.\" -*- nroff -*-
.TH MKFS 8 "Jun 1995" "Version 1.9"
+.TH MKFS "8" "June 2011" "util-linux" "System Administration Utilities"
.SH NAME
mkfs \- build a Linux file system
.SH SYNOPSIS
+.SH SYNOPSIS
.B mkfs
-.RB [ \-V ]
-.RB [ \-t
-.IR fstype ]
-.RI [ fs-options ]
-.I filesys
-.RI [ blocks ]
+[\fIoptions\fR] [\fI-t type fs-options\fR] \fIdevice \fR[\fIsize\fR]
.SH DESCRIPTION
.B mkfs
is used to build a Linux file system on a device, usually
.IR /dev/hda1 ,
.IR /dev/sdb2 ),
or a regular file that shall contain the file system.
-.I blocks
-is the number of blocks to be used for the file system.
+The
+.I size
+argument is the number of blocks to be used for the file system.
.PP
The exit code returned by
.B mkfs
further details.
.SH OPTIONS
.TP
-.B -V
-Produce verbose output, including all file system-specific commands
-that are executed.
-Specifying this option more than once inhibits execution of any
-file system-specific commands.
-This is really only useful for testing.
-.TP
-.BI -t \ fstype
+\fB\-t\fR, \fB\-\-type\fR=\fITYPE\fR
Specifies the type of file system to be built.
If not specified, the default file system type
(currently ext2) is used.
Although not guaranteed, the following options are supported
by most file system builders.
.TP
-.B -c
-Check the device for bad blocks before building the file system.
+\fB\-V\fR, \fB\-\-verbose\fR
+Produce verbose output, including all file system-specific commands
+that are executed.
+Specifying this option more than once inhibits execution of any
+file system-specific commands.
+This is really only useful for testing.
.TP
-.BI -l \ filename
-Read the bad blocks list from
-.I filename
+\fB\-V\fR, \fB\-\-version\fR
+output version information and exit
+\fB\-V\fR will output version information only when it is the
+only parameter.
.TP
-.B -v
-Produce verbose output.
+\fB\-h\fR, \fB\-\-help\fR
+Display help and exit.
.SH BUGS
All generic options must precede and not be combined with
file system-specific options.
Some file system-specific programs do not support the
-.I -v
+.I -V
(verbose) option, nor return meaningful exit codes.
Also, some file system-specific programs do not automatically
detect the device size and require the