docs/50761: [PATCH] Update of the handbook (12.6, floppy disks)

Martin Karlsson mk-freebsd at bredband.net
Wed Apr 9 22:30:11 UTC 2003


>Number:         50761
>Category:       docs
>Synopsis:       [PATCH] Update of the handbook (12.6, floppy disks)
>Confidential:   no
>Severity:       non-critical
>Priority:       low
>Responsible:    freebsd-doc
>State:          open
>Quarter:        
>Keywords:       
>Date-Required:
>Class:          change-request
>Submitter-Id:   current-users
>Arrival-Date:   Wed Apr 09 15:30:09 PDT 2003
>Closed-Date:
>Last-Modified:
>Originator:     Martin Karlsson
>Release:        FreeBSD 5.0-CURRENT i386
>Organization:
>Environment:
System: FreeBSD c-49c170d5 5.0-CURRENT FreeBSD 5.0-CURRENT #0: Wed Apr 9 07:10:02 CEST 2003 root at c-49c170d5:/usr/obj/usr/src/sys/K20030406 i386


>Description:
	Section 12.6 of the handbook, "Creating and Using Floppy Disks", 
doesn't quite apply to 5.0 or newer.  It also uses a rather informal 
style, and contains some grammatical errors.  This patch aims to fix this.

The modified chapter can be viewed at
URL:http://www.krutov.org/martink/floppy/floppies.html

>How-To-Repeat:
	Read section 12.6 of the handbook.
>Fix:


--- floppy.diff begins here ---
Index: chapter.sgml
===================================================================
RCS file: /home/ncvs/doc/en_US.ISO8859-1/books/handbook/disks/chapter.sgml,v
retrieving revision 1.145
diff -u -r1.145 chapter.sgml
--- chapter.sgml	2003/03/26 02:11:55	1.145
+++ chapter.sgml	2003/04/09 21:47:06
@@ -1096,148 +1096,187 @@
 	<author>
 	  <firstname>Julio</firstname>
 	  <surname>Merino</surname>
-	  <contrib>Contributed by </contrib>
+	  <contrib>Original work by </contrib>
 	</author>
       </authorgroup>
       <!-- 24 Dec 2001 -->
+      <authorgroup>
+	<author>
+	  <firstname>Martin</firstname>
+	  <surname>Karlsson</surname>
+	  <contrib>Rewritten by </contrib>
+	</author>
+      </authorgroup>
+      <!-- 10 Apr 2003 -->
     </sect1info>
 
     <title>Creating and Using Floppy Disks</title>
 
-    <para>Floppy disks are, nowadays, an old-fashioned medium to
-      store/share data. Although, there are still some times when you
-      need to use them, because you do not have any other removable
-      storage media or you need to use what you have saved in them on
-      any other computer.</para>
+    <para>Storing data on floppy disks is sometimes useful, for example
+      when one does not have any other removable storage media or when one needs
+      to transfer small amounts of data to another computer.</para>
 
     <para>This section will explain how to use floppy disks in
-      FreeBSD, that is, formating and copying/restoring data from
-      them. But... I really have written this to help you about how to
-      create forced-size floppies.</para>
+      FreeBSD, and will cover formating, copying, and restoring data from
+      floppies.</para>
 
     <sect2>
-      <title>The device</title>
+      <title>Formatting floppies</title>
+
+      <sect3>
+	<title>The device</title>
 
-      <para>Floppy disks are accessed through entries in
-        <filename>/dev</filename> (like any other device). To access the
-        raw floppy disk you can use <filename>/dev/fd<replaceable>X</replaceable></filename>,
-        where <replaceable>X</replaceable> stands for the drive number, usually 0. When the disk is
-        formatted you can use <filename>/dev/fd<replaceable>X</replaceable></filename>, or
-        whichever of the other devices named
-        <filename>/dev/fd<replaceable>XY</replaceable></filename>, where <replaceable>Y</replaceable> stands for a
-        letter. These are all the same.</para>
-
-      <para>Other important devices are
-        <filename>/dev/fd<replaceable>X</replaceable>.<replaceable>size</replaceable></filename>, where <replaceable>size</replaceable> is a floppy disk
-        size in kilobytes. These entries are used at low-level format
-        time to determine the disk size.</para>
-
-      <para>Sometimes you will have to (re)create these entries under
-        <filename>/dev</filename>. To do it, you can issue:</para>
-
-      <screen>&prompt.root; <userinput>cd /dev && ./MAKEDEV "fd*"</userinput></screen>
-      <note><para>In FreeBSD 5.0, &man.devfs.5; will automatically
-	manage device nodes in <filename>/dev</filename>, so use of
-	<command>MAKEDEV</command> is not necessary.</para></note>
+	<para>Floppy disks are accessed through entries in
+	  <filename>/dev</filename>, just like other devices.  To access the
+	  raw floppy disk one uses <filename>/dev/fd<replaceable>N</replaceable></filename>,
+	  where <replaceable>N</replaceable> stands for the drive number,
+	  usually 0, or in 4.8 or older
+	  <filename>/dev/fd<replaceable>NX</replaceable></filename>,
+	  where <replaceable>X</replaceable> stands for a letter.</para>
+
+	<para>In 5.0 or newer, simply use
+	  <filename>/dev/fd<replaceable>N</replaceable></filename>.</para>
+
+	<sect4>
+	  <title>The disk size in 4.8 or older versions</title>
+
+	  <para>There are also <filename>/dev/fd<replaceable>N</replaceable>.<replaceable>size</replaceable></filename>
+	    devices, where <replaceable>size</replaceable> is a floppy disk
+	    size in kilobytes.  These entries are used at low-level format
+	    time to determine the disk size.</para>
+
+	  <para>Sometimes the entries under <filename>/dev</filename> will
+	    have to be (re)created.  To do that, issue:</para>
+
+	  <screen>&prompt.root; <userinput>cd /dev && ./MAKEDEV "fd*"</userinput></screen>
+	</sect4>
+
+	<sect4>
+	  <title>The disk size in 5.0 or newer versions</title>
+
+	  <para>In 5.0, &man.devfs.5; will automatically
+	    manage device nodes in <filename>/dev</filename>, so use of
+	    <command>MAKEDEV</command> is not necessary.</para>
+	  
+	  <para>The desired disk size is passed to &man.fdformat.1; through
+	    the <userinput>-f</userinput> flag.  Supported sizes are listed in
+	  &man.fdcontrol.8;</para>
+	</sect4>
+      </sect3>
+
+      <sect3>
+	<title>Formatting</title>
+
+	<para>A floppy disk needs to be low-level formated before it can
+	  be used.  This is usually done by the vendor, but formatting is a good way
+	  to check media integrity.  It can also be used to force a larger
+	  disk size.</para>
+
+	<para>To low-level format the floppy disk you need to
+	  use &man.fdformat.1;.  This utility expects
+	  the device name as an argument.</para>
+
+	<para>Forced disks will take longer to format due to
+	  the larger disk size.  Other disk
+	  sizes found in <filename>/dev</filename> can be used,
+	  but the most stable and compatible forced
+	  size is 1720kB for 3.5inch disks.</para>
+
+	  <para>Make note of any disk error , as this can help determining if
+	    the disk is good or bad.</para>
+
+	<sect4>
+	  <title>Formatting in 4.8 or older versions</title>
+
+	  <para>Use the
+	    <filename>/dev/fd<replaceable>N</replaceable>.<replaceable>size</replaceable></filename> devices
+	    to either format the floppy to its real size, or to force a larger
+	    disk size.  Insert a new 3.5inch floppy disk in your drive and issue:</para>
+
+	  <screen>&prompt.root; <userinput>/usr/sbin/fdformat /dev/fd0.1440</userinput></screen>
+
+	  <para>To force the floppy disk size, use other entries
+	    in <filename>/dev</filename>.  With the same floppy, issue:</para>
+
+	  <screen>&prompt.root; <userinput>/usr/sbin/fdformat /dev/fd0.1720</userinput></screen>
+	</sect4>
+
+	<sect4>
+	  <title>Formatting in 5.0 or newer versions</title>
+
+	  <para>Use the <filename>/dev/fd<replaceable>N</replaceable></filename>
+	    devices to either format the floppy to its real size, or to force a larger
+	    disk size.  Check &man.fdcontrol.8; for the size you want the disk to
+	    have.  Insert a new 3.5inch floppy disk in your drive and issue:</para>
+
+	  <screen>&prompt.root; <userinput>/usr/sbin/fdformat -f 1440 /dev/fd0</userinput></screen>
+
+	  <para>To force the floppy disk size, use other entries
+	    in <filename>/dev</filename>.  With the same floppy, issue:</para>
+
+	  <screen>&prompt.root; <userinput>/usr/sbin/fdformat -f 1720 /dev/fd0</userinput></screen>
+	</sect4>
+      </sect3>
     </sect2>
 
-    <sect2>
-      <title>Formatting</title>
 
-      <para>A floppy disk needs to be low-level formated before it can
-        be used.  This is usually done by the vendor but you may want to
-        do it to check media integrity or to force the disk capacity to
-        be bigger.</para>
-
-      <para>To format the floppy at a low-level fashion you need to
-        use &man.fdformat.1;. This utility expects
-        the device name as an argument. We will use those
-        <filename>/dev/fd<replaceable>X</replaceable>.<replaceable>size</replaceable></filename> devices, which will allow us
-        to format the floppy to its real size, or force them.  So you
-        insert a new 3.5inch floppy disk in your drive and issue:</para>
-
-      <screen>&prompt.root; <userinput>/usr/sbin/fdformat /dev/fd0.1440</userinput></screen>
-
-      <para>This will take a while... You should notice any disk error
-        here (this can help you determining which disks are good or
-        bad).</para>
-
-      <para>To force the floppy disk size, we will use other entries
-        in <filename>/dev</filename>.  Get the same floppy and issue:
-
-      <screen>&prompt.root; <userinput>/usr/sbin/fdformat /dev/fd0.1720</userinput></screen>
-
-      <para>It will take some more time than before (forced disks are
-        slower).  When it finishes, you will have a 1720kB floppy disk,
-        but for the moment you will not notice any difference. You may
-        use other disk sizes that you can find in <filename>/dev</filename>, but the most
-        stable/compatible is the 1720kB for 3.5inch disks.</para>
-    </sect2>
 
     <sect2>
       <title>The disklabel</title>
 
       <para>After low-level formatting the disk, you will need to
-        place a disklabel on it.  This disklabel will be destroyed
-        later, but it is needed by the system to determine the size of
-        the disk and its geometry later.</para>
+	place a disklabel on it.  This disklabel will be destroyed
+	later, but it is needed by the system to determine the size of
+	the disk and its geometry later.</para>
 
       <para>The new disklabel will take over the whole disk, and will
-        contain all the proper information about the geometry of the
-        normal or forced floppy.  Take a look to
-        <filename>/etc/disktab</filename> now; you will see geometry
-        values of all kinds of floppy disks.
+	contain all the proper information about the geometry of the
+	normal or forced floppy.  The geometry values for the disklabel
+	are listed in <filename>/etc/disktab</filename> now.
 
-      <para>You can run now &man.disklabel.8;
-        like:</para>
+      <para>You can run now &man.disklabel.8; like so:</para>
 
       <screen>&prompt.root; <userinput>/sbin/disklabel -B -r -w /dev/fd0 <replaceable>fdsize</replaceable></userinput></screen>
-
-      <para>Replace <replaceable>fdsize</replaceable> with <literal>fd1440</literal>, <literal>fd1720</literal> or whichever size you
-        want.  The last field instructs disklabel which entry to take
-        from <filename>/etc/disktab</filename> to use.</para>
+ 
+      <para>Replace <replaceable>fdsize</replaceable> with
+	<literal>fd1440</literal>, <literal>fd1720</literal> or whichever size you
+	want.  The last field instructs disklabel which entry
+	from <filename>/etc/disktab</filename> to use.</para>
     </sect2>
 
     <sect2>
       <title>The file system</title>
+
+      <para>Now the floppy is ready to be high-level formated. This
+	will place a new file system on it, which will let FreeBSD read
+	and write to the disk.  After creating the new file system, the
+	disklabel is destroyed, so if you want to reformat the disk, you
+	will have to recreate the disklabel.</para>
 
-      <para>Now your floppy is ready to be high-level formated. This
-        will place a new file system on it, which will let FreeBSD read
-        and write to the disk. After creating the new file system, the
-        disklabel is destroyed, so if you want to reformat the disk, you
-        will have to recreate the disklabel another time.</para>
-
-      <para>You can choose now which file system to use on your floppy.
-        You can use UFS or FAT, though UFS is not a good idea for
-        floppies.  Choose FAT which is nice for floppies.</para>
+      <para>The floppy's file system can be either UFS or FAT.
+	 FAT is generally a better choice for floppies.</para>
 
-      <para>To put a new file system on the floppy do this:</para>
+      <para>To put a new file system on the floppy, issue:</para>
 
       <screen>&prompt.root; <userinput>/sbin/newfs_msdos /dev/fd0</userinput></screen>
 
-      <para>As we created a disklabel before, &man.newfs.8;
-        will be able to fetch disk data and construct the new
-        file system. And now, your disk is ready for use.</para>
+      <para>The disk is now ready for use.</para>
     </sect2>
 
+
     <sect2>
       <title>Using the floppy</title>
-
-      <para>You have two choices to use the floppy. You can either
-        mount the disk with &man.mount.msdos.8;, or you can
-        use <application>mtools</application>.
-        <application>Mtools</application> are great, but you will need
-        to install them from the ports system.</para>
 
-      <para>Try it; issue a <application>mdir</application>. If you forced the
-        disk, you will notice its extra size!</para>
+      <para>To use the floppy,  mount it with &man.mount.msdos.8; (in 4.8 or older) or
+	&man.mount.msdosfs.8; (in 5.0 or newer).
+        One can also use <application>mtools</application> from the ports collection.</para>
 
       <para>A last note about forced disks: they are compatible with
         practically all other operating systems without any external
-        utility to read/write them.  Microsoft systems will recognize
-        them without problems. But note that there may be times when the
-        floppy drive itself is not able to read them (this may happen
-        with very old drives).</para>
+        utility to read from them or write to them.  Microsoft™ systems
+	will recognize them without problems.  Note however that there may be
+	times when the floppy drive itself is not able to read them, for example
+        when using very old drives.</para>
     </sect2>
   </sect1>
   
--- floppy.diff ends here ---


>Release-Note:
>Audit-Trail:
>Unformatted:



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