> -----Original Message----- > From: Steve Lamb [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] > Sent: Sunday, August 16, 1998 1:05 PM > To: Debian-user > Cc: recipient list not shown; @[EMAIL PROTECTED] > Subject: Formatting a file with mkfs.msdos > > > Does anyone have a clue as how to format a file with mkfs.msdos? > >
Steve, I'm not sure what you are doing here, so more detail would be useful. But, let me make a few comments, which may help answer the question anyway. Anything with "mkfs" as part of its name generally refers to a tool used to build a filesystem. In the DOS world this is what "format" does. Files, on the other hand, "live" in the file system. So using an "mkfs" on a file does not quite make sense (unless you are using the word "file" in the VERY general sense of an item in the file system, which, in UNIX style systems, includes the names refering to disk devices). If this is the case, then you need to be looking at files found in /dev like sda1 or fd0. You will need to check your /dev directory and documentation for the correct names for hard disks on your system. Usually, fd0 will work for any floppy (autodetects the size). Also, you will want to look at the documentation for "mkfs" which probably calls "mkfs.msdos" for you. The command line may be simpler. If this is what you need and this is not enough information, let me know. I do not have the doc at hand so would have to check it out this evening. Another possibility is that you are in fact working on files (text or data). There is the concept of a "DOS format text file" since DOS systems use both a carriage return and a line feed at the end of lines where UNIX based systems only use a line feed. DOS files also use a ^Z (control-Z) character in the file to mark the end of the file. There are two commands to change text files back and forth, dos2unix and unix2dos (I believe these are part of the Linux OS environments in general, so should be in Debian Linux). This should NOT be done to binary (data) files since it will destroy the structure expectd by whatever probram made the file. If you do not have the two utilities I can supply you with some alternatives (assuming you have sed and tr available). --- Bob McGowan i'm: bob dot mcgowan at artecon dot com
