how to reformat floppies that have data on them

[Rick Stevens]

On Thu, 2007-04-12 at 19:40 +0200, Nigel Henry wrote:
> On Thursday 12 April 2007 19:02, Rick Stevens wrote:
> > On Thu, 2007-04-12 at 13:43 +0200, Nigel Henry wrote:
> > > On Thursday 12 April 2007 01:17, Rick Stevens wrote:
> > > > On Wed, 2007-04-11 at 15:10 -0800, Fred Erickson wrote:
> > > > > On Wed, 2007-04-11 at 19:29 +0200, Nigel Henry wrote:
> > > > > > On Tuesday 10 April 2007 23:06, Mikkel L. Ellertson wrote:
> > > > > > > Rick Stevens wrote:
> > > > > > > > For an MS-DOS floppy,
> > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > >  #fdformat /dev/fd0H1440;mformat a:
> > > > > > >
> > > > > > > I don't think that udev creates anything but the /dev/fd0 for the
> > > > > > > first floppy with the default settings...
> > > > > > >
> > > > > > > Mikkel
> > > > > >
> > > > > > Ok. Udev doesn't come into my equation, as I'm doing this on FC2.
> > > > > >
> > > > > > I've now got a floppy formatted with a low level format using the
> > > > > > following.
> > > > > >
> > > > > > [root at localhost djmons]# fdformat -n /dev/fd0H1440
> > > > > > Double-sided, 80 tracks, 18 sec/track. Total capacity 1440 kB.
> > > > > > Formatting ... done
> > > > > >
> > > > > > Anyone can help with the correct syntax for using mformat to add a
> > > > > > filesystem to this low level formatted floppy.
> > > > > >
> > > > > > Very frustrating.
> > > > > >
> > > > > > Nigel.
> > > > >
> > > > > Would one of the mkfs variants work for this?
> > > >
> > > > You could try
> > > >
> > > >  mkfs -t msdos /dev/fd0
> > > >  mkdosfs /dev/fd0
> > >
> > > Sorry that this problem is dragging on. I tried mkfs, and mkdosfs, but
> > > got errors again, as with mformat. See below.
> > >
> > > Any further ideas folks.
> >
> > I'm at a loss.  Just for giggles, can you try a "mke2fs /dev/fd0" and
> > see if you can put an ext2 filesystem on one of the floppies.  If not,
> > then I have to think there's a problem with the media or the drive
> > itself.  In that case, try a fresh box of floppies first, then try to
> > get a new drive.  Here in the US a new floppy drive is only about $10US.
> > I don't know what they are in France.
> 
> Yeh. I'm going into just for giggles mode now. See below.
> 
> [root at localhost djmons]# /sbin/mke2fs /dev/fd0
> mke2fs 1.35 (28-Feb-2004)
> Warning: could not erase sector 2: Attempt to write block from filesystem 
> resulted in short write
> Filesystem label=
> OS type: Linux
> Block size=1024 (log=0)
> Fragment size=1024 (log=0)
> 184 inodes, 1440 blocks
> 72 blocks (5.00%) reserved for the super user
> First data block=1
> 1 block group
> 8192 blocks per group, 8192 fragments per group
> 184 inodes per group
> 
> Warning: could not read block 0: Attempt to read block from filesystem 
> resulted in short read
> Warning: could not erase sector 0: Attempt to write block from filesystem 
> resulted in short write
> Writing inode tables: done
> Writing superblocks and filesystem accounting information:
> Warning, had trouble writing out superblocks.done
> 
> This filesystem will be automatically checked every 31 mounts or
> 180 days, whichever comes first.  Use tune2fs -c or -i to override.
> [root at localhost djmons]#

Oh, yeah, you have some bad floppies!  Nasty!
> 
> Still can't get hold of floppies, as my supplier hasn't any. Disk drive is as 
> good as new (recently replaced), and I also tried all this stuff on the other 
> machine that had Debian running, with exactly the same results. I'll have to 
> try and find another source for the floppies.

Yup.  Remember, floppies are a contact media, meaning that the head
actually "rubs" on the media.  They wear out and the oxide does lose
some permeability over time.

> > > btw. I looked at the other machine, that I thought I could put the
> > > firewall on, and that won't boot from cdrom either.
> >
> > You're certain the CD was burned correctly?
> 
> I looked in the BIOS of the other machine, and the only boot options are 
> floppy, or harddrive.

Oh.  Old BIOS.

> I know what's going to happen here. The problem will be solved on the very day 
> that the new floppies arrive in the mail.

Heheheheh!  Yeah, you need floppies to update the BIOS on the old
machine, you have no floppies, and you can't install the OS until you
update the BIOS.  Welcome to Catch 22!  It's like having a can with the
can opener inside the can.

> Unfortunately, I've only got a bike. Otherwise I could drive a few Miles, and 
> pick some up at a computer store.

Sorry 'bout that.  I live in Southern California.  You can't survive
without a car (well, you can, but it's miserable!)

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- Rick Stevens, Principal Engineer             rstevens at internap.com -
- VitalStream, Inc.                       http://www.vitalstream.com -
-                                                                    -
-             To iterate is human, to recurse, divine.               -
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