Section 8: mkdosfs
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MKDOSFS(8) MKDOSFS(8)
NAME
mkdosfs - create an MS-DOS file system under Linux
SYNOPSIS
mkdosfs [ -A ] [ -b sector-of-backup ] [ -c ] [ -l file-
name ] [ -C ] [ -f number-of-FATs ] [ -F FAT-size ] [ -i
volume-id ] [ -I ] [ -m message-file ] [ -n volume-name ]
[ -r root-dir-entries ] [ -R number-of-reserved-sectors ]
[ -s sectors-per-cluster ] [ -S logical-sector-size ] [ -v
] device [ block-count ]
DESCRIPTION
mkdosfs is used to create an MS-DOS file system under
Linux on a device (usually a disk partition). device is
the special file corresponding to the device (e.g
/dev/hdXX). block-count is the number of blocks on the
device. If omitted, mkdosfs automatically determiness the
file system size.
OPTIONS
-A Use Atari variation of the MS-DOS filesystem. This
is default if mkdosfs is run on an Atari, then this
option turns off Atari format. There are some dif-
ferences when using Atari format: If not directed
otherwise by the user, mkdosfs will always use 2
sectors per cluster, since GEMDOS doesn't like
other values very much. It will also obey the max-
imum number of sectors GEMDOS can handle. Larger
filesystems are managed by raising the logical sec-
tor size. Under Atari format, an Atari-compatible
serial number for the filesystem is generated, and
a 12 bit FAT is used only for filesystems that have
one of the usual floppy sizes (720k, 1.2M, 1.44M,
2.88M), a 16 bit FAT otherwise. This can be over-
ridden with the -F option. Some PC-specific boot
sector fields aren't written, and a boot message
(option -m) is ignored.
-b sector-of-backup
Selects the location of the backup boot sector for
FAT32. Default depends on number of reserved sec-
tors, but usually is sector 6. The backup must be
within the range of reserved sectors.
-c Check the device for bad blocks before creating the
file system.
-C Create the file given as device on the command
line, and write the to-be-created file system to
it. This can be used to create the new file system
in a file instead of on a real device, and to avoid
using dd in advance to create a file of appropriate
size. With this option, the block-count must be
given, because otherwise the intended size of the
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file system wouldn't be known. The file created is
a sparse file, which actually only contains the
meta-data areas (boot sector, FATs, and root direc-
tory). The data portions won't be stored on the
disk, but the file nevertheless will have the cor-
rect size. The resulting file can be copied later
to a floppy disk or other device, or mounted
through a loop device.
-f number-of-FATs
Specify the number of file allocation tables in the
file system. The default is 2. Currently the
Linux MS-DOS file system does not support more than
2 FATs.
-F FAT-size
Specifies the type of file allocation tables used
(12, 16 or 32 bit). If nothing is specified,
mkdosfs will automatically select between 12 and 16
bit, whatever fits better for the filesystem size.
32 bit FAT (FAT32 format) must (still) be selected
explicitly if you want it.
-i volume-id
Sets the volume ID of the newly created filesystem;
volume-id is a 32-bit hexadecimal number (for exam-
ple, 2e24ec82). The default is a number which
depends on the filesystem creation time.
-I Normally you are not allowed to use any 'full'
fixed disk devices. mkdosfs will complain and tell
you that it refuses to work. This is different
when usind MO disks. One doesn't always need par-
titions on MO disks. The filesytem can go directly
to the whole disk. Under other OSes this is known
as the 'superfloppy' format.
This switch will force mkdosfs to work properly.
-l filename
Read the bad blocks list from filename.
-m message-file
Sets the message the user receives on attempts to
boot this filesystem without having properly
installed an operating system. The message file
must not exceed 418 bytes once line feeds have been
converted to carriage return-line feed combina-
tions, and tabs have been expanded. If the file-
name is a hyphen (-), the text is taken from stan-
dard input.
-n volume-name
Sets the volume name (label) of the filesystem.
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The volume name can be up to 11 characters long.
The default is no label.
-r root-dir-entries
Select the number of entries available in the root
directory. The default is 112 or 224 for floppies
and 512 for hard disks.
-R number-of-reserved-sectors
Select the number of reserved sectos. With FAT32
format at least 2 reserved sectors are needed, the
default is 32. Otherwise the default is 1 (only the
boot sector).
-s sectors-per-cluster
Specify the number of disk sectors per cluster.
Must be a power of 2, i.e. 1, 2, 4, 8, ... 128.
-S logical-sector-size
Specify the number of bytes per logical sector.
Must be a power of 2 and greater than or equal to
512, i.e. 512, 1024, 2048, 4096, 8192, 16384, or
32768.
-v Verbose execution.
BUGS
None are know at the moment. If you find any, please
report it them to . Please include the
version number (Yggdrasil 0.3a).
AUTHOR
Dave Hudson - ; modified by Peter
Anvin . Fixes and additions by Roman
Hodek for
Debian/GNU Linux.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
mkdosfs is based on code from mke2fs (written by Remy Card
- ) which is itself based on mkfs (writ-
ten by Linus Torvalds - ).
SEE ALSO
dosfsck(8), mkfs(8)
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