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Annotation of coherent/a/usr/man/COHERENT/floppydisks, revision 1.1

1.1     ! root        1: 
        !             2: 
        !             3: floppy disks          Technical Information          floppy disks
        !             4: 
        !             5: 
        !             6: 
        !             7: 
        !             8: The COHERENT system lets you read or write to floppy disks, using
        !             9: a variety  of different formats.  You can  choose the format that
        !            10: best suits the task at hand.
        !            11: 
        !            12: ***** Disks Supported *****
        !            13: 
        !            14: COHERENT  lets you  use either  3.5-inch  or 5.25-inch  disks, in
        !            15: either high or low density; what you use depends upon the type of
        !            16: hardware that you  have.  The following table gives some commonly
        !            17: used diskette device names and formats:
        !            18: 
        !            19: 
        !            20: _D_e_v_i_c_e _n_a_m_e_S_e_c_t_o_r_s/_T_r_a_c_k _H_e_a_d_s _S_e_c_t_o_r_s  _B_y_t_e_s_F_o_r_m_a_t
        !            21: /dev/f9a0      9         2     720   360 KB5.25"
        !            22: /dev/f9a1      9         2     720   360 KB5.25"
        !            23: /dev/fqa0      9         2    1440   720 KB 3.5"
        !            24: /dev/fqa1      9         2    1440   720 KB 3.5"
        !            25: /dev/fha0     15         2    2400   1.2 MB5.25"
        !            26: /dev/fha1     15         2    2400   1.2 MB5.25"
        !            27: /dev/fva0     18         2    2880   1.44 MB3.5"
        !            28: /dev/fva1     18         2    2880   1.44 MB3.5"
        !            29: 
        !            30: 
        !            31: Device names ending in `0' indicate drive A:, names ending in `1'
        !            32: indicate  drive  B:.   For  a  fuller description  of  COHERENT's
        !            33: floppy-disk devices, see the Lexicon entry for ffdd.
        !            34: 
        !            35: ***** MS-DOS Format *****
        !            36: 
        !            37: COHERENT lets you read or  write to floppy disks that contain MS-
        !            38: DOS file  systems.  Both tasks use the  command ddooss. This command
        !            39: is discussed in full in its Lexicon entry.
        !            40: 
        !            41: To  read files  from  a MS-DOS  disk,  use the  ddooss command's  -xx
        !            42: option,  with the  appropriate  device name  for the  floppy-disk
        !            43: device that you will be using (as given in the above table).  For
        !            44: example, to read  file ffrreedd.eexxee from a low-density, 5.25-inch MS-
        !            45: DOS floppy disk in drive A, use the following command:
        !            46: 
        !            47: 
        !            48:   dos -x /dev/f9a0 fred.exe
        !            49: 
        !            50: 
        !            51: The following command  reads all files from a high-density, 5.25-
        !            52: inch MS-DOS floppy disk in drive B:
        !            53: 
        !            54: 
        !            55:        dos -x /dev/fha1
        !            56: 
        !            57: 
        !            58: To write a file to a  preformatted MS-DOS floppy disk, use the -rr
        !            59: option  to  the  MS-DOS  command.   For  example, to  write  file
        !            60: ffrreedd.mmss, which contains  text, to a low-density, 5.25-inch MS-DOS
        !            61: floppy disk in drive A, use the following command:
        !            62: 
        !            63: 
        !            64: COHERENT Lexicon                                           Page 1
        !            65: 
        !            66: 
        !            67: 
        !            68: 
        !            69: floppy disks          Technical Information          floppy disks
        !            70: 
        !            71: 
        !            72: 
        !            73: 
        !            74: 
        !            75:   dos -ra /dev/f9a0 fred.ms
        !            76: 
        !            77: 
        !            78: Note  that the  `a' flag  in the command  line tells  COHERENT to
        !            79: convert linefeeds to the linefeed/carriage return combination, as
        !            80: used  by  MS-DOS.  You  will  want  to use  this  flag _o_n_l_y  when
        !            81: transferring text files to or from an MS-DOS floppy disk.
        !            82: 
        !            83: The following  command copies all files  in the current directory
        !            84: to a high-density, 3.5-inch MS-DOS floppy disk in drive B:
        !            85: 
        !            86: 
        !            87:        dos -r /dev/fva1
        !            88: 
        !            89: 
        !            90: Note that when you copy a file to an MS-DOS floppy disk, COHERENT
        !            91: observes the MS-DOS  file-name conventions: it permits only eight
        !            92: characters to  the left of the period,  and only three characters
        !            93: to the right of it.
        !            94: 
        !            95: (It should be  noted in passing that you can  use the ddooss command
        !            96: to read files from or write  files to an MS-DOS partition on your
        !            97: hard  disk.  All  that is  necessary  is to  replace the  name of
        !            98: floppy-disk  device with  that of  the  hard-disk device  for the
        !            99: partition in  question.  See the Lexicon entry for  aatt for a list
        !           100: of hard-disk devices; see  the entry for ffddiisskk for information on
        !           101: how to read  the layout of your hard disk;  and see the entry for
        !           102: ddooss for details of how to use the command.)
        !           103: 
        !           104: Finally, COHERENT lets you format a floppy disk and create an MS-
        !           105: DOS  file system  on it.   To  do so,  you must  use the  command
        !           106: ffddffoorrmmaatt as  well as ddooss. ffddffoorrmmaatt is described  in detail in its
        !           107: Lexicon article.
        !           108: 
        !           109: To format  a high-density, 5.25-inch  floppy disk in  drive B and
        !           110: write an MS-DOS file system onto it, use the following commands:
        !           111: 
        !           112: 
        !           113:  /etc/fdformat -av /dev/fha1
        !           114:        dos -F /dev/fha1
        !           115: 
        !           116: 
        !           117: To  write files  to your  newly created file  system, use  the -rr
        !           118: option to the ddooss command, as described above.
        !           119: 
        !           120: ***** COHERENT Format *****
        !           121: 
        !           122: If you  wish, you can create  a COHERENT file system  on a floppy
        !           123: disk,  mount it,  and manipulate  the files  on it  with standard
        !           124: COHERENT commands.  This is  a good illustration of the fact that
        !           125: to COHERENT a file system is a file system, whether it resides on
        !           126: a hard, a floppy disk, or any other mass-storage device.  You can
        !           127: use such  mountable floppy disks as an easy  method of backing up
        !           128: 
        !           129: 
        !           130: COHERENT Lexicon                                           Page 2
        !           131: 
        !           132: 
        !           133: 
        !           134: 
        !           135: floppy disks          Technical Information          floppy disks
        !           136: 
        !           137: 
        !           138: 
        !           139: files, or  as a flexible extension to any  other file system that
        !           140: you have currently mounted.
        !           141: 
        !           142: To create a  COHERENT file system on a floppy  disk, you must use
        !           143: the commands  ffddffoorrmmaatt, bbaaddssccaann, and mmkkffss.   Each is described in
        !           144: detail in its own Lexicon article.  The following example creates
        !           145: a COHERENT  file system on  a high-density, 3.5-inch  floppy disk
        !           146: placed in drive B:
        !           147: 
        !           148: 
        !           149:   /etc/fdformat -a /dev/fva1
        !           150: /etc/badscan -v -o proto /dev/fva1 2880
        !           151:   /etc/mkfs /dev/fva1 proto
        !           152:            rm proto
        !           153: 
        !           154: 
        !           155: In this  example, command  ffddffoorrmmaatt formatted the  disk.  bbaaddssccaann
        !           156: then scanned  the disk for any bad blocks,  and wrote its results
        !           157: into file  pprroottoo. Finally, command mmkkffss reads  pprroottoo and used its
        !           158: contents to create a COHERENT file system on the disk.
        !           159: 
        !           160: Now that the  file system is created on the  disk, you must mount
        !           161: it.  While it is  customary to mount file systems under directory
        !           162: `/', you are  not required to do it.  For  example, if your login
        !           163: identifier is ffrreedd and  your home directory is /uussrr/ffrreedd, you can
        !           164: mount  the  floppy  disk's file  system  onto  a subdirectory  of
        !           165: /uussrr/ffrreedd and so make the floppy disk, in effect, an extension of
        !           166: your home directory.  The following command does this for the 3.-
        !           167: 5-inch disk we formatted in the above example:
        !           168: 
        !           169: 
        !           170: /etc/mount /dev/fva1 /usr/fred/temp
        !           171: 
        !           172: 
        !           173: Now, all  files you copy into  directory /uussrr/ffrreedd/tteemmpp using the
        !           174: ccpp command  will be written directly onto  the floppy disk.  Note
        !           175: that you  may need to  log in as  the superuser rroooott  and use the
        !           176: command cchhoowwnn  to ensure that  ffrreedd owns the file  system on that
        !           177: floppy disk.  For details on cchhoowwnn, see its entry in the Lexicon.
        !           178: 
        !           179: One last  point about mounting file systems:  before you remove a
        !           180: COHERENT-formatted floppy disk from its drive, you mmuusstt first use
        !           181: the command  /eettcc/uummoouunntt to unmount  its file system.   If you do
        !           182: not, all data that COHERENT has stored in its buffers will not be
        !           183: written to the  disk, and may be lost.  Worse,  if you remove one
        !           184: COHERENT disk and  insert another without unmounting the old disk
        !           185: and mounting  the new  one, COHERENT will  write all data  in its
        !           186: buffers  onto the  new  disk without  regard for  what that  disk
        !           187: contains; in  all likelihood, this will trash  the file system on
        !           188: the new disk and render  its data unreadable.  So, the lesson is:
        !           189: _a_l_w_a_y_s _u_n_m_o_u_n_t  _a _f_l_o_p_p_y _d_i_s_k _b_e_f_o_r_e _y_o_u  _r_e_m_o_v_e _i_t!.  To unmount
        !           190: the floppy disk we used in our previous example, use the command:
        !           191: 
        !           192: 
        !           193: 
        !           194: 
        !           195: 
        !           196: COHERENT Lexicon                                           Page 3
        !           197: 
        !           198: 
        !           199: 
        !           200: 
        !           201: floppy disks          Technical Information          floppy disks
        !           202: 
        !           203: 
        !           204: 
        !           205:     /etc/umount /dev/fva1
        !           206: 
        !           207: 
        !           208: By the  way, that's  not a misprint:  the command is  uummoouunntt, not
        !           209: ``unmount''.
        !           210: 
        !           211: ***** Raw Format *****
        !           212: 
        !           213: Finally, COHERENT lets you use  floppy disks in their raw form as
        !           214: a backup medium, much as you  would use magnetic tape on a larger
        !           215: computer.  You  must first use  the command ffddffoorrmmaatt  with the -vv
        !           216: option to format  the floppy disks you will be  using; it is also
        !           217: wise to label  and number the disks so you  can keep them in some
        !           218: reasonable order.   Then you can use  any of COHERENT's archiving
        !           219: utilities, such as uussttaarr, ccppiioo, or dduummpp to archive directories or
        !           220: entire file  systems onto the disks.  It  is recommended that you
        !           221: format a generous supply of floppy disks before you begin; if you
        !           222: run short  of disks while archiving your files,  you will have to
        !           223: abort, format more disks, and begin again.  For details on how to
        !           224: use the  archiving programs, see their  respective entries in the
        !           225: Lexicon.
        !           226: 
        !           227: ***** See Also *****
        !           228: 
        !           229: bbaaddssccaann, ccppiioo,  ddooss, dduummpp,  ffdd, ffddffoorrmmaatt, mmkkffss,  mmoouunntt, tteecchhnniiccaall
        !           230: iinnffoorrmmaattiioonn, uummoouunntt, uussttaarr
        !           231: 
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        !           262: COHERENT Lexicon                                           Page 4
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