How to Format a Diskette (rmformat)

You can use the rmformat command to format a diskette. By default, this command creates two partitions on the media: partition 0 and partition 2 (the whole media).

1. Verify that removable media service is running. If so, you can use the shorter nickname for the device name.

   $ svcs volfs STATE STIME FMRI online 10:39:12 svc:/system/filesystem/volfs:default

   For information on restarting removable media services, see How to Disable or Enable Removable Media Services. For information on identifying media device names, see Using Removable Media Names.

2. Format the diskette.

   $ rmformat -F [ quick | long | force ] device-name

   See Formatting Diskettes for more information on rmformat formatting options.

   If the rmformat output indicates bad blocks, see How to Repair Bad Blocks on Removable Media.

3. (Optional) Label the diskette with an 8-character label.

   $ rmformat -b label device-name

   For information on creating a DOS label, see mkfs_pcfs(1M).

Example 2–1 Formatting a Diskette

This example shows how to format a diskette.

$ rmformat -F quick /dev/rdiskette
Formatting will erase all the data on disk.
Do you want to continue? (y/n) y
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