.\"
.\" Modified, Sun Feb 26 15:00:02 1995, faith@cs.unc.edu
.\"
-.TH FD 4 2010-08-29 "Linux" "Linux Programmer's Manual"
+.TH FD 4 2014-05-10 "Linux" "Linux Programmer's Manual"
.SH NAME
fd \- floppy disk device
.SH CONFIGURATION
Floppy drives are block devices with major number 2.
Typically they
are owned by
-.I root.floppy
+root:floppy
(i.e., user root, group floppy) and have
either mode 0660 (access checking via group membership) or mode 0666
(everybody has access).
In the following device tables, \fIn\fP represents the
drive number.
.PP
-\fBWarning: If you use formats with more tracks
+\fBWarning: if you use formats with more tracks
than supported by your drive, you may cause it mechanical damage.\fP
Trying once if more tracks than the usual 40/80 are supported should not
damage it, but no warranty is given for that.
Drive-independent device files which automatically detect the media
format and capacity:
.TS
-l l.
-Name Base minor #
+l c
+l c.
+Name Base
+ minor #
_
\fBfd\fP\fIn\fP 0
.TE
.PP
-5.25 inch double density device files:
+5.25 inch double-density device files:
.TS
-lw(1i) l l l l l.
-Name Capac. Cyl. Sect. Heads Base minor #
+lw(1i) l l l l c
+lw(1i) c c c c c.
+Name Capacity Cyl. Sect. Heads Base
+ KiB minor #
_
-\fBfd\fP\fIn\fP\fBd360\fP 360K 40 9 2 4
+\fBfd\fP\fIn\fP\fBd360\fP 360 40 9 2 4
.TE
.PP
-5.25 inch high density device files:
+5.25 inch high-density device files:
.TS
-lw(1i) l l l l l.
-Name Capac. Cyl. Sect. Heads Base minor #
+lw(1i) l l l l c
+lw(1i) c c c c c.
+Name Capacity Cyl. Sect. Heads Base
+ KiB minor #
_
-\fBfd\fP\fIn\fP\fBh360\fP 360K 40 9 2 20
-\fBfd\fP\fIn\fP\fBh410\fP 410K 41 10 2 48
-\fBfd\fP\fIn\fP\fBh420\fP 420K 42 10 2 64
-\fBfd\fP\fIn\fP\fBh720\fP 720K 80 9 2 24
-\fBfd\fP\fIn\fP\fBh880\fP 880K 80 11 2 80
-\fBfd\fP\fIn\fP\fBh1200\fP 1200K 80 15 2 8
-\fBfd\fP\fIn\fP\fBh1440\fP 1440K 80 18 2 40
-\fBfd\fP\fIn\fP\fBh1476\fP 1476K 82 18 2 56
-\fBfd\fP\fIn\fP\fBh1494\fP 1494K 83 18 2 72
-\fBfd\fP\fIn\fP\fBh1600\fP 1600K 80 20 2 92
+\fBfd\fP\fIn\fP\fBh360\fP 360 40 9 2 20
+\fBfd\fP\fIn\fP\fBh410\fP 410 41 10 2 48
+\fBfd\fP\fIn\fP\fBh420\fP 420 42 10 2 64
+\fBfd\fP\fIn\fP\fBh720\fP 720 80 9 2 24
+\fBfd\fP\fIn\fP\fBh880\fP 880 80 11 2 80
+\fBfd\fP\fIn\fP\fBh1200\fP 1200 80 15 2 8
+\fBfd\fP\fIn\fP\fBh1440\fP 1440 80 18 2 40
+\fBfd\fP\fIn\fP\fBh1476\fP 1476 82 18 2 56
+\fBfd\fP\fIn\fP\fBh1494\fP 1494 83 18 2 72
+\fBfd\fP\fIn\fP\fBh1600\fP 1600 80 20 2 92
.TE
.PP
-3.5 inch double density device files:
+3.5 inch double-density device files:
.TS
-lw(1i) l l l l l.
-Name Capac. Cyl. Sect. Heads Base minor #
+lw(1i) l l l l c
+lw(1i) c c c c c.
+Name Capacity Cyl. Sect. Heads Base
+ KiB minor #
_
-\fBfd\fP\fIn\fP\fBu360\fP 360K 80 9 1 12
-\fBfd\fP\fIn\fP\fBu720\fP 720K 80 9 2 16
-\fBfd\fP\fIn\fP\fBu800\fP 800K 80 10 2 120
-\fBfd\fP\fIn\fP\fBu1040\fP 1040K 80 13 2 84
-\fBfd\fP\fIn\fP\fBu1120\fP 1120K 80 14 2 88
+\fBfd\fP\fIn\fP\fBu360\fP 360 80 9 1 12
+\fBfd\fP\fIn\fP\fBu720\fP 720 80 9 2 16
+\fBfd\fP\fIn\fP\fBu800\fP 800 80 10 2 120
+\fBfd\fP\fIn\fP\fBu1040\fP 1040 80 13 2 84
+\fBfd\fP\fIn\fP\fBu1120\fP 1120 80 14 2 88
.TE
.PP
-3.5 inch high density device files:
+3.5 inch high-density device files:
.TS
-lw(1i) l l l l l.
-Name Capac. Cyl. Sect. Heads Base minor #
+lw(1i) l l l l c
+lw(1i) c c c c c.
+Name Capacity Cyl. Sect. Heads Base
+ KiB minor #
_
-\fBfd\fP\fIn\fP\fBu360\fP 360K 40 9 2 12
-\fBfd\fP\fIn\fP\fBu720\fP 720K 80 9 2 16
-\fBfd\fP\fIn\fP\fBu820\fP 820K 82 10 2 52
-\fBfd\fP\fIn\fP\fBu830\fP 830K 83 10 2 68
-\fBfd\fP\fIn\fP\fBu1440\fP 1440K 80 18 2 28
-\fBfd\fP\fIn\fP\fBu1600\fP 1600K 80 20 2 124
-\fBfd\fP\fIn\fP\fBu1680\fP 1680K 80 21 2 44
-\fBfd\fP\fIn\fP\fBu1722\fP 1722K 82 21 2 60
-\fBfd\fP\fIn\fP\fBu1743\fP 1743K 83 21 2 76
-\fBfd\fP\fIn\fP\fBu1760\fP 1760K 80 22 2 96
-\fBfd\fP\fIn\fP\fBu1840\fP 1840K 80 23 2 116
-\fBfd\fP\fIn\fP\fBu1920\fP 1920K 80 24 2 100
+\fBfd\fP\fIn\fP\fBu360\fP 360 40 9 2 12
+\fBfd\fP\fIn\fP\fBu720\fP 720 80 9 2 16
+\fBfd\fP\fIn\fP\fBu820\fP 820 82 10 2 52
+\fBfd\fP\fIn\fP\fBu830\fP 830 83 10 2 68
+\fBfd\fP\fIn\fP\fBu1440\fP 1440 80 18 2 28
+\fBfd\fP\fIn\fP\fBu1600\fP 1600 80 20 2 124
+\fBfd\fP\fIn\fP\fBu1680\fP 1680 80 21 2 44
+\fBfd\fP\fIn\fP\fBu1722\fP 1722 82 21 2 60
+\fBfd\fP\fIn\fP\fBu1743\fP 1743 83 21 2 76
+\fBfd\fP\fIn\fP\fBu1760\fP 1760 80 22 2 96
+\fBfd\fP\fIn\fP\fBu1840\fP 1840 80 23 2 116
+\fBfd\fP\fIn\fP\fBu1920\fP 1920 80 24 2 100
.TE
.PP
-3.5 inch extra density device files:
+3.5 inch extra-density device files:
.TS
-lw(1i) l l l l l.
-Name Capac. Cyl. Sect. Heads Base minor #
+lw(1i) l l l l c
+lw(1i) c c c c c.
+Name Capacity Cyl. Sect. Heads Base
+ KiB minor #
_
-\fBfd\fP\fIn\fP\fBu2880\fP 2880K 80 36 2 32
-\fBfd\fP\fIn\fP\fBCompaQ\fP 2880K 80 36 2 36
-\fBfd\fP\fIn\fP\fBu3200\fP 3200K 80 40 2 104
-\fBfd\fP\fIn\fP\fBu3520\fP 3520K 80 44 2 108
-\fBfd\fP\fIn\fP\fBu3840\fP 3840K 80 48 2 112
+\fBfd\fP\fIn\fP\fBu2880\fP 2880 80 36 2 32
+\fBfd\fP\fIn\fP\fBCompaQ\fP 2880 80 36 2 36
+\fBfd\fP\fIn\fP\fBu3200\fP 3200 80 40 2 104
+\fBfd\fP\fIn\fP\fBu3520\fP 3520 80 44 2 108
+\fBfd\fP\fIn\fP\fBu3840\fP 3840 80 48 2 112
.TE
.SH DESCRIPTION
\fBfd\fP special files access the floppy disk drives in raw mode.
.BR floppycontrol (1)
manual page.
.SH FILES
-/dev/fd*
+.I /dev/fd*
.SH NOTES
The various formats permit reading and writing many types of disks.
However, if a floppy is formatted with an inter-sector gap that is too small,
performance may drop,
to the point of needing a few seconds to access an entire track.
To prevent this, use interleaved formats.
-
+.PP
It is not possible to
read floppies which are formatted using GCR (group code recording),
which is used by Apple II and Macintosh computers (800k disks).
-
+.PP
Reading floppies which are hard sectored (one hole per sector, with
the index hole being a little skewed) is not supported.
This used to be common with older 8-inch floppies.