How to Load a Diskette

1. Make sure the diskette is formatted.

   If you aren't sure, insert it and check the status messages in the console, as described in Step 3. If you need to format the diskette, go to "How to Format a UFS Diskette" or "How to Format a DOS Diskette".

2. Insert the diskette.

   Make sure the diskette is completely inserted. It must drop down into the drive. If the drive has a door, close it.

3. Notify Volume Management.

   $ volcheck -v media was found

   Two status messages are possible:

   media was found

   Volume Management detected the diskette and will attempt to mount it in the /floppy directory.   If the diskette is formatted properly, no error messages appear in the console.     If the diskette is not formatted, the "media was found" message is still displayed, but the following error messages appear in the Console:   fd0: unformatted diskette or no diskette in the drive fd0: read failed (40 1 0) fd0: bad format You must format the diskette before Volume Management can mount it. Instructions are provided on "How to Format a UFS Diskette" (for UFS) and "How to Format a DOS Diskette" (for DOS).

   no media was found

   Volume Management did not detect a diskette. Make sure the diskette is inserted properly and run volcheck(1) again. If unsuccessful, check the diskette; it could be damaged. You can also try to mount the diskette manually.

4. Verify that the diskette was mounted by listing its contents.

   $ ls /floppy floppy0 myfiles

   As described earlier, floppy0 is a symbolic link to the actual name of the diskette; in this case, myfiles. If the diskette has no name but is formatted correctly, the system will refer to it as unnamed_floppy.

   If nothing appears under the /floppy directory, the diskette was either not mounted or is not formatted properly. To find out, run the mount command and look for the line that begins with /floppy (usually at the end of the listing):

   /floppy/name on /vol/dev/diskette0/name ...

   If the line does not appear, the diskette was not mounted. Check the Console for error messages.