Formatting diskettes (format or fdformat command)

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You can format diskettes in the diskette drive specified by the Device parameter (the /dev/rfd0 device by default) with the format and fdformat commands.

Attention: Formatting a diskette destroys any existing data on that diskette.

The format command determines the device type, which is one of the following:

5.25-inch low-density diskette (360 KB) containing 40x2 tracks, each with 9 sectors
5.25-inch high-capacity diskette (1.2 MB) containing 80x2 tracks, each with 15 sectors
3.5-inch low-density diskette (720 KB) containing 80x2 tracks, each with 9 sectors
3.5-inch high-capacity diskette (2.88 MB) containing 80x2 tracks, each with 36 sectors

The sector size is 512 bytes for all diskette types.

Use the format command to format a diskette for high density unless the Device parameter specifies a different density.

Use the fdformat command to format a diskette for low density unless the -h flag is specified. The Device parameter specifies the device containing the diskette to be formatted (such as the /dev/rfd0 device for drive 0).

Before formatting a diskette, the format and fdformat commands prompt for verification. This allows you to end the operation cleanly if necessary.

See the following examples:

To format a diskette in the /dev/rfd0 device, type the following:
```
format -d /dev/rfd0
```
To format a diskette without checking for bad tracks, type the following:
```
format -f
```
To format a 360 KB diskette in a 5.25-inch, 1.2 MB diskette drive in the /dev/rfd1 device, type the following:
```
format -l -d /dev/rfd1
```
To force high-density formatting of a diskette when using the fdformat command, type the following:
```
fdformat -h
```

See the format command in the Commands Reference, Volume 2 for the complete syntax.