FRJ's Linux Floppy Disks

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Linux supports floppy disks. Today the most common type of floppy is the 1,440 kilobyte floppy. Linux is more simplistic than DOS. The DOS format writes tracks and then builds a file system. This is a two step process in Linux. If you watch Win95 formatting a floppy you will see both steps being completed.

While Linux can format in DOS mode here I will only speak to Linux type formatting.

The commands to create tracks and then create the file system are:

  # fdformat /dev/fd0H1440          #fd0 is the first floppy drive, H1440 is the type of floppy
  ...tracks will be written and verified...
  # mkfs -t ext2 -c /dev/fd0H1440   #make file system type=ext2 and check for bad blocks

This floppy can be mounted by:

  # mount /dev/fd0

To format in minix mode change 'minix' for 'ext2' in the preceding. Once formatted as ext2 or minix; neither DOS nor Win95 can reformat this floppy.

The default file system is ext2 with current Linux versions. So once the disk is formatted you could make a file system with:

  # mkfs /dev/fd0H1440

Of course this does not check for bad blocks.

To erase this floppy to allow DOS and Win95 formatting:

  # umount /dev/fd0
  # fdformat /dev/fd0H1440

This disk now can be removed from the drive and reused on your DOS or Win95 system.