Making a copy on a floppy disk from the Introduction to Linux by OnWorks

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In the next section we'll discuss local backup devices.

9.2. Moving your data to a backup device

9.2.1. Making a copy on a floppy disk

9.2.1.1. Formatting the floppy

On most Linux systems, users have access to the floppy disk device. The name of the device may vary depending on the size and number of floppy drives, contact your system admin if you are unsure. On some systems, there will likely be a link /dev/floppy pointing to the right device, probably /dev/fd0 (the auto-detecting floppy device) or /dev/fd0H1440 (set for 1,44MB floppies).

fdformat is the low-level floppy disk formatting tool. It has the device name of the floppy disk as an option.

fdformat will display an error when the floppy is write-protected.

emma:~> fdformat /dev/fd0H1440

Double-sided, 80 tracks, 18 sec/track. Total capacity 1440 kB. Formatting ... done

Verifying ... done emma:~>

emma:~> fdformat /dev/fd0H1440

Double-sided, 80 tracks, 18 sec/track. Total capacity 1440 kB. Formatting ... done

Verifying ... done emma:~>

The mformat command (from the mtools package) is used to create DOS-compatible floppies which can then be accessed using the mcopy, mdir and other m-commands.

Graphical tools are also available.

Figure 9-1. Floppy formatter

After the floppy is formatted, it can be mounted into the file system and accessed as a normal, be it small, directory, usually via the /mnt/floppy entry.

Should you need it, install the mkbootdisk utility, which makes a floppy from which the current system can boot.

9.2.1.2. Using the dd command to dump data

The dd command can be used to put data on a disk, or get it off again, depending on the given input and output devices. An example:

gaby:~> dd if=images-without-dir.tar.gz of=/dev/fd0H1440

98+1 records in

98+1 records out

gaby~> dd if=/dev/fd0H1440 of=/var/tmp/images.tar.gz

2880+0 records in

2880+0 records out

gaby:~> ls /var/tmp/images*

/var/tmp/images.tar.gz