<contrib>Contributed by </contrib>

	  <contrib>Original work by </contrib>

    <para>Floppy disks are, nowadays, an old-fashioned medium to

    <para>Storing data on floppy disks is sometimes useful, for example

      store/share data. Although, there are still some times when you

      when one does not have any other removable storage media or when one needs

      need to use them, because you do not have any other removable

      to transfer small amounts of data to another computer.</para>

      storage media or you need to use what you have saved in them on

      any other computer.</para>

      FreeBSD, that is, formating and copying/restoring data from

      FreeBSD, and will cover formating, copying, and restoring data from

      them. But... I really have written this to help you about how to

      floppies.</para>

      create forced-size floppies.</para>

      <title>The device</title>

      <title>Formatting floppies</title>

      <sect3>

	<title>The device</title>

      <para>Floppy disks are accessed through entries in

	<para>Floppy disks are accessed through entries in

        <filename>/dev</filename> (like any other device). To access the

	  <filename>/dev</filename>, just like other devices.  To access the

        raw floppy disk you can use <filename>/dev/fd<replaceable>X</replaceable></filename>,

	  raw floppy disk one uses <filename>/dev/fd<replaceable>N</replaceable></filename>,

        where <replaceable>X</replaceable> stands for the drive number, usually 0. When the disk is

	  where <replaceable>N</replaceable> stands for the drive number,

        formatted you can use <filename>/dev/fd<replaceable>X</replaceable></filename>, or

	  usually 0, or in 4.8 or older

        whichever of the other devices named

	  <filename>/dev/fd<replaceable>NX</replaceable></filename>,

        <filename>/dev/fd<replaceable>XY</replaceable></filename>, where <replaceable>Y</replaceable> stands for a

	  where <replaceable>X</replaceable> stands for a letter.</para>

        letter. These are all the same.</para>

	<para>In 5.0 or newer, simply use

      <para>Other important devices are

	  <filename>/dev/fd<replaceable>N</replaceable></filename>.</para>

        <filename>/dev/fd<replaceable>X</replaceable>.<replaceable>size</replaceable></filename>, where <replaceable>size</replaceable> is a floppy disk

        size in kilobytes. These entries are used at low-level format

	<sect4>

        time to determine the disk size.</para>

	  <title>The disk size in 4.8 or older versions</title>

      <para>Sometimes you will have to (re)create these entries under

	  <para>There are also <filename>/dev/fd<replaceable>N</replaceable>.<replaceable>size</replaceable></filename>

        <filename>/dev</filename>. To do it, you can issue:</para>

	    devices, where <replaceable>size</replaceable> is a floppy disk

	    size in kilobytes.  These entries are used at low-level format

      <screen>&prompt.root; <userinput>cd /dev && ./MAKEDEV "fd*"</userinput></screen>

	    time to determine the disk size.</para>

      <note><para>In FreeBSD 5.0, &man.devfs.5; will automatically

	manage device nodes in <filename>/dev</filename>, so use of

	  <para>Sometimes the entries under <filename>/dev</filename> will

	<command>MAKEDEV</command> is not necessary.</para></note>

	    have to be (re)created.  To do that, issue:</para>

	  <screen>&prompt.root; <userinput>cd /dev && ./MAKEDEV "fd*"</userinput></screen>

	</sect4>

	<sect4>

	  <title>The disk size in 5.0 or newer versions</title>

	  <para>In 5.0, &man.devfs.5; will automatically

	    manage device nodes in <filename>/dev</filename>, so use of

	    <command>MAKEDEV</command> is not necessary.</para>

	  <para>The desired disk size is passed to &man.fdformat.1; through

	    the <userinput>-f</userinput> flag.  Supported sizes are listed in

	  &man.fdcontrol.8;</para>

	</sect4>

      </sect3>

      <sect3>

	<title>Formatting</title>

	<para>A floppy disk needs to be low-level formated before it can

	  be used.  This is usually done by the vendor, but formatting is a good way

	  to check media integrity.  It can also be used to force a larger

	  disk size.</para>

	<para>To low-level format the floppy disk you need to

	  use &man.fdformat.1;.  This utility expects

	  the device name as an argument.</para>

	<para>Forced disks will take longer to format due to

	  the larger disk size.  Other disk

	  sizes found in <filename>/dev</filename> can be used,

	  but the most stable and compatible forced

	  size is 1720kB for 3.5inch disks.</para>

	  <para>Make note of any disk error , as this can help determining if

	    the disk is good or bad.</para>

	<sect4>

	  <title>Formatting in 4.8 or older versions</title>

	  <para>Use the

	    <filename>/dev/fd<replaceable>N</replaceable>.<replaceable>size</replaceable></filename> devices

	    to either format the floppy to its real size, or to force a larger

	    disk size.  Insert a new 3.5inch floppy disk in your drive and issue:</para>

	  <screen>&prompt.root; <userinput>/usr/sbin/fdformat /dev/fd0.1440</userinput></screen>

	  <para>To force the floppy disk size, use other entries

	    in <filename>/dev</filename>.  With the same floppy, issue:</para>

	  <screen>&prompt.root; <userinput>/usr/sbin/fdformat /dev/fd0.1720</userinput></screen>

	</sect4>

	<sect4>

	  <title>Formatting in 5.0 or newer versions</title>

	  <para>Use the <filename>/dev/fd<replaceable>N</replaceable></filename>

	    devices to either format the floppy to its real size, or to force a larger

	    disk size.  Check &man.fdcontrol.8; for the size you want the disk to

	    have.  Insert a new 3.5inch floppy disk in your drive and issue:</para>

	  <screen>&prompt.root; <userinput>/usr/sbin/fdformat -f 1440 /dev/fd0</userinput></screen>

	  <para>To force the floppy disk size, use other entries

	    in <filename>/dev</filename>.  With the same floppy, issue:</para>

	  <screen>&prompt.root; <userinput>/usr/sbin/fdformat -f 1720 /dev/fd0</userinput></screen>

	</sect4>

      </sect3>

        place a disklabel on it.  This disklabel will be destroyed

	place a disklabel on it.  This disklabel will be destroyed

        later, but it is needed by the system to determine the size of

	later, but it is needed by the system to determine the size of

        the disk and its geometry later.</para>

	the disk and its geometry later.</para>

        contain all the proper information about the geometry of the

	contain all the proper information about the geometry of the

        normal or forced floppy.  Take a look to

	normal or forced floppy.  The geometry values for the disklabel

        <filename>/etc/disktab</filename> now; you will see geometry

	are listed in <filename>/etc/disktab</filename> now.

        values of all kinds of floppy disks.

      <para>You can run now &man.disklabel.8;

      <para>You can run now &man.disklabel.8; like so:</para>

        like:</para>

      <para>Replace <replaceable>fdsize</replaceable> with <literal>fd1440</literal>, <literal>fd1720</literal> or whichever size you

      <para>Replace <replaceable>fdsize</replaceable> with

        want.  The last field instructs disklabel which entry to take

	<literal>fd1440</literal>, <literal>fd1720</literal> or whichever size you

        from <filename>/etc/disktab</filename> to use.</para>

	want.  The last field instructs disklabel which entry

	from <filename>/etc/disktab</filename> to use.</para>

      <para>Now your floppy is ready to be high-level formated. This

      <para>The floppy's file system can be either UFS or FAT.

        will place a new file system on it, which will let FreeBSD read

	 FAT is generally a better choice for floppies.</para>

        and write to the disk. After creating the new file system, the

        disklabel is destroyed, so if you want to reformat the disk, you

        will have to recreate the disklabel another time.</para>

      <para>You can choose now which file system to use on your floppy.

        You can use UFS or FAT, though UFS is not a good idea for

        floppies.  Choose FAT which is nice for floppies.</para>

      <para>To put a new file system on the floppy do this:</para>

      <para>To put a new file system on the floppy, issue:</para>

      <para>As we created a disklabel before, &man.newfs.8;

      <para>The disk is now ready for use.</para>

        will be able to fetch disk data and construct the new

        file system. And now, your disk is ready for use.</para>

      <para>Try it; issue a <application>mdir</application>. If you forced the

      <para>To use the floppy,  mount it with &man.mount.msdos.8; (in 4.8 or older) or

        disk, you will notice its extra size!</para>

	&man.mount.msdosfs.8; (in 5.0 or newer).

        One can also use <application>mtools</application> from the ports collection.</para>

        utility to read/write them.  Microsoft systems will recognize

        utility to read from them or write to them.  Microsoft™ systems

        them without problems. But note that there may be times when the

	will recognize them without problems.  Note however that there may be

        floppy drive itself is not able to read them (this may happen

	times when the floppy drive itself is not able to read them, for example

        with very old drives).</para>

        when using very old drives.</para>