How to Use fdformat to Format a New Diskette

Before You Begin

You must format new diskettes before you use them. The simplest way to format, list the contents of, read, copy, or eject a diskette is to use the File Manager tool. Refer to Solaris User's Guide for information about File Manager.

If the server is set up without a local console, you need to set up a console on it in order to issue software commands; see:

• "About Setting Up a Console"

If the diskette is write-protected, you need to remove the write protection; see:

• "How to Allow Writing to a Diskette"

What to Do

1. Insert the diskette into the diskette drive.

2. From the console device, enter the fdformat command.

   Type the appropriate command, as listed for your diskette. It takes a minute or two for the system to format the diskette.

   Table 11-1  

   Diskette Density	Storage Capacity  (Formatted)	Command
   High Density (HD)	1.44 Mbytes	fdformat
   Medium Density (MD)	1.2 Mbytes	fdformat -m
   Low Density (2DD)	720 Kbytes	fdformat -l

You can now write to and read from the diskette.