*BSD News Article 59499


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From: j@uriah.heep.sax.de (J Wunsch)
Newsgroups: comp.unix.bsd.freebsd.misc
Subject: Re: fdformat & mount simple question
Date: 12 Jan 1996 22:54:32 GMT
Organization: Private BSD site, Dresden
Lines: 29
Message-ID: <4d6or8$h7c@uriah.heep.sax.de>
References: <4d04qn$37t@gol2.gol.com> <4d1ckh$nqi@hamilton.maths.tcd.ie>
Reply-To: joerg_wunsch@uriah.heep.sax.de (Joerg Wunsch)
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dwmalone@maths.tcd.ie (David Malone) writes:

> >I want to backup /etc using floppies and dump. First I formatted a 3.5"
> >disk using the command
> 
> >fdformat -f 1440
> 
> >and it seemed to format fie.
> 
> I think I used mtools to format a disk, with a msdos file system
> last time. I've got a feeling fdformat formats the disk without putting
> a filesystem on it.

You're confusing low-level format (fdformat(8)) and high-level format
(disklabel(8), newfs(8), mkdsofs(8) [in -current, use mformat(1) on an
older system]).  Both are unrelated, though you might not know this
when coming from an M$ system.

Unlike certain M$ systems, you can also use floppies under Unix that
have not been high-level formatted.  They are treated as a ``raw
medium'' then, similar to a tape.  For many people, this is the more
typical (and convenient) method instead of some file system.

-- 
cheers, J"org

joerg_wunsch@uriah.heep.sax.de -- http://www.sax.de/~joerg/ -- NIC: JW11-RIPE
Never trust an operating system you don't have sources for. ;-)