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 [ -hiqvV ] [ -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       -V, --verify
17              Verify the medium after formatting. Only meaningful without -i
18              option.
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20       -F, --force
21              Do not perform any safety checks.
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23       -i, --inquire
24              Show device information, instead of performing format.  Without
25              devicepath argument, list all USB floppy disk devices attached
26              to the system.
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28       -v, --verbose
29              Be verbose.
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31       -q, --quiet
32              Suppress minor diagnostics.
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34       -h, --help
35              Show help message.
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DESCRIPTION

38       ufiformat is a raw level formatting disk utility for USB floppy
39       devices.
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41       Raw level format is to write gap,index,sectors to the unformatted disk
42       using special commands specific to the disk controller, to make the
43       plain magneto-sensitive film into sector-addressable medium.  Note that
44       raw level format is NOT about creating filesystems (fs(5)) on the disk.
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46       After mid-1990's, floppy disks are sold generally pre-formatted in MS-
47       DOS 2HD format: 80 cylinder, 2 heads, 18 sectors/track, 512
48       bytes/sector; it is seldom in need for raw formatting.  Nevertheless
49       raw formatting could cure some disk and drive mismatchings.
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51       WARNING: You will NOT raw format an LS-120 disks or (removable) hard
52       disks; they are precision formatted in factory and cannot be raw
53       reformatted.
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55       ufiformat supports only the following format capacities:
56                 1440/1232/1200 (for 2HD disk)
57                 720/640        (for 2DD disk)
58       The device should support the capacities also, otherwise ufiformat
59       shows an error message.
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61       The above format capacities are predefined in the program, but each USB
62       floppy device also has a limited set of formats (defined internally)
63       that it can format media to.  The allowed format capacities are
64       obtained by querying (-i) the device, but this only returns the total
65       format capacity and not CHS (cylinder, heads and sectors), hence a
66       mapping is required in the program.
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EXAMPLES

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

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

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