G.3.1 Formatting a PCMCIA Memory Card

Before you can use a PCMCIA memory card, you may need to format it. The fdformat utility allows you to format both diskettes and PCMCIA memory cards.

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Caution -

Formatting deletes any data that may already be resident on a PCMCIA memory card.

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To format a PCMCIA memory card:

Type:

% fdformat option device_name

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Note -

The format utility cannot be used with PCMCIA memory cards. Only the fdformat utility will work.

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Table G-1 lists the available options for the fdformat utility.

Table G-1 fdformat Utility Options

Option	Description
-U	Unmounts the PCMCIA memory card
-d	Installs an MS-DOS file system (UNIX file system is the default)
-f	Does not display confirmation messages before starting to format
-q	Disables print status messages
-x	Installs a Solaris label or an MS-DOS file system; it does not format the PCMCIA memory card
-blabel	Specifies a UNIX or MS-DOS label on a PCMCIA memory card
-t dos	Installs an MS-DOS file system (UNIX file system is the default)
-B filename	Installs a special boot loader

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Note -

There is no option in the fdformat utility for installing a NEC-DOS file system on a PCMCIA memory card.

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If you want to format a PCMCIA memory card, you must specify a device name for the PCMCIA memory card. Otherwise, the fdformat utility automatically specifies the diskette drive as the default device.

The format for a device name of a PCMCIA memory card is

/dev/rdsk/cntndnsn

or

/dev/dsk/cntndnsn.

For example, the device name /dev/dsk/c1t6d0s2 represents a PCMCIA SRAM memory card with a logical socket controller number 1, a technology number 6, and a slice number 2.

Table G-2 list the available device name options for the fdformat utility.

Table G-2 fdformat Utility Device Name Options

Device Name Option	Description
-n	Represents a decimal number
-cn	Represents controller n
-tn	Represents technology region n 0x1 ROM, 0x2 OTPROM, 0x3 EPROM,  0x4 EEPROM, 0x5 FLASH, 0x6 SRAM, 0x7 DRAM
-dn	Represents technology region in type n
-sn	Represents slice n (This release supports only one partition on the PCMCIA memory card. Therefore, the partition number sn for the device name must be s2.)