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[unix-history] / usr / src / old / rxformat / rxformat.8

.\" Copyright (c) 1983, 1991 The Regents of the University of California.
.\" All rights reserved.
.\"
.\" %sccs.include.redist.man%
.\"
.\"     @(#)rxformat.8	6.6 (Berkeley) %G%
.\"
.Dd 
.Dt RXFORMAT 8
.Os BSD 4.2
.Sh NAME
.Nm rxformat
.Nd format floppy disks
.Sh SYNOPSIS
.Nm rxformat
.Op Fl d
.Ar special
.Sh DESCRIPTION
The
.Nm rxformat
program formats a diskette in the specified drive
associated with the special device
.Ar special .
.Pf ( Ar Special
is normally
.Pa /dev/rx0 ,
for drive 0, or
.Pa /dev/rx1 ,
for drive 1.)
.Pp
Available option:
.Bl -tag -width Ds
.It Fl d
Force double density formatting.
By default, the diskette is formatted single density;
Single density is compatible 
with the
.Tn IBM
3740 standard (128 bytes/sector). 
In double density, each sector
contains 256 bytes of data.
.El
.Pp
Before formatting a diskette
.Nm rxformat
prompts for verification if standard input is a tty
(this allows a user to cleanly
abort the operation; note that
formatting a diskette will destroy any existing data).
Formatting is done by the hardware.
All sectors are zero-filled.
.Sh DIAGNOSTICS
.Bl -tag -width Ds
.It Sy \&No such device
means that the drive is not ready, 
usually because no disk is in the drive or the drive door is open.
Other error messages are selfexplanatory.
.El
.Sh FILES
.Bl -tag -width /dev/rx? -compact
.It Pa /dev/rx?
.El
.Sh SEE ALSO
.Xr rx 4
.Sh AUTHOR
Helge Skrivervik
.Sh BUGS
A floppy may not be formatted if the
header info on sector 1, track 0 has been damaged.  Hence, it is not
possible to format a completely degaussed disk. 
(This is actually a problem in the DEC hardware.)
.Sh HISTORY
The
.Nm
command appeared in
.Bx 4.2 .