Overview

This functionality is updated in the Solaris 8 6/00 software release.

Volume management features have been improved in the Solaris 8 6/00software release to fully support removable media. This means DVD-ROMs, Iomega and USB Zip and Jaz drives, CD-ROMs, and diskettes are mounted and available for reading when inserted.

Both the Common Desktop Environment (CDE) volume management and Solaris command-line features have been updated in this release. The information here adds to information on managing removable media found in "Guidelines for Using CDs and Diskettes (Overview)" in System Administration Guide, Volume 1. For information on using File Manager to administer this feature, see "Using Removable Media Manager" in Solaris 8 User Supplement.

With the volume management improvements, you can:

• Format, label, and set read/write software protection on removable media with the new rmformat command. This command replaces the fdformat command for formatting removable media.

• Create and verify a PCFS file system on removable media with the mkfs_pcfs and fsck_pcfs commands.

• Create an fdisk partition and a PCFS file system on removable media on a SPARC based system to facilitate data transfers to IA based systems.

Guidelines for using removable media are:

• Use UDFS and PCFS to transfer data between DVD media.

• Use the tar or cpio commands to transfer files between rewritable media such as a PCMCIA memory card or diskette with a UFS file system. A UFS file system created on a SPARC system is not identical to a UFS file system on PCMCIA or diskette created on an IA system.

• Protect important files on Jaz or Zip drives or diskettes by setting read/write protection. Apply a password to Iomega media.