System Architecture: All/General
RedHat Release: All/General
FAQ Category: Hardware Issues
Modification Date: Dec 3, 1998
How do I use a floppy with Linux
There are **MANY** ways to use the floppy but I prefer to use a DOS formatted disk (I can buy the preformatted). I can exchange them with friends or coworkers who use Windows without any special software, etc. Note, Windows/VFAT sometimes messes up the filename and the VFAT file system does not have permissions nor the full compliment of features available with most UNIX file systems like ext2. Note also that if the file is a text file, you may want to copy using mcopy -t filename a: to add DOS's CRLF (for more info, RTFM mcopy and unix2dos). Some common methods: 1) Using a DOS floppy, save the file to your local directory When you are finished editing, copy it to the DOS format floppy using mtools (mcopy file.txt a:) RTFM mcopy [I usually use this method] [Note, you can create a tarball and save it, preserving permissions dates, filenames, etc.: tar cvzf arch.tgz files... ; mcopy arch.tgz a:] 2) Using a DOS floppy, mount it either as root or a user: as root: mkdir /floppy [or wherever you want the floppy to appear] edit /etc/fstab or use linuxconf add: /dev/fd0 /floppy vfat user,noauto,rw 0 0 - device is /dev/fd0 - mount point is /floppy - type is vfat (DOS with long file names) - user,noauto,rw means users can mount, don't mount during boot and disk is read/write - 0 0 -- RTFM mount as user: mount /floppy edit and save to /floppy umount /floppy [you could create a directory /a: or similar, but I use /floppy or /floppy0 plus /floppy1] 3) Format your floppies as ext2 or minix and mount/unmount them. This is best for UNIX only floppies as it has full file permissions, etc. use mke2fs to format the floppy add the mount info as in item 2, but say "ext2" instead of "vfat" mount and unmount as in item 2. As a user, you can use the nice GUI "usermount" to mount the floppy. It has buttons to mount/unmount ALL devices that have "user" in /etc/fstab.
RTFM mtools, mke2fs, Hardware-HOWTO, fdformat, usermount, fstab