mkfp(1M)                                                              mkfp(1M)


NAME
     mkfp - construct a FAT (MSDOS) or HFS (MACINTOSH) filesystem

SYNOPSIS
     mkfp [ options ] special

DESCRIPTION
     mkfp is a formatting/partitioning utility that can be used to create DOS
     and HFS file systems on devices such as floppy, floptical, SuperDisk
     (LS-120), SyQuest, Jaz, Zip and hard drives.  It also works on PC Cards.

     mkfp is capable of creating single DOS partitions on floppies and
     floptical disks as well as multiple DOS partitions on other forms of
     media.  On the other hand, mkfp can only create single HFS partitions
     spanning entire disks.  mkfp can NOT be used to manipulate existing
     partitions on disk.  Invocation of mkfp will destroy all existing data on
     disk and perform a complete reformat.  Please use this tool with care.

OPTIONS
     -t[[dos|fat] | [hfs|mac]]
          Specifies the target file system. This utility supports two types of
          file systems with four options.  dos and fat are synonyms in
          representing MSDOS FAT file systems while mac and hfs are synonyms
          in representing MACINTOSH HFS file systems.  Note: This option does
          not work correctly for FAT filesystems on high density floppies when
          used in a SuperDrive (LS-120).


     -p[size[k|m]][:label]
          Requests a partition to be created with a specified size and label.
          If size is not specified, a single partition is created spanning the
          entire disk.  If label is not specified, "Untitled" is used as the
          default label. Each individual partition that is to be created is
          specified using a separate -p argument on the command line.  The
          first three DOS partitions created will have indices 1, 2, 3 and
          subsequent ones will be numbered 5 and upwards, consistent with the
          convention used by mount_dos. The default size is in bytes, but it
          can be flagged as kilobytes or megabytes, with k or m suffixes. mkfp
          will round up partition sizes to ensure that they are cylinder
          aligned.


     -y   Suppresses messages from appearing on stdout. Does not prompt user
          before creating partitions. Use this option with care.


     -x   Performs low level formatting of floppies/floptical disks. This
          option does not work with other forms of media such as hard-drives,
          SuperDisk (LS-120), SyQuest, Jaz, PC Cards or Zip drives.  To
          perform low level formatting of such devices, please use utilities
          present on PCs and Macs.


NOTE
     To format floppies or floptical disks, use special files of the form:
     /dev/rdsk/fds*d*

     Earlier versions of mkfp chose the size of a file system on a floppy or
     floptical disk based on the special file specified.  mkfp now uses a READ
     CAPACITY command to size the disk.  To override the default size, use the
     -p option.


     To format PC Cards, use special files of the form: /dev/rdsk/dks?d?vol
     and /dev/rdsk/dks?d?l?vol


     To format Jaz, Zip, SyQuest, Magneto-optical  and hard drives, use
     special files of the form: /dev/rdsk/dks?d?vol


     mkfp puts a partition table and a single HFS partition that fills the
     disk onto any disk bigger than 21 megabytes.  mkfp is incapable of
     creating multiple HFS partitions on a single disk.


EXAMPLES
     To high level format and place a dos partition on a floppy or a floptical
     drive, that's present at controller 0, scsi id 3, using default label:

     mkfp -t dos /dev/rdsk/fds0d3.3.5hi


     To high level format and place a hfs partition on a floppy or a floptical
     drive, that's present at controller 0, scsi id 3, using default label:

     mkfp -t hfs /dev/rdsk/fds0d3.3.5hi


     To low level format and place a dos partition on a floppy drive, that is
     present at controller 0, scsi id 3, with label FOO :

     mkfp -t dos -x -p:"FOO" /dev/rdsk/fds0d3.3.5hi


     To high level format and place a dos partition on a non-floppy drive that
     is present at controller 0, scsi id 5, with label FOO :

     mkfp -t dos -p:"FOO" /dev/rdsk/dks0d5vol


     To high level format and place a hfs partition on a non-floppy drive that
     is present at controller 0, scsi id 5, with label FOO :


     mkfp -t hfs -p:"FOO" /dev/rdsk/dks0d5vol


     To high level format and place 2 dos partitions, of size 10Mb and 20Mb ,
     on a non-floppy drive that is present at controller 0, scsi id 5, with
     labels FOO and BAR :

     mkfp -t dos -p10m:"FOO" -p20m:"BAR" /dev/rdsk/dks0d5vol


SEE ALSO
     fpck(1M).


                                                                        Page 3