floppy Command in Linux
The Linux floppy command formats the floppy disks. It does the low-level formatting of floppy disks. The floppy command formats disks in two types of drives: one that connects to the system through a dedicated floppy controller, known as a floppy controller drive, and another, ATAPI IDE floppy drives, which require a kernel patch to be formatted.
Use this tool carefully because formatting non-standard 3.5-inch, 1.4MB floppy disks, especially in LS-120 drives, may permanently damage the disk.
Table of Contents
Here is a comprehensive guide to the options available with the floppy command −
Note − The floppy command is deprecated because utilities related to managing floppy drives are no longer maintained.
Syntax of floppy Command
The syntax of the Linux floppy command is as follows −
floppy [options] [drive]
The [options] field is used to specify the options to modify the command's behavior. The [drive] field is used to specify the floppy path that needs to be formatted or probed.
floppy Command Options
The options of the floppy command are listed below −
| Flag | Option | Description |
|---|---|---|
| -p | --probe | It probes and displays the detected floppy drives |
| -r | --createrc | It displays the configuration for the detected drives, which should be saved as /etc/floppy |
| --showrc | It lists the drives configured in the /etc/floppy | |
| -c | --capacity | It shows the available format capacities (the command lists the capacities in CxBxS format) |
| -f | --format | It formats the floppy disks |
| -s=CxBxS | --size=CxBxS | It is used to specify the size of the disk to format in CxBxS (Cylinders x Blocks/cylinder x Size of the block) |
| --ext2 | It creates --ext2 filesystem on the formatted drive | |
| --fat | It creates a FAT filesystem on the formatted drive | |
| -n | --noprompt | It suppresses verbose output |
| --eject | It ejects the floppy drive (only supported by devices with electronic eject mechanism) |
Examples of floppy Command in Linux
This section demonstrates the usage of the floppy command in Linux with examples −
- Probing a Drive
- Creating Configuration File
- Formatting a Floppy Drive
- Listing the Available Capacities
- Creating a Specified Filesystem on the Formatted Drive
- Suppressing the Output Prompts
- Ejecting the Floppy Drive
Probing a Drive
To probe a drive, use the -p or --probe option −
floppy -p
It lists all the floppy drives detected by the system. The typical output is as follows −
Creating a Configuration File
To create the configuration file, use the -r or --createrc option with the floppy command −
floppy -r
By default, the command displays the output. To save the file redirect the output to the /etc/floppy −
sudo floppy -r > /etc/floppy
Formatting a Floppy Drive
To format the floppy drive, use the -f or --format option with the drive name. For example, to format the /dev/fd0 drive, use the floppy command in the following way −
floppy -f /dev/fd0
To format to a specific size, use the -s or --size option −
floppy -f -s=80x36x512 /dev/fd0
Listing Available Capacities
To list the available format capacities of the specified drive, use the command given below −
floppy -c /dev/fd0
The -c or --capacity option is used to display the capacities.
A typical IDE floppy drive lists the capacities shown in the following image −
A standard floppy drive attached to a floppy controller lists the capacities shown below −
Creating a Specified Filesystem on the Formatted Drive
Two types of filesystems can be created on the drives that are being formatted; ext2 and fat. To create a specified filesystem on the formatted drive, use the floppy command in the following way −
floppy -f --ext2 /dev/fd0 floppy -f --fat /dev/fd0
Suppressing Output Prompts
To suppress output prompts, use the -n or --noprompt option with the floppy command −
floppy -n -f /dev/fd0
Ejecting the Floppy Drive
If the floppy drive supports the electronic eject, eject the floppy drive using the --eject option with the floppy command.
floppy --eject
Conclusion
The floppy command in Linux is used to probe and format the floppy drives. The floppy drives and utilities related to floppy drives have been marked orphaned in Linux. The floppy command is deprecated because utilities related to managing floppy drives are no longer maintained.
This tutorial covered the floppy command, its syntax, options, and usage in Linux with examples.