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FDFORMAT(8)		     System Manager's Manual		     FDFORMAT(8)

NAME
     fdformat -- format floppy disks

SYNOPSIS
     fdformat [-F fill] [-f fmt] [-s fmtstr] [-nqvy] device

DEPRECATION NOTICE
     fdformat is deprecated and may not be present in FreeBSD 16.0 and later.

DESCRIPTION
     The  fdformat utility formats a floppy disk at device, where device may ei-
     ther be given as a full path name of a device node for a floppy disk  drive
     (e.g., /dev/fd0), or using an abbreviated name that will be looked up under
     /dev (e.g., "fd0").

     The options are as follows:

     -F fill	Use fill as the fill byte for newly formatted sectors.	The fill
		argument  must be a number in the range 0 through 255 using com-
		mon C language notation.  The default value is "0xf6".

     -f fmt	Specify the density settings for a fmt kilobyte format,  as  de-
		scribed in fdcontrol(8).

     -s fmtstr	Specify  the  density settings using explicit parameters, as de-
		scribed in fdcontrol(8).

     -n 	Do not verify floppy after formatting.

     -q 	Suppress any normal output from the command, and do not ask  the
		user  for  a  confirmation  whether to format the floppy disk at
		device.

     -v 	Do not format, verify only.

     -y 	Do not ask for confirmation whether to format  the  floppy  disk
		but still report formatting status.

     For non-autoselecting subdevices, neither -f fmt nor -s fmtstr may be spec-
     ified,  since the preconfigured media density settings from the kernel dri-
     ver will always be used.  However, if device is a device with automatic me-
     dia density selection (see fdc(4)), both methods can be  used  to	override
     the  density  settings  for the newly formatted medium (without permanently
     changing the density settings of device).

     If the -q flag has not been specified, the user is asked for a confirmation
     of the intended formatting process.  In order to continue, an answer of `y'
     must be given.

     Note that fdformat does only perform low-level  formatting.   In  order  to
     create  a	file  system  on the medium, see the commands newfs(8) for a UFS
     file system, or newfs_msdos(8) for an MS-DOS (FAT) file system.

EXIT STATUS
     An exit status of 0 is returned upon successful operation.  Exit  status  1
     is returned on any errors during floppy formatting, and an exit status of 2
     reflects  invalid arguments given to the program (along with an appropriate
     information written to diagnostic output).

EXAMPLES
     To format a new double-sided, high-density (HD) 1.44 MB  disk  inserted  in
     the first floppy disk drive, issue:

	   /usr/sbin/fdformat -f 1440 /dev/fd0

     After  low-level  formatting the disk with fdformat, create a disk label so
     that the system can determine the size and geometry of the disk.  The  sup-
     ported  geometry  values are listed in /etc/disktab, and we will use fd1440
     for this example.	To write the disk label, use bsdlabel(8):

	   /sbin/bsdlabel -B -w /dev/fd0 fd1440

     The floppy is now ready to be high-level formatted with a file system.   To
     format the floppy disk with FAT, issue:

	   /sbin/newfs_msdos /dev/fd0

DIAGNOSTICS
     Unless -q has been specified, a single letter is printed to standard output
     to  inform  the  user about the progress of work.	First, an `F' is printed
     when the track is being formatted, then a `V' while it is	being  verified,
     and if an error has been detected, it will finally change to `E'.	Detailed
     status  information  (cylinder, head and sector number, and the exact cause
     of the error) will be printed for up to 10 errors after the entire  format-
     ting process has completed.

SEE ALSO
     fdc(4), bsdlabel(8), fdcontrol(8), newfs(8), newfs_msdos(8)

HISTORY
     The  fdformat utility has been developed for 386BSD 0.1 and upgraded to the
     new fdc(4) floppy disk driver.  It later became part  of  the  FreeBSD  1.1
     system.   Starting with FreeBSD 5.0, it uses the unified density specifica-
     tions as described in fdcontrol(8).

AUTHORS
     The program has been contributed by Jorg Wunsch, Dresden, with  changes  by
     Serge Vakulenko and Andrey A. Chernov, Moscow.

FreeBSD ports 15.1		November 16, 2025		     FDFORMAT(8)

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