformat(1) command.

     Defective floppy disks cannot be used under Reliant UNIX.

     ED floppy disks can be formatted on ED, HD and DD. HD floppy disks can
     be formatted on HD and DD. DD floppy disks can only be formatted on
     DD. If an autodetector device is used, the floppy disk is formatted
     according to its physical format.

     Note:

     Not all systems (non-SNI manufacturers) can read floppy disks that
     have been formatted incorrectly. It is possible, for example, that ED
     floppy disks formatted on HD cannot be recognized (because of missing
     floppy disk indicators).

OPTIONS
     -f number     (first) Specifies the track at which formatting is to
                   start.

     -l number     (last) Specifies the track at which formatting is to
                   end.

     -i number     Interleave factor to be used in formatting the floppy
                   disk. The default is 2.

     -V            (verify) Select this option to indicate that a
                   read/write verification check is to be performed on a
                   number of randomly selected sectors.

     -E            (exhaustive verify) Select this option to indicate that
                   a read/write verification check is to be performed on
                   all the sectors of the disk.










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flformat(1M)                                                   flformat(1M)

     specialfile  Specifies the storage medium to be formatted.

                   The following list indicates the main special files
                   involved and the formats they support:
             _________________________________________________________________
            | Special file            |  Supported floppy disk format        |
            |_________________________|______________________________________|
            | /dev/ios?/rsfdisk00?f3dt|  3 ½", 9  sectors/track, 720 KB      |
            | /dev/ios?/rsfdisk00?f3ht|  3 ½", 18 sectors/track, 1.44 MB     |
            | /dev/ios?/rsfdisk00?f3et|  3 ½", 36 sectors/track, 2.88 MB     |
            | /dev/ios?/rsfdisk00?ft  |  3 ½", format depends on the physical|
            |                         |  properties of the floppy disk       |
            |                         |                                      |
            | RM400:                  |                                      |
            | /dev/at/flp/rfx3dt      |  3 ½", 9  sectors/track, 720 KB      |
            | /dev/at/flp/rfx3ht      |  3 ½", 18 sectors/track, 1,44 MB     |
            |_________________________|______________________________________|

EXAMPLES
     Using flformat to prepare a 3 ½" floppy disk for use, you place the
     disk in the floppy disk drive and enter:

          $ flformat /dev/ios0/rsfdisk000f3ht

     While formatting the disk, flformat shows you how many tracks it has
     processed so far. A dot is displayed on the screen for every ten
     tracks.

FILES
     /dev/ios?/sfdisk*             [RM600 only]

     /dev/ios?/rsfdisk*

     /dev/at/flp/fx3*

     /dev/at/flp/rfx3*

SEE ALSO
     dosformat(1), sfdisk(7).















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