1ufiformat(8)                System Manager's Manual               ufiformat(8)
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NAME

6       ufiformat - Format a USB floppy disk.
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SYNOPSIS

9       ufiformat [ -hiqv ] [ -f|--format [size]] [ devicepath ]
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OPTIONS

12       -f, --format [size]
13              Specify format capacity SIZE in KB.  Without -f option, the
14              format of the current media will be used.
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16       -F, --force
17              Do not perform any safety checks.
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19       -i, --inquire
20              Show device information, instead of performing format.  Without
21              devicepath argument, list all USB floppy disk devices attached
22              to the system.
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24       -v, --verbose
25              Be verbose.
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27       -q, --quiet
28              Suppress minor diagnostics.
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30       -h, --help
31              Show help message.
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DESCRIPTION

34       ufiformat is a raw level formatting disk utility for USB floppy
35       devices.
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37       Raw level format is to write gap,index,sectors to the unformatted disk
38       using special commands specific to the disk controller, to make the
39       plain magneto-sensitive film into sector-addressable medium.  Note that
40       raw level format is NOT about creating filesystems (fs(5)) on the disk.
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42       After mid-1990's, floppy disks are sold generally pre-formatted in MS-
43       DOS 2HD format: 80 cylinder, 2 heads, 18 sectors/track, 512
44       bytes/sector; it is seldom in need for raw formatting.  Nevertheless
45       raw formatting could cure some disk and drive mismatchings.
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47       WARNING: You will NOT raw format an LS-120 disks or (removable) hard
48       disks; they are precision formatted in factory and cannot be raw
49       reformatted.
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51       ufiformat supports only the following format capacities:
52                 1440/1232/1200 (for 2HD disk)
53                 720/640        (for 2DD disk)
54       The device should support the capacities also, otherwise ufiformat
55       shows an error message.
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57       The above format capacities are predefined in the program, but each USB
58       floppy device also has a limited set of formats (defined internally)
59       that it can format media to.  The allowed format capacities are
60       obtained by querying (-i) the device, but this only returns the total
61       format capacity and not CHS (cylinder, heads and sectors), hence a
62       mapping is required in the program.
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EXAMPLES

66       Inquiry the device for available format:
67              # modprobe sg
68              # ufiformat -i /dev/sda
69              vendor:  Y-E DATA
70              product: USB-FDU
71              write protect: off
72              media type: 2HD
73              status      block size   kb
74              formatted    2880  512 1440
75              formattable  2880  512 1440
76              formattable  1232 1024 1232
77              formattable  2400  512 1200
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79       Format the floppy disk in 1.44MB, and create a FAT filesystem:
80              # ufiformat -f 1440 /dev/sda
81              # mkdosfs -I /dev/sda
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PREREQUISTES

84       ufiformat needs /dev/sg* SCSI pass-thru device to operate.  If the
85       device does not exist, add the driver by invoking modprobe sg.
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87       You often need to be root to do anything with /dev/sd*.
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SEE ALSO

90       fdformat(8), floppy(8), sg(4)
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92       "Universal Serial Bus Mass Storage Class - UFI Command Specification"
93       Revision 1.0 December 14 1998
94       http://www.usb.org/developers/devclass_docs/usbmass-ufi10.pdf
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99                                                                  ufiformat(8)