From: gt8134b@prism.gatech.EDU (Howlin' Bob) Subject: Re: dosemu floppy formatting Date: 30 Jun 1993 23:55:40 GMT
In <20t6nu$4bo@senator-bedfellow.MIT.EDU> teffta@engr.dnet.ge.com (Andrew Tefft) writes:
>I always have trouble using fdformat (every time I try it something
>different happens; only sometimes does it work) so I decided tonight
>to try using dosemu and format some disks. I was surprised to
>see that it took only about 5 seconds to format a disk! The drive
That's because dosemu doesn't do "hard" formatting; it simply
places the data on the (hopefully) pre-formatted disk. You must
use fdformat beforehand.
>ran for a few more seconds afterwards, but I'm not sure if it was
>actually any longer than the drive normally runs after accessing it.
This is probably syncing. dosemu uses a buffered device for the
floppy access, as Linux doesn't have raw devices.
>Is this too good to be true? What is actually happening here?
Yes. Your best bet is to try to sort out your problems with fdformat;
I'd be glad to help by mail if you wish (send me a description of your
configuration and the symptoms you see).
--
Robert Sanders
Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta Georgia, 30332
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