floppycontrol(1) floppycontrol(1) Name floppycontrol - floppy driver configuration utility Note This manpage has been automatically generated from fdutils's texinfo documentation. However, this process is only approximative, and some items, such as crossreferences, footnotes and indices are lost in(1,8) this translation process. Indeed, this items have no appropriate represen- tation in(1,8) the manpage format. Moreover, only the items specific to each command have been translated, and the general information about fdutils has been dropped in(1,8) the manpage version. Thus I strongly advise you to use the original texinfo doc. * To generate a printable copy from the texinfo doc, run the fol- lowing commands: ./configure; make dvi; dvips fdutils.dvi * To generate a html copy, run: ./configure; make html A premade html can be found at: `http://www.tux.org/pub/knaff/fdutils' * To generate an info(1,5,n) copy (browsable using emacs' info(1,5,n) mode), run: ./configure; make info(1,5,n) The texinfo doc looks most pretty when printed or as html. Indeed, in(1,8) the info(1,5,n) version(1,3,5) certain examples are difficult to read(2,n,1 builtins) due to the quoting conventions used in(1,8) info. Description floppycontrol [-p] [--pollstate] [--printfdstate] [-a operation-abort-threshold] [-c read-track-threshold] [-r recalibrate-threshold] [-R reset-threshold] [-e reporting-threshold] [-f] [-x] [-d drive][-F] [-T] [-reset condition] [--debug] [--nodebug] [--messages] [--nomessages] [--broken_dcl] [--working_dcl] [--inverted_dcl] [--no_inverted_dcl] [--silent_dcl_clear] [--noisy_dcl_clear] [-ccmos-type] [-hlt hlt] [-hut hut] [-srt srt] [-o spindown] [-u spinup] [-s select-delay] [-rps rotations-per-second] [-O spindown-offset] [-track max-tracks] [-timeout seconds] [-C check-interval] [-n native-format] [-autodetect autodetection-sequence] [-P] [--clrwerror] [--printwerror] [-h] The floppycontrol program is used to configure the floppy driver. General Options -h --help Print a help screen. -d drive --drive drive Selects the drive to configure. The default is drive 0 (`/dev/fd0'). One time(1,2,n) actions The following floppycontrol options don't set(7,n,1 builtins) a configuration parame- ter, but perform a one-time action. They are available to anybody who has write(1,2) access(2,5) to the drive -f --flush Flushes (throws away) the dirty data buffers associated with this drive. -x --eject Ejects the disk out of the drive (Sparc). The dirty buffers are first committed to disk before ejecting it. Fails if(3,n) the disk is mounted. --reset condition Resets the FDC under condition . Condition may be one of the following: 0 resets the FDC only if(3,n) a reset(1,7,1 tput) is needed anyways, 1 resets the FDC also if(3,n) a raw(3x,7,8,3x cbreak) command has been performed since the last reset(1,7,1 tput), and 2 resets the FDC unconditionally. This command may be needed after some failed raw(3x,7,8,3x cbreak) commands (see section fdrawcmd). -F --formatend Issues an end format ioctl. This might be needed after exiting a fdformat in(1,8) an unclean way. superformat is not subject to this. Printing current settings -T --type Print out the drive name of a floppy device. This is used by the MAKEFLOPPIES script. The drive name is a letter (describing the drive type) followed by the capacity of the format in(1,8) bytes. The letter is E for 3.5 ED drives, H for 3.5 HD drives, D for 3.5 DD drives, h for 5.25 HD drives and d for 5.25 DD drives. The drive type letter corresponds to the oldest drive type supporting the format of this device node (not necessarily the type of the drive refered by this node.) For the generic format nodes (/dev/fd0 et al.) the name of "native format" of the drive is printed, and for the default formats, if(3,n) a generic format has been redefined, its name becomes (null). -p --print Prints out the configuration of the drive. The names of the var- ious fields are the same as the names of the option to set(7,n,1 builtins) them, see below. -P --printstate Prints out the cached internal state of the driver. The first line lists various attributes about the disk: drive present disk present disk writable These are only updated when the drive is accessed. spinup is the time(1,2,n) when the motor became switched on for the last time. select(2,7,2 select_tut) is the time(1,2,n) when the drive became selected for the last time(1,2,n) first_read is the time(1,2,n) when the first read(2,n,1 builtins) request after the last spin up completed. probed_fmt is the the index of the autodetected format in(1,8) the autodetection sequence for this drive. cylinder is the cylinder where the drive head currently sits. If this number is negative, it has the following meaning: * -1 means that the driver doesn't know, but the controller does (a seek command must be issued). * -2 means that the controller doesn't know either, but is sure that it not beyond the 80th track. The drive needs a recalibration. * -3 means that the head may be beyond the 80th track. The drive needs two successive recalibra- tions, because at each recalibration, the con- troller only issues 80 move(3x,7,3x curs_move) head commands per recalibration. maxblock is the highest block number that has been read. maxcylinder is a boolean which is set(7,n,1 builtins) when a sector that is not on cylinder 0/head 0 has been read. These are used for smart invalidation of the buffer cache on geometry change. The buffer cache of the drive is only invali- dated on geometry change when this change actually implies that a block that has already been read(2,n,1 builtins) changes position. This optimization is useful for mtools(1,5) which changes the geometry after reading the boot sector. generation is roughly the number of disk changes noticed since boot. Disk changes are noticed if(3,n) the disk is actually changed, or if(3,n) a flush(8,n) command is issued and for both cases if(3,n) any I/O to/from the disk occurs. (i.e. if(3,n) you insert several disks, but don't do any I/O to them, the generation num- ber stays the same.) refs is number of open(2,3,n) file(1,n) descriptors for this drive. It is always at least one, because floppycontrol's file(1,n) descriptor is counted too. device is format type (as derived from the minor device number) which is currently being used. last_checked is date (in(1,8) jiffies) when the drive was last checked for a disk change, and a disk was actually in(1,8) the drive. --pollstate Polls the drive and then prints out the internal state of the driver.(--Printstate only prints out the cached information without actually polling the drive for a disk change.) --printfdcstate Prints out the state of the controller where the target drive is attached to. spec1 spec2 are the current values of those registers. rate is current data transfer rate rawcmd is true if(3,n) a raw(3x,7,8,3x cbreak) command has been executed since the last reset. If this is the case, a reset(1,7,1 tput) will be triggered when a drive on the same FDC is next opened. dor is the value of the digital output register. The 4 high bits are a bit mask describing which drives are spinning, the 2 low bits describe the selected drive, bit 2 is used to reset(1,7,1 tput) the FDC, and bit 3 describes whether this FDC has hold of the interrupt and the DMA. If you have two FDCs, bit 3 is only set(7,n,1 builtins) on one of them. version(1,3,5) is the version(1,3,5) of the FDC. See `linux/include/linux/fdreg.h' for a listing of the FDC version(1,3,5) numbers. reset(1,7,1 tput) is true if(3,n) a reset(1,7,1 tput) needs to be issued to the FDC before processing the next request. need_configure is true if(3,n) this FDC needs configuration by the FD_CONFIG- URE command. has_fifo is set(7,n,1 builtins) if(3,n) the FDC understands the FD_CONFIGURE command. perp_mode describes the perpendicular mode of this FDC. 0 is non- perpendicular mode, 2 is HD perpendicular mode, 3 is ED perpendicular mode, and 1 is unknown. address is the address of the first I/O port of the FDC. Nor- mally, this is 0x3f0 for the first FDC and 0x370 for the second. Drive type configuration and autodetection The following options handle the different available drive types, such as double density vs. high density vs. extra density drives, and 5 1/4 drives vs 3 1/2 drives. Usually the drive type is stored in(1,8) a non- volatile memory, called CMOS, under the form of an integer ranging from 1 to 6. Different drive types are able to handle and autodetect different for- mats (different autodetection lists). They also have different "native format name". The native format is the "usual" format with the highest capacity supported by the drive. (For example 720KB on a double density 3 1/2 drive, and 1.2MB on a high density 5 1/4 drive.) These settings are only changeable by the super user. -c cmos-type --cmos cmos-type Set the virtual(5,8) CMOS type of the floppy drive. This is useful if(3,n) * the physical CMOS type is wrong (this may happen with BIOSes which use a non-standard mapping), * you have more than two drives (the physical CMOS may only describe up to two drives). * you have a BIOS that allows swapping drives A: and B: for DOS. Right now, this CMOS parameter is not used by the kernel, except for feeding it back to other applications (for instance superformat, flop- pymeter or MAKEFLOPPIES). It is also possible to supply a virtual(5,8) CMOS type with the cmos boot option (see section Boottime configuration). If possible, I recommend you use the boot option, rather than floppy- control, because the boot option also sets any parameters derived from the CMOS type, such as the autodetection list and the native format, whereas floppycontrol does not. -A autodetect-seq --autodetect autodetect-seq Set the autodetection sequence (see section Autodetection) The autodetection sequence is a comma-separated list of at most eight format descriptors. Each format descriptor is a format number optionally followed by the letter t. For drive 0, the format number is the minor device number divided by 4. The autodetection sequence is used by the driver to find out the format of a newly inserted disk. The formats are tried one after the other, and the first matching format is retained. To test the format, the driver tries to read(2,n,1 builtins) the first sector on the first track on the first head when t is not given, or the whole first track when t is given. Thus, autodetection cannot detect the number of tracks. However, this information is contained in(1,8) the boot sector, which is now accessible. The boot sector can then be used by mtools(1,5) to configure the correct number of tracks. Example: 7,4,24t,25 means to try out the formats whose minor device numbers are 28 (1.44M), 16 (720KB), 96 (1.76MB), and 100 (1.92MB), in(1,8) this order. For the 1.76MB format, try to read(2,n,1 builtins) the whole track at once. Reading the whole track at once allows you to distinguish between two formats which differ only in(1,8) the number of sectors. (The format with the most sectors must be tried first.) If you use mtools(1,5), you do not need this feature, as mtools(1,5) can figure out the number of sectors without any help from the floppy driver, by looking at the boot sector. Reading the whole track at once may also speed up the first read(2,n,1 builtins) by 200 milliseconds. However, if(3,n), on the other hand, you try to read(2,n,1 builtins) a disk which has less(1,3) sectors than the format, you lose some time. I suggest that you put the most often used format in(1,8) the first place (barring other constraints), as each format that is tried out takes 400 milliseconds. -n native-format --native_format native-format Set the native format of this drive. The native format of a drive is the highest standard format available for this drive. (Example: For a 5 1/4 HD drive it is the usual 1200K format.) This is format is used to make up the format name for the generic device (which is the name of the native format). This drive name is read(2,n,1 builtins) back from the kernel by the MAKEFLOPPIES script which uses it to decide which device nodes to create. Configuration of the disk change line --broken_dcl Assumes that the disk change line of the drive is broken. If this is set(7,n,1 builtins), disk changes are assumed to happen whenever the device node is first opened. The physical disk change line is ignored. This option should be used if(3,n) disk changes are either not detected at all, or if(3,n) disk changes are detected when the disk was actually not changed. If this option fixes the problem, I'd recommend that you try to trace(3x,n,3x _nc_tracebits) the root cause of the problem. Indeed, this options results in(1,8) reduced performance due to spu- rious cache flushes. The following hardware problems may lead to a bad disk change line: * If the floppy cable is not inserted straight, or if(3,n) it is kinked, the disk change line is likely to suffer, as it is on the edge of the cable. Gently press on both con- nectors of the cable (drive and controller) to insure that all wires make contact. Visually inspect the cable, and if(3,n) it shows obvious traces of damage, get a new one. * On some drives, the locations disk change line may be chosen by jumper. Make sure that your floppy controller and your drive agree on which line is the disk change line. * Some older drives (mostly double density 5 1/4 drives) don't have a disk change line. In this case, you have no choice other than to leave the broken_dcl option on. --working_dcl Assumes that the disk change line works all right. Switching from broken to working may lead to unexpected results after the first disk change. --inverted_dcl Assumes that this disk drive uses an inverted disk change line. Apparently this is the case for IBM thinkpads. --no_inverted_dcl Assumes that this drive follows the standard convention for the disk change line. --noisy_dcl_clear Switches off silent disk change line clearing for this drive. Timing Parameters This section describes how to configure drive timings. To set(7,n,1 builtins) these parameters, you need superuser privileges. All times are in(1,8) "jiffy" units(1,7) (10 milliseconds), unless otherwise specified. --hlt hlt Set the head load(7,n) time(1,2,n) (in(1,8) microseconds) for this floppy drive. The head load(7,n) time(1,2,n) describes how long the floppy controller waits after seeking or changing heads before allowing access(2,5) to a track. --hut hut Set the head unload time(1,2,n) (in(1,8) microseconds) for this floppy drive. The head unload time(1,2,n) describes how long the floppy con- troller waits after an access(2,5) before directing its attention to the other head, or before seeking. --srt srt Set the step rate (in(1,8) microseconds) for this floppy drive. The step rate describes how long the drive head stays on one cylin- der when seeking. Setting this value to low (too fast seeks) may make seeks fail, because the motor doesn't follow fast enough. -u spinup-time --spinup spinup-time Set the spinup time(1,2,n) of the floppy drive. In order to do read(2,n,1 builtins) or write(1,2) to the floppy disk, it must spin. It takes a certain time(1,2,n) for the motor to reach enough speed to read(2,n,1 builtins) or write. This parameter describes this time. The floppy driver doesn't try to access(2,5) the drive before the spinup time(1,2,n) has elapsed. With modern controllers, you may set(7,n,1 builtins) this time(1,2,n) to zero, as the controller itself enforces the right delay. -o spindown-time --spindown spindown-time Set the spindown time(1,2,n) of this floppy drive. The motor is not stopped immediately after the operation completes, because there might be more operations following. The spindown time(1,2,n) is the time(1,2,n) the driver waits before switching off the motor. -O spindown-offset --spindown_offset spindown-offset Set the spindown offset of this floppy drive. This parameter is used to set(7,n,1 builtins) the position in(1,8) which the disk stops. This is useful to minimize the next access(2,5) time. (If the first sector is just near the head at the very moment at which the disk has reached enough speed, you win 200 milliseconds against the most unfavor- able situation). This is done by clocking the time(1,2,n) where the first I/O request completes, and using this time(1,2,n) to calculate the current position of the disk. -s select-delay --select_delay select-delay Set the select(2,7,2 select_tut) delay of this floppy drive. This is the delay that the driver waits after selecting the drive and issuing the first command to it. For modern controllers/drives, you may set(7,n,1 builtins) this to zero. -C check-interval --checkfreq check-interval Set the maximal disk change check interval. The disk change line is checked whenever a read(2,n,1 builtins) or write(1,2) to the device is issued, and it has not been checked for more than interval jiffies. Debugging messages This subsection describes how to switch(1,n) the available debugging mes- sages on and off. --debug Switch debugging output on. The debugging information includes timing information. This option might be useful to fine-tune the timing options for your local setups. (But for most normal pur- poses, the default values are good enough.) --nodebug Switch debugging output off. --messages Print informational messages after autodetection, geometry parameter clearing and dma over/underruns. --nomessages Don't print informational messages after these events. Error Handling Options The following options configure the behavior of the floppy driver in(1,8) case of read(2,n,1 builtins)/write(1,2) errors. They may be used by any user who has write(1,2) privileges for the drive. Whenever the floppy driver encounters an error(8,n), a retry counter is incremented. If the value of this counter gets(3,n) bigger than the thresholds described below, the corresponding actions are performed at the next retry. The counter is reset(1,7,1 tput) when the read(2,n,1 builtins) or write(1,2) finally terminates, whether successfully or not. -a operation-abort-trshld --abort operation-abort-trshld Tell the floppy driver to stop trying to read(2,n,1 builtins)/write(1,2) a sector after operation-abort-trshld retries, and signal(2,7) the I/O error(8,n) to the user. -t read-track-trshld --readtrack read-track-trshld Tell the floppy driver to switch(1,n) from track-reading mode to sec- tor-at-a-time-mode after read-track-trshld retries. -r recalibrate-trshld --recalibrate recalibrate-trshld Tell the floppy driver to recalibrate the drive after recali- brate-trshld retries. -R reset-treshold --reset reset-threshold Tell the floppy driver to reset(1,7,1 tput) the controller after reset- threshold retries. After a controller reset(1,7,1 tput), the floppy driver also recalibrates all drives connected to that controller. -e error-report-trshld --reporting error-report-trshld Tell the floppy driver to start printing error(8,n) messages to the console(4,n) after error-report-trshld retries. Write error(8,n) reporting Due to the buffer cache, write(1,2) errors cannot always be reported to the writing user program as soon as the write(1,2) system call returns. Indeed, the actual writing may take place much later. If a write(1,2) error(8,n) is encountered, the floppy driver stores information about it in(1,8) its per drive write(1,2) error(8,n) structure. This write(1,2) error(8,n) structure stays until explicitly cleared. It can for example be queried by a backup program which wants to make sure that the data has been written successfully. --clrwerror Clears the write(1,2) error(8,n) structure. --printwerror Prints the contents of the write(1,2) error(8,n) structure: write_errors is a count of how many write(1,2) errors have occurred since the structure was last cleared. badness is the maximal number of retries that were needed to com- plete an operation (reads, writes and formats). first_error_sector is where the first (chronologically) write(1,2) error(8,n) occurred. first_error_generation is the disk change generation in(1,8) which did the first write(1,2) error(8,n) occurred. The disk change generation is a number which is incremented at each disk change. last_error_sector and last_error_generation are similar. Other drive configuration options This subsection lists per drive configuration options, which don't fit in(1,8) any other category. They are available only to the superuser: --tracks max-tracks Set the maximal numbers of physical tracks that this drive may handle. If you have a drive which is only able to handle 80 tracks (making strange noises when you try to format or read(2,n,1 builtins) a disk with more than 80 tracks), use this option to prevent unprivileged users(1,5) of damaging your drive by repeatedly reading disks with more than 80 tracks. If you trust your users(1,5) and your disks, you don't need this. With most drives you don't need to worry anyways. See section More cylinders, for details. -i sector-interleave --interleave sector-interleave Set the number of sectors beyond which sector interleaving will be used. This option will only be used by the FDFMTTRK ioctl. The fdformat command, which is now considered obsolete, uses FDFMTTRK ioctl, but superformat does not. See Also Fdutils' texinfo doc fdutils-5.4 02jun00 floppycontrol(1)