How to Format Removable Media (rmformat)

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

1. Verify that the volume manager is running, which means you can use the shorter nickname for the device name.

   $ ps -ef | grep vold root 212 1 0 Nov 03 ? 0:01 /usr/sbin/vold

   For information on starting vold, see How to Restart Volume Management (vold). For information on identifying media device names, see Using Removable Media Names.

2. Format the removable media.

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

   See the previous section for more information on rmformat formatting options.

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

3. (Optional) Label the removable media with an 8-character label to be used in the Solaris environment.

   $ rmformat -b label device-name

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

Examples—Formatting Removable Media

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
.........................................................................

This example shows how to format a Zip drive.

$ rmformat -F quick /vol/dev/aliases/zip0
Formatting will erase all the data on disk.
Do you want to continue? (y/n) y
.........................................................................