Date: Thu, 10 Apr 2003 00:28:48 +0200 (CEST) From: Martin Karlsson <mk-freebsd@bredband.net> To: FreeBSD-gnats-submit@FreeBSD.org Subject: docs/50761: [PATCH] Update of the handbook (12.6, floppy disks) Message-ID: <200304092228.h39MSmsj037256@c-49c170d5.036-23-6f72652.cust.bredbandsbolaget.se> Resent-Message-ID: <200304092230.h39MU9Jt097107@freefall.freebsd.org>
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>Number: 50761 >Category: docs >Synopsis: [PATCH] Update of the handbook (12.6, floppy disks) >Confidential: no >Severity: non-critical >Priority: low >Responsible: freebsd-doc >State: open >Quarter: >Keywords: >Date-Required: >Class: change-request >Submitter-Id: current-users >Arrival-Date: Wed Apr 09 15:30:09 PDT 2003 >Closed-Date: >Last-Modified: >Originator: Martin Karlsson >Release: FreeBSD 5.0-CURRENT i386 >Organization: >Environment: System: FreeBSD c-49c170d5 5.0-CURRENT FreeBSD 5.0-CURRENT #0: Wed Apr 9 07:10:02 CEST 2003 root@c-49c170d5:/usr/obj/usr/src/sys/K20030406 i386 >Description: Section 12.6 of the handbook, "Creating and Using Floppy Disks", doesn't quite apply to 5.0 or newer. It also uses a rather informal style, and contains some grammatical errors. This patch aims to fix this. The modified chapter can be viewed at URL:http://www.krutov.org/martink/floppy/floppies.html >How-To-Repeat: Read section 12.6 of the handbook. >Fix: --- floppy.diff begins here --- Index: chapter.sgml =================================================================== RCS file: /home/ncvs/doc/en_US.ISO8859-1/books/handbook/disks/chapter.sgml,v retrieving revision 1.145 diff -u -r1.145 chapter.sgml --- chapter.sgml 2003/03/26 02:11:55 1.145 +++ chapter.sgml 2003/04/09 21:47:06 @@ -1096,148 +1096,187 @@ <author> <firstname>Julio</firstname> <surname>Merino</surname> - <contrib>Contributed by </contrib> + <contrib>Original work by </contrib> </author> </authorgroup> <!-- 24 Dec 2001 --> + <authorgroup> + <author> + <firstname>Martin</firstname> + <surname>Karlsson</surname> + <contrib>Rewritten by </contrib> + </author> + </authorgroup> + <!-- 10 Apr 2003 --> </sect1info> <title>Creating and Using Floppy Disks</title> - <para>Floppy disks are, nowadays, an old-fashioned medium to - store/share data. Although, there are still some times when you - need to use them, because you do not have any other removable - storage media or you need to use what you have saved in them on - any other computer.</para> + <para>Storing data on floppy disks is sometimes useful, for example + when one does not have any other removable storage media or when one needs + to transfer small amounts of data to another computer.</para> <para>This section will explain how to use floppy disks in - FreeBSD, that is, formating and copying/restoring data from - them. But... I really have written this to help you about how to - create forced-size floppies.</para> + FreeBSD, and will cover formating, copying, and restoring data from + floppies.</para> <sect2> - <title>The device</title> + <title>Formatting floppies</title> + + <sect3> + <title>The device</title> - <para>Floppy disks are accessed through entries in - <filename>/dev</filename> (like any other device). To access the - raw floppy disk you can use <filename>/dev/fd<replaceable>X</replaceable></filename>, - where <replaceable>X</replaceable> stands for the drive number, usually 0. When the disk is - formatted you can use <filename>/dev/fd<replaceable>X</replaceable></filename>, or - whichever of the other devices named - <filename>/dev/fd<replaceable>XY</replaceable></filename>, where <replaceable>Y</replaceable> stands for a - letter. These are all the same.</para> - - <para>Other important devices are - <filename>/dev/fd<replaceable>X</replaceable>.<replaceable>size</replaceable></filename>, where <replaceable>size</replaceable> is a floppy disk - size in kilobytes. These entries are used at low-level format - time to determine the disk size.</para> - - <para>Sometimes you will have to (re)create these entries under - <filename>/dev</filename>. To do it, you can issue:</para> - - <screen>&prompt.root; <userinput>cd /dev && ./MAKEDEV "fd*"</userinput></screen> - <note><para>In FreeBSD 5.0, &man.devfs.5; will automatically - manage device nodes in <filename>/dev</filename>, so use of - <command>MAKEDEV</command> is not necessary.</para></note> + <para>Floppy disks are accessed through entries in + <filename>/dev</filename>, just like other devices. To access the + raw floppy disk one uses <filename>/dev/fd<replaceable>N</replaceable></filename>, + where <replaceable>N</replaceable> stands for the drive number, + usually 0, or in 4.8 or older + <filename>/dev/fd<replaceable>NX</replaceable></filename>, + where <replaceable>X</replaceable> stands for a letter.</para> + + <para>In 5.0 or newer, simply use + <filename>/dev/fd<replaceable>N</replaceable></filename>.</para> + + <sect4> + <title>The disk size in 4.8 or older versions</title> + + <para>There are also <filename>/dev/fd<replaceable>N</replaceable>.<replaceable>size</replaceable></filename> + devices, where <replaceable>size</replaceable> is a floppy disk + size in kilobytes. These entries are used at low-level format + time to determine the disk size.</para> + + <para>Sometimes the entries under <filename>/dev</filename> will + have to be (re)created. To do that, issue:</para> + + <screen>&prompt.root; <userinput>cd /dev && ./MAKEDEV "fd*"</userinput></screen> + </sect4> + + <sect4> + <title>The disk size in 5.0 or newer versions</title> + + <para>In 5.0, &man.devfs.5; will automatically + manage device nodes in <filename>/dev</filename>, so use of + <command>MAKEDEV</command> is not necessary.</para> + + <para>The desired disk size is passed to &man.fdformat.1; through + the <userinput>-f</userinput> flag. Supported sizes are listed in + &man.fdcontrol.8;</para> + </sect4> + </sect3> + + <sect3> + <title>Formatting</title> + + <para>A floppy disk needs to be low-level formated before it can + be used. This is usually done by the vendor, but formatting is a good way + to check media integrity. It can also be used to force a larger + disk size.</para> + + <para>To low-level format the floppy disk you need to + use &man.fdformat.1;. This utility expects + the device name as an argument.</para> + + <para>Forced disks will take longer to format due to + the larger disk size. Other disk + sizes found in <filename>/dev</filename> can be used, + but the most stable and compatible forced + size is 1720kB for 3.5inch disks.</para> + + <para>Make note of any disk error , as this can help determining if + the disk is good or bad.</para> + + <sect4> + <title>Formatting in 4.8 or older versions</title> + + <para>Use the + <filename>/dev/fd<replaceable>N</replaceable>.<replaceable>size</replaceable></filename> devices + to either format the floppy to its real size, or to force a larger + disk size. Insert a new 3.5inch floppy disk in your drive and issue:</para> + + <screen>&prompt.root; <userinput>/usr/sbin/fdformat /dev/fd0.1440</userinput></screen> + + <para>To force the floppy disk size, use other entries + in <filename>/dev</filename>. With the same floppy, issue:</para> + + <screen>&prompt.root; <userinput>/usr/sbin/fdformat /dev/fd0.1720</userinput></screen> + </sect4> + + <sect4> + <title>Formatting in 5.0 or newer versions</title> + + <para>Use the <filename>/dev/fd<replaceable>N</replaceable></filename> + devices to either format the floppy to its real size, or to force a larger + disk size. Check &man.fdcontrol.8; for the size you want the disk to + have. Insert a new 3.5inch floppy disk in your drive and issue:</para> + + <screen>&prompt.root; <userinput>/usr/sbin/fdformat -f 1440 /dev/fd0</userinput></screen> + + <para>To force the floppy disk size, use other entries + in <filename>/dev</filename>. With the same floppy, issue:</para> + + <screen>&prompt.root; <userinput>/usr/sbin/fdformat -f 1720 /dev/fd0</userinput></screen> + </sect4> + </sect3> </sect2> - <sect2> - <title>Formatting</title> - <para>A floppy disk needs to be low-level formated before it can - be used. This is usually done by the vendor but you may want to - do it to check media integrity or to force the disk capacity to - be bigger.</para> - - <para>To format the floppy at a low-level fashion you need to - use &man.fdformat.1;. This utility expects - the device name as an argument. We will use those - <filename>/dev/fd<replaceable>X</replaceable>.<replaceable>size</replaceable></filename> devices, which will allow us - to format the floppy to its real size, or force them. So you - insert a new 3.5inch floppy disk in your drive and issue:</para> - - <screen>&prompt.root; <userinput>/usr/sbin/fdformat /dev/fd0.1440</userinput></screen> - - <para>This will take a while... You should notice any disk error - here (this can help you determining which disks are good or - bad).</para> - - <para>To force the floppy disk size, we will use other entries - in <filename>/dev</filename>. Get the same floppy and issue: - - <screen>&prompt.root; <userinput>/usr/sbin/fdformat /dev/fd0.1720</userinput></screen> - - <para>It will take some more time than before (forced disks are - slower). When it finishes, you will have a 1720kB floppy disk, - but for the moment you will not notice any difference. You may - use other disk sizes that you can find in <filename>/dev</filename>, but the most - stable/compatible is the 1720kB for 3.5inch disks.</para> - </sect2> <sect2> <title>The disklabel</title> <para>After low-level formatting the disk, you will need to - place a disklabel on it. This disklabel will be destroyed - later, but it is needed by the system to determine the size of - the disk and its geometry later.</para> + place a disklabel on it. This disklabel will be destroyed + later, but it is needed by the system to determine the size of + the disk and its geometry later.</para> <para>The new disklabel will take over the whole disk, and will - contain all the proper information about the geometry of the - normal or forced floppy. Take a look to - <filename>/etc/disktab</filename> now; you will see geometry - values of all kinds of floppy disks. + contain all the proper information about the geometry of the + normal or forced floppy. The geometry values for the disklabel + are listed in <filename>/etc/disktab</filename> now. - <para>You can run now &man.disklabel.8; - like:</para> + <para>You can run now &man.disklabel.8; like so:</para> <screen>&prompt.root; <userinput>/sbin/disklabel -B -r -w /dev/fd0 <replaceable>fdsize</replaceable></userinput></screen> - - <para>Replace <replaceable>fdsize</replaceable> with <literal>fd1440</literal>, <literal>fd1720</literal> or whichever size you - want. The last field instructs disklabel which entry to take - from <filename>/etc/disktab</filename> to use.</para> + + <para>Replace <replaceable>fdsize</replaceable> with + <literal>fd1440</literal>, <literal>fd1720</literal> or whichever size you + want. The last field instructs disklabel which entry + from <filename>/etc/disktab</filename> to use.</para> </sect2> <sect2> <title>The file system</title> + + <para>Now the floppy is ready to be high-level formated. This + will place a new file system on it, which will let FreeBSD read + and write to the disk. After creating the new file system, the + disklabel is destroyed, so if you want to reformat the disk, you + will have to recreate the disklabel.</para> - <para>Now your floppy is ready to be high-level formated. This - will place a new file system on it, which will let FreeBSD read - and write to the disk. After creating the new file system, the - disklabel is destroyed, so if you want to reformat the disk, you - will have to recreate the disklabel another time.</para> - - <para>You can choose now which file system to use on your floppy. - You can use UFS or FAT, though UFS is not a good idea for - floppies. Choose FAT which is nice for floppies.</para> + <para>The floppy's file system can be either UFS or FAT. + FAT is generally a better choice for floppies.</para> - <para>To put a new file system on the floppy do this:</para> + <para>To put a new file system on the floppy, issue:</para> <screen>&prompt.root; <userinput>/sbin/newfs_msdos /dev/fd0</userinput></screen> - <para>As we created a disklabel before, &man.newfs.8; - will be able to fetch disk data and construct the new - file system. And now, your disk is ready for use.</para> + <para>The disk is now ready for use.</para> </sect2> + <sect2> <title>Using the floppy</title> - - <para>You have two choices to use the floppy. You can either - mount the disk with &man.mount.msdos.8;, or you can - use <application>mtools</application>. - <application>Mtools</application> are great, but you will need - to install them from the ports system.</para> - <para>Try it; issue a <application>mdir</application>. If you forced the - disk, you will notice its extra size!</para> + <para>To use the floppy, mount it with &man.mount.msdos.8; (in 4.8 or older) or + &man.mount.msdosfs.8; (in 5.0 or newer). + One can also use <application>mtools</application> from the ports collection.</para> <para>A last note about forced disks: they are compatible with practically all other operating systems without any external - utility to read/write them. Microsoft systems will recognize - them without problems. But note that there may be times when the - floppy drive itself is not able to read them (this may happen - with very old drives).</para> + utility to read from them or write to them. Microsoft™ systems + will recognize them without problems. Note however that there may be + times when the floppy drive itself is not able to read them, for example + when using very old drives.</para> </sect2> </sect1> --- floppy.diff ends here --- >Release-Note: >Audit-Trail: >Unformatted:
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