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diff --git a/man/mkdosfs.8 b/man/mkdosfs.8 new file mode 100644 index 0000000..9100c39 --- /dev/null +++ b/man/mkdosfs.8 @@ -0,0 +1,224 @@ +.\" -*- nroff -*- +.TH MKDOSFS 8 "5 May 1995" "Version 2.x" +.SH NAME +.B mkdosfs +\- create an MS-DOS file system under Linux +.SH SYNOPSIS +.B mkdosfs|mkfs.msdos|mkfs.vfat +[ +.B \-a +] +[ +.B \-A +] +[ +.B \-b +.I sector-of-backup +] +[ +.B \-c +] +[ +.B \-l +.I filename +] +[ +.B \-C +] +[ +.B \-f +.I number-of-FATs +] +[ +.B \-F +.I FAT-size +] +[ +.B \-h +.I number-of-hidden-sectors +] +[ +.B \-i +.I volume-id +] +.RB [ " \-I " ] +[ +.B \-m +.I message-file +] +[ +.B \-n +.I volume-name +] +[ +.B \-r +.I root-dir-entries +] +[ +.B \-R +.I number-of-reserved-sectors +] +[ +.B \-s +.I sectors-per-cluster +] +[ +.B \-S +.I logical-sector-size +] +[ +.B \-v +] +.I device +[ +.I block-count +] +.SH DESCRIPTION +.B mkdosfs +is used to create an MS-DOS file system under Linux on a device (usually +a disk partition). +.I device +is the special file corresponding to the device (e.g /dev/hdXX). +.I block-count +is the number of blocks on the device. If omitted, +.B mkdosfs +automatically determines the file system size. +.SH OPTIONS +.TP +.B \-a +Normally, for any filesystem except very small ones, \fBmkdosfs\fP +will align all the data structures to cluster size, to make sure that +as long as the partition is properly aligned, so will all the data +structures in the filesystem. This option disables alignment; this +may provide a handful of additional clusters of storage at the expense +of a significant performance degradation on RAIDs, flash media or +large-sector hard disks. +.TP +.B \-A +Use Atari variation of the MS-DOS file system. This is default if +\fBmkdosfs\fP is run on an Atari, then this option turns off Atari +format. There are some differences when using Atari format: If not +directed otherwise by the user, \fBmkdosfs\fP will always use 2 +sectors per cluster, since GEMDOS doesn't like other values very much. +It will also obey the maximum number of sectors GEMDOS can handle. +Larger file systems are managed by raising the logical sector size. +Under Atari format, an Atari-compatible serial number for the +file system is generated, and a 12 bit FAT is used only for file systems +that have one of the usual floppy sizes (720k, 1.2M, 1.44M, 2.88M), a +16 bit FAT otherwise. This can be overridden with the \fB\-F\fP +option. Some PC-specific boot sector fields aren't written, and a boot +message (option \fB\-m\fP) is ignored. +.TP +.BI \-b " sector-of-backup " +Selects the location of the backup boot sector for FAT32. Default +depends on number of reserved sectors, but usually is sector 6. The +backup must be within the range of reserved sectors. +.TP +.B \-c +Check the device for bad blocks before creating the file system. +.TP +.B \-C +Create the file given as \fIdevice\fP on the command line, and write +the to-be-created file system to it. This can be used to create the +new file system in a file instead of on a real device, and to avoid +using \fBdd\fP in advance to create a file of appropriate size. With +this option, the \fIblock-count\fP must be given, because otherwise +the intended size of the file system wouldn't be known. The file +created is a sparse file, which actually only contains the meta-data +areas (boot sector, FATs, and root directory). The data portions won't +be stored on the disk, but the file nevertheless will have the +correct size. The resulting file can be copied later to a floppy disk +or other device, or mounted through a loop device. +.TP +.BI \-f " number-of-FATs" +Specify the number of file allocation tables in the file system. The +default is 2. Currently the Linux MS-DOS file system does not support +more than 2 FATs. +.TP +.BI \-F " FAT-size" +Specifies the type of file allocation tables used (12, 16 or 32 bit). +If nothing is specified, \fBmkdosfs\fR will automatically select +between 12, 16 and 32 bit, whatever fits better for the file system size. +.TP +.BI \-h " number-of-hidden-sectors " +Select the number of hidden sectors in the volume. Apparently some +digital cameras get indigestion if you feed them a CF card without +such hidden sectors, this option allows you to satisfy them. Assumes +\'0\' if no value is given on the command line. +.TP +.I \-i " volume-id" +Sets the volume ID of the newly created file system; +.I volume-id +is a 32-bit hexadecimal number (for example, 2e24ec82). The default +is a number which depends on the file system creation time. +.TP +.B \-I +It is typical for fixed disk devices to be partitioned so, by default, you are +not permitted to create a filesystem across the entire device. +.B mkdosfs +will complain and tell you that it refuses to work. This is different +when using MO disks. One doesn't always need partitions on MO disks. +The file system can go directly to the whole disk. Under other OSes +this is known as the 'superfloppy' format. + +This switch will force +.B mkdosfs +to work properly. +.TP +.BI \-l " filename" +Read the bad blocks list from +.IR filename . +.TP +.BI \-m " message-file" +Sets the message the user receives on attempts to boot this file system +without having properly installed an operating system. The message +file must not exceed 418 bytes once line feeds have been converted to +carriage return-line feed combinations, and tabs have been expanded. +If the filename is a hyphen (-), the text is taken from standard input. +.TP +.BI \-n " volume-name" +Sets the volume name (label) of the file system. The volume name can +be up to 11 characters long. The default is no label. +.TP +.BI \-r " root-dir-entries" +Select the number of entries available in the root directory. The +default is 112 or 224 for floppies and 512 for hard disks. +.TP +.BI \-R " number-of-reserved-sectors " +Select the number of reserved sectors. With FAT32 format at least 2 +reserved sectors are needed, the default is 32. Otherwise the default +is 1 (only the boot sector). +.TP +.BI \-s " sectors-per-cluster" +Specify the number of disk sectors per cluster. Must be a power of 2, +i.e. 1, 2, 4, 8, ... 128. +.TP +.BI \-S " logical-sector-size" +Specify the number of bytes per logical sector. Must be a power of 2 +and greater than or equal to 512, i.e. 512, 1024, 2048, 4096, 8192, +16384, or 32768. +.TP +.B \-v +Verbose execution. +.SH BUGS +.B mkdosfs +can not create boot-able file systems. This isn't as easy as you might +think at first glance for various reasons and has been discussed a lot +already. +.B mkdosfs +simply will not support it ;) +.SH AUTHOR +Dave Hudson - <dave@humbug.demon.co.uk>; modified by Peter Anvin +<hpa@yggdrasil.com>. Fixes and additions by Roman Hodek +<roman@hodek.net> for Debian/GNU Linux. +.SH ACKNOWLEDGMENTS +.B mkdosfs +is based on code from +.BR mke2fs +(written by Remy Card - <card@masi.ibp.fr>) which is itself based on +.BR mkfs +(written by Linus Torvalds - <torvalds@cs.helsinki.fi>). +.SH SEE ALSO +.BR dosfsck (8), +.BR dosfslabel (8), +.BR mkfs (8) |