NAME:
FORMAT - format floppy disks and hard drive partitions
SYNOPSIS:
FORMAT drive [/8] [/1] [/4] [/T:tracks] [/N:sectors]
[/F:size] [/V:label]
DESCRIPTION:
FORMAT formats the disk in drive for use with DOS.
The options are as follows:
/8
Specifies an eight sector per track format.
Applicable only to 5.25-inch floppy drives.
/1
Specifies a single-sided format. Applicable only
to 5.25-inch floppy drives.
/4
Specifies a forty track format. Applicable only
to 5.25-inch floppy drives.
/T:tracks
Specifies the number of tracks to format.
/N:sectors
Specifies the number of sectors per track to
format.
/F:size
The recommended way to specify the desired floppy
disk format. Size may be specified in kilobytes,
or in megabytes for capacities of 1.2M and above.
(Note that, following general usage in this
context, a 'megabyte' is interpreted as 1000, not
1024, kilobytes.)
/V:label
Specifies an eleven character volume label. This
option may not be used with DOS 1.xx compatible
formats (see below).
NOTES:
All format specification options (ie. all options except
/V:label) are applicable only to floppy drives.
Three methods exist for specifying a floppy disk format:
/F:size
/T:tracks /N:sectors
One or more of the options /8 /1 /4
The three methods are incompatible with each other. Note,
for instance, that you cannot use /T:40 /1 /N:9 to specify a
180K format.
The following table shows equivalent format specifications
(assuming a 1.2M 5.25-inch drive, where applicable):
/F:160K /4 /1 /8
/F:180K /4 /1
/F:320K /T:40 /N:8 /4 /8
/F:360K /T:40 /N:9 /4
/F:720K /T:80 /N:9
/F:1200K (or /F:1.2M) /T:80 /N:15
/F:1440K (or /F:1.44M) /T:80 /N:18
/F:2880K (or /F:2.88M) /T:80 /N:36
The 8 sector per track formats (160K and 320K) are
specifically intended for DOS 1.xx compatibility. This
affects what appears in the boot sector and root directory
entries. A volume label may not be specified with either of
these formats.
Network drives, and ASSIGNed and SUBSTed drives cannot be
formatted.
DIAGNOSTICS:
An exit status of 0 is returned upon successful operation.
Exit status 3 indicates that operation was interrupted by
means of CTRL+C or CTRL+BREAK. Exit status 5 indicates
that, when prompted, the user elected not to proceed with
formatting of a hard drive partition, or did not correctly
supply the existing volume label. Other errors cause an
exit status of 4 to be returned, along with an appropriate
error message.
BUGS:
To be functional under Free-DOS, this utility requires the
implementation of the following kernel services:
Int 21h 4409h (Is drive remote)
Int 21h 440Dh (Generic IOCTL)
int 21h 60h ("Truename")
AUTHOR:
Robert Nordier
rnordier@iafrica.com
