You can use the rmformat command to format and perform other management tasks on removable media. File systems are mounted automatically. So, you might have to unmount media before you can format it, if the media contains an existing file system.
The rmformat command has three formatting options:
quick – This option formats media without certification or with limited certification of certain tracks on the media.
long – This option completely formats media. For some devices, the use of this option might include the certification of the whole media by the drive.
force – This option formats completely without user confirmation. On media with a password-protection mechanism, this option clears the password before formatting. On media without password protection, this option forces a long format.