1 This is mtools.info, produced by makeinfo version 6.3 from mtools.texi.
3 This manual is for Mtools (version 4.0.19, September 2018), which is a
4 collection of tools to allow Unix systems to manipulate MS-DOS files.
6 Copyright (C) 2007, 2009 Free Software Foundation, Inc. Copyright
7 (C) 1996-2005,2007-2011,2013 Alain Knaff.
9 Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this
10 document under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License,
11 Version 1.3 or any later version published by the Free Software
12 Foundation; with no Invariant Sections, with no Front-Cover Texts,
13 and with no Back-Cover Texts. A copy of the license is included in
14 the section entitled "GNU Free Documentation License".
17 * Mtools: (mtools). Mtools: utilities to access DOS disks in Unix.
21 File: mtools.info, Node: Top, Next: Location, Prev: (dir), Up: (dir)
26 This is mtools' documentation.
31 Mtools is a collection of tools to allow Unix systems to manipulate
32 MS-DOS files: read, write, and move around files on an MS-DOS file
33 system (typically a floppy disk). Where reasonable, each program
34 attempts to emulate the MS-DOS equivalent command. However, unnecessary
35 restrictions and oddities of DOS are not emulated. For instance, it is
36 possible to move subdirectories from one subdirectory to another.
38 Mtools is sufficient to give access to MS-DOS file systems. For
39 instance, commands such as 'mdir a:' work on the 'a:' floppy without any
40 preliminary mounting or initialization (assuming the default
41 '/etc/mtools.conf' works on your machine). With mtools, one can change
42 floppies too without unmounting and mounting.
44 This manual is for Mtools (version 4.0.19, September 2018), which is
45 a collection of tools to allow Unix systems to manipulate MS-DOS files.
47 Copyright (C) 2007, 2009 Free Software Foundation, Inc. Copyright
48 (C) 1996-2005,2007-2011,2013 Alain Knaff.
50 Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this
51 document under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License,
52 Version 1.3 or any later version published by the Free Software
53 Foundation; with no Invariant Sections, with no Front-Cover Texts,
54 and with no Back-Cover Texts. A copy of the license is included in
55 the section entitled "GNU Free Documentation License".
59 * Location:: Where to find mtools and early bug fixes
60 * Common features:: Common features of all mtools commands
61 * Configuration:: How to configure mtools for your environment
62 * Commands:: The available mtools commands
63 * Compiling mtools:: Architecture specific compilation flags
64 * Porting mtools:: Porting mtools to architectures which are not
67 * Command Index:: Command Index
68 * Variable Index:: Variable Index
69 * Concept Index:: Concept Index
72 File: mtools.info, Node: Location, Next: Common features, Prev: Top, Up: Top
77 Mtools can be found at the following places (and their mirrors):
78 http://ftp.gnu.org/gnu/mtools/mtools-4.0.19.tar.gz
79 http://mtools.linux.lu/mtools-4.0.19.tar.gz
80 ftp://www.tux.org/pub/knaff/mtools/mtools-4.0.19.tar.gz
81 ftp://ibiblio.unc.edu/pub/Linux/utils/disk-management/mtools-4.0.19.tar.gz
83 Before reporting a bug, make sure that it has not yet been fixed in
84 the Alpha patches which can be found at:
85 http://ftp.gnu.org/gnu/mtools/
86 http://mtools.linux.lu/
87 ftp://www.tux.org/pub/knaff/mtools
89 These patches are named 'mtools-'VERSION'-'DDMM'.taz', where version
90 stands for the base version, DD for the day and MM for the month. Due
91 to a lack of space, I usually leave only the most recent patch.
93 There is an mtools mailing list at mtools @ tux.org . Please send
94 all bug reports to this list. You may subscribe to the list by sending
95 a message with 'subscribe mtools @ tux.org' in its body to majordomo @
96 tux.org . (N.B. Please remove the spaces around the "@" both times. I
97 left them there in order to fool spambots.) Announcements of new mtools
98 versions will also be sent to the list, in addition to the Linux
99 announce newsgroups. The mailing list is archived at
100 http://lists.gnu.org/pipermail/info-mtools/
103 File: mtools.info, Node: Common features, Next: Configuration, Prev: Location, Up: Top
105 2 Common features of all mtools commands
106 ****************************************
110 * arguments:: What the command line parameters of mtools
112 * drive letters:: Which drives are defined by default
113 * directory:: Current working directory
114 * long names:: VFAT-style long filenames
115 * name clashes:: Name clash handling, and associated command
117 * case sensitivity:: Case sensitivity
118 * high capacity formats:: How to fit more data on your floppies
119 * exit codes:: Exit codes
120 * bugs:: Happens to everybody
123 File: mtools.info, Node: arguments, Next: drive letters, Prev: Common features, Up: Common features
125 2.1 Options and filenames
126 =========================
128 MS-DOS filenames are composed of a drive letter followed by a colon, a
129 subdirectory, and a filename. Only the filename part is mandatory, the
130 drive letter and the subdirectory are optional. Filenames without a
131 drive letter refer to Unix files. Subdirectory names can use either the
132 ''/'' or ''\'' separator. The use of the ''\'' separator or wildcards
133 requires the names to be enclosed in quotes to protect them from the
134 shell. However, wildcards in Unix filenames should not be enclosed in
135 quotes, because here we *want* the shell to expand them.
137 The regular expression "pattern matching" routines follow the
138 Unix-style rules. For example, ''*'' matches all MS-DOS files in lieu
139 of ''*.*''. The archive, hidden, read-only and system attribute bits
140 are ignored during pattern matching.
142 All options use the '-' (minus) as their first character, not '/' as
143 you'd expect in MS-DOS.
145 Most mtools commands allow multiple filename parameters, which
146 doesn't follow MS-DOS conventions, but which is more user-friendly.
148 Most mtools commands allow options that instruct them how to handle
149 file name clashes. *Note name clashes::, for more details on these.
150 All commands accept the '-V' flags which prints the version, and most
151 accept the '-v' flag, which switches on verbose mode. In verbose mode,
152 these commands print out the name of the MS-DOS files upon which they
153 act, unless stated otherwise. *Note Commands::, for a description of
154 the options which are specific to each command.
157 File: mtools.info, Node: drive letters, Next: directory, Prev: arguments, Up: Common features
162 The meaning of the drive letters depends on the target architectures.
163 However, on most target architectures, drive A is the first floppy
164 drive, drive B is the second floppy drive (if available), drive J is a
165 Jaz drive (if available), and drive Z is a Zip drive (if available). On
166 those systems where the device name is derived from the SCSI id, the Jaz
167 drive is assumed to be at SCSI target 4, and the Zip at SCSI target 5
168 (factory default settings). On Linux, both drives are assumed to be the
169 second drive on the SCSI bus (/dev/sdb). The default settings can be
170 changes using a configuration file (*note Configuration::).
172 The drive letter : (colon) has a special meaning. It is used to
173 access image files which are directly specified on the command line
174 using the '-i' options.
177 mcopy -i my-image-file.bin ::file1 ::file2 .
179 This copies 'file1' and 'file2' from the image file
180 ('my-image-file.bin') to the '/tmp' directory.
182 You can also supply an offset within the image file by including
183 '@@'OFFSET into the file name.
186 mcopy -i my-image-file.bin@@1M ::file1 ::file2 .
188 This looks for the image at the offset of 1M in the file, rather than
192 File: mtools.info, Node: directory, Next: long names, Prev: drive letters, Up: Common features
194 2.3 Current working directory
195 =============================
197 The 'mcd' command (*note mcd::) is used to establish the device and the
198 current working directory (relative to the MS-DOS file system),
199 otherwise the default is assumed to be 'A:/'. However, unlike MS-DOS,
200 there is only one working directory for all drives, and not one per
204 File: mtools.info, Node: long names, Next: name clashes, Prev: directory, Up: Common features
206 2.4 VFAT-style long file names
207 ==============================
209 This version of mtools supports VFAT style long filenames. If a Unix
210 filename is too long to fit in a short DOS name, it is stored as a VFAT
211 long name, and a companion short name is generated. This short name is
212 what you see when you examine the disk with a pre-7.0 version of DOS.
213 The following table shows some examples of short names:
215 Long name MS-DOS name Reason for the change
216 --------- ---------- ---------------------
217 thisisatest THISIS~1 filename too long
218 alain.knaff ALAIN~1.KNA extension too long
219 prn.txt PRN~1.TXT PRN is a device name
220 .abc ABC~1 null filename
221 hot+cold HOT_CO~1 illegal character
223 As you see, the following transformations happen to derive a short
225 * Illegal characters are replaced by underscores. The illegal
226 characters are ';+=[]',\"*\\<>/?:|'.
227 * Extra dots, which cannot be interpreted as a main name/extension
228 separator are removed
229 * A '~'N number is generated,
230 * The name is shortened so as to fit in the 8+3 limitation
232 The initial Unix-style file name (whether long or short) is also
233 called the "primary" name, and the derived short name is also called the
237 mcopy /etc/motd a:Reallylongname
238 Mtools creates a VFAT entry for Reallylongname, and uses REALLYLO as
239 a short name. Reallylongname is the primary name, and REALLYLO is the
241 mcopy /etc/motd a:motd
242 Motd fits into the DOS filename limits. Mtools doesn't need to
243 derivate another name. Motd is the primary name, and there is no
246 In a nutshell: The primary name is the long name, if one exists, or
247 the short name if there is no long name.
249 Although VFAT is much more flexible than FAT, there are still names
250 that are not acceptable, even in VFAT. There are still some illegal
251 characters left ('\"*\\<>/?:|'), and device names are still reserved.
253 Unix name Long name Reason for the change
254 --------- ---------- ---------------------
255 prn prn-1 PRN is a device name
256 ab:c ab_c-1 illegal character
258 As you see, the following transformations happen if a long name is
260 * Illegal characters are replaces by underscores,
261 * A '-'N number is generated,
264 File: mtools.info, Node: name clashes, Next: case sensitivity, Prev: long names, Up: Common features
269 When writing a file to disk, its long name or short name may collide
270 with an already existing file or directory. This may happen for all
271 commands which create new directory entries, such as 'mcopy', 'mmd',
272 'mren', 'mmove'. When a name clash happens, mtools asks you what it
273 should do. It offers several choices:
276 Overwrites the existing file. It is not possible to overwrite a
277 directory with a file.
279 Renames the newly created file. Mtools prompts for the new
282 Renames the newly created file. Mtools chooses a name by itself,
285 Gives up on this file, and moves on to the next (if any)
287 To chose one of these actions, type its first letter at the prompt.
288 If you use a lower case letter, the action only applies for this file
289 only, if you use an upper case letter, the action applies to all files,
290 and you won't be prompted again.
292 You may also chose actions (for all files) on the command line, when
296 Overwrites primary names by default.
298 Overwrites secondary names by default.
300 Renames primary name by default.
302 Renames secondary name by default.
304 Autorenames primary name by default.
306 Autorenames secondary name by default.
308 Skip primary name by default.
310 Skip secondary name by default.
312 Ask user what to do with primary name.
314 Ask user what to do with secondary name.
316 Note that for command line switches lower/upper differentiates
317 between primary/secondary name whereas for interactive choices,
318 lower/upper differentiates between just-this-time/always.
320 The primary name is the name as displayed in Windows 95 or Windows
321 NT: i.e. the long name if it exists, and the short name otherwise. The
322 secondary name is the "hidden" name, i.e. the short name if a long name
325 By default, the user is prompted if the primary name clashes, and the
326 secondary name is autorenamed.
328 If a name clash occurs in a Unix directory, mtools only asks whether
329 to overwrite the file, or to skip it.
332 File: mtools.info, Node: case sensitivity, Next: high capacity formats, Prev: name clashes, Up: Common features
334 2.6 Case sensitivity of the VFAT file system
335 ============================================
337 The VFAT file system is able to remember the case of the filenames.
338 However, filenames which differ only in case are not allowed to coexist
339 in the same directory. For example if you store a file called
340 LongFileName on a VFAT file system, mdir shows this file as
341 LongFileName, and not as Longfilename. However, if you then try to add
342 LongFilename to the same directory, it is refused, because case is
343 ignored for clash checks.
345 The VFAT file system allows to store the case of a filename in the
346 attribute byte, if all letters of the filename are the same case, and if
347 all letters of the extension are the same case too. Mtools uses this
348 information when displaying the files, and also to generate the Unix
349 filename when mcopying to a Unix directory. This may have unexpected
350 results when applied to files written using an pre-7.0 version of DOS:
351 Indeed, the old style filenames map to all upper case. This is
352 different from the behavior of the old version of mtools which used to
353 generate lower case Unix filenames.
356 File: mtools.info, Node: high capacity formats, Next: exit codes, Prev: case sensitivity, Up: Common features
358 2.7 high capacity formats
359 =========================
361 Mtools supports a number of formats which allow to store more data on
362 disk as usual. Due to different operating system abilities, these
363 formats are not supported on all operating systems. Mtools recognizes
364 these formats transparently where supported.
366 In order to format these disks, you need to use an operating system
367 specific tool. For Linux, suitable floppy tools can be found in the
368 'fdutils' package at the following locations~:
369 ftp://www.tux.org/pub/knaff/fdutils/.
370 ftp://ibiblio.unc.edu/pub/Linux/utils/disk-management/fdutils-*
372 See the manual pages included in that package for further detail: Use
373 'superformat' to format all formats except XDF, and use 'xdfcopy' to
378 * more sectors:: Putting more sectors per track on the disk
379 * bigger sectors:: Use bigger sectors to save header space
380 * 2m:: Use a standard first track
381 * XDF:: OS/2's eXtended density format
384 File: mtools.info, Node: more sectors, Next: bigger sectors, Prev: high capacity formats, Up: high capacity formats
389 The oldest method of fitting more data on a disk is to use more sectors
390 and more cylinders. Although the standard format uses 80 cylinders and
391 18 sectors (on a 3 1/2 high density disk), it is possible to use up to
392 83 cylinders (on most drives) and up to 21 sectors. This method allows
393 to store up to 1743K on a 3 1/2 HD disk. However, 21 sector disks are
394 twice as slow as the standard 18 sector disks because the sectors are
395 packed so close together that we need to interleave them. This problem
396 doesn't exist for 20 sector formats.
398 These formats are supported by numerous DOS shareware utilities such
399 as 'fdformat' and 'vgacopy'. In his infinite hubris, Bill Gate$
400 believed that he invented this, and called it 'DMF disks', or 'Windows
401 formatted disks'. But in reality, it has already existed years before!
402 Mtools supports these formats on Linux, on SunOS and on the DELL Unix
406 File: mtools.info, Node: bigger sectors, Next: 2m, Prev: more sectors, Up: high capacity formats
411 By using bigger sectors it is possible to go beyond the capacity which
412 can be obtained by the standard 512-byte sectors. This is because of
413 the sector header. The sector header has the same size, regardless of
414 how many data bytes are in the sector. Thus, we save some space by
415 using _fewer_, but bigger sectors. For example, 1 sector of 4K only
416 takes up header space once, whereas 8 sectors of 512 bytes have also 8
417 headers, for the same amount of useful data.
419 This method allows to store up to 1992K on a 3 1/2 HD disk.
421 Mtools supports these formats only on Linux.
424 File: mtools.info, Node: 2m, Next: XDF, Prev: bigger sectors, Up: high capacity formats
429 The 2m format was originally invented by Ciriaco Garcia de Celis. It
430 also uses bigger sectors than usual in order to fit more data on the
431 disk. However, it uses the standard format (18 sectors of 512 bytes
432 each) on the first cylinder, in order to make these disks easier to
433 handle by DOS. Indeed this method allows to have a standard sized boot
434 sector, which contains a description of how the rest of the disk should
437 However, the drawback of this is that the first cylinder can hold
438 less data than the others. Unfortunately, DOS can only handle disks
439 where each track contains the same amount of data. Thus 2m hides the
440 fact that the first track contains less data by using a "shadow FAT".
441 (Usually, DOS stores the FAT in two identical copies, for additional
442 safety. XDF stores only one copy, but tells DOS that it stores two.
443 Thus the space that would be taken up by the second FAT copy is saved.)
444 This also means that you should *never use a 2m disk to store anything
445 else than a DOS file system*.
447 Mtools supports these formats only on Linux.
450 File: mtools.info, Node: XDF, Prev: 2m, Up: high capacity formats
455 XDF is a high capacity format used by OS/2. It can hold 1840 K per
456 disk. That's lower than the best 2m formats, but its main advantage is
457 that it is fast: 600 milliseconds per track. That's faster than the 21
458 sector format, and almost as fast as the standard 18 sector format. In
459 order to access these disks, make sure mtools has been compiled with XDF
460 support, and set the 'use_xdf' variable for the drive in the
461 configuration file. *Note Compiling mtools::, and *note miscellaneous
462 variables::, for details on how to do this. Fast XDF access is only
463 available for Linux kernels which are more recent than 1.1.34.
465 Mtools supports this format only on Linux.
467 *Caution / Attention distributors*: If mtools is compiled on a Linux
468 kernel more recent than 1.3.34, it won't run on an older kernel.
469 However, if it has been compiled on an older kernel, it still runs on a
470 newer kernel, except that XDF access is slower. It is recommended that
471 distribution authors only include mtools binaries compiled on kernels
472 older than 1.3.34 until 2.0 comes out. When 2.0 will be out, mtools
473 binaries compiled on newer kernels may (and should) be distributed.
474 Mtools binaries compiled on kernels older than 1.3.34 won't run on any
478 File: mtools.info, Node: exit codes, Next: bugs, Prev: high capacity formats, Up: Common features
483 All the Mtools commands return 0 on success, 1 on utter failure, or 2 on
484 partial failure. All the Mtools commands perform a few sanity checks
485 before going ahead, to make sure that the disk is indeed an MS-DOS disk
486 (as opposed to, say an ext2 or MINIX disk). These checks may reject
487 partially corrupted disks, which might otherwise still be readable. To
488 avoid these checks, set the MTOOLS_SKIP_CHECK environmental variable or
489 the corresponding configuration file variable (*note global variables::)
492 File: mtools.info, Node: bugs, Prev: exit codes, Up: Common features
497 An unfortunate side effect of not guessing the proper device (when
498 multiple disk capacities are supported) is an occasional error message
499 from the device driver. These can be safely ignored.
501 The fat checking code chokes on 1.72 Mb disks mformatted with
502 pre-2.0.7 mtools. Set the environmental variable
503 MTOOLS_FAT_COMPATIBILITY (or the corresponding configuration file
504 variable, *note global variables::) to bypass the fat checking.
507 File: mtools.info, Node: Configuration, Next: Commands, Prev: Common features, Up: Top
509 3 How to configure mtools for your environment
510 **********************************************
515 This sections explains the syntax of the configurations files for
516 mtools. The configuration files are called '/etc/mtools.conf' and
517 '~/.mtoolsrc'. If the environmental variable 'MTOOLSRC' is set, its
518 contents is used as the filename for a third configuration file. These
519 configuration files describe the following items:
521 * Global configuration flags and variables
522 * Per drive flags and variables
526 * configuration file location:: Where mtools looks for its configuration files
527 * general syntax:: The layout of the configuration files
528 * default values:: Why you don't need a configuration file in most cases
529 * global variables:: Variables that are independent of the drive
530 * per drive variables:: Variables that are specific to a given drive
531 * parsing order:: Location of configuration files and parsing order
532 * old style configuration:: Backwards compatibility
535 File: mtools.info, Node: configuration file location, Next: general syntax, Prev: Configuration, Up: Configuration
537 3.2 Location of the configuration files
538 =======================================
540 '/etc/mtools.conf' is the system-wide configuration file, and
541 '~/.mtoolsrc' is the user's private configuration file.
543 On some systems, the system-wide configuration file is called
544 '/etc/default/mtools.conf' instead.
547 File: mtools.info, Node: general syntax, Next: default values, Prev: configuration file location, Up: Configuration
549 3.2.1 General configuration file syntax
550 ---------------------------------------
552 The configuration files is made up of sections. Each section starts
553 with a keyword identifying the section followed by a colon. Then follow
554 variable assignments and flags. Variable assignments take the following
557 Flags are lone keywords without an equal sign and value following
558 them. A section either ends at the end of the file or where the next
561 Lines starting with a hash ('#') are comments. Newline characters
562 are equivalent to whitespace (except where ending a comment). The
563 configuration file is case insensitive, except for item enclosed in
564 quotes (such as filenames).
567 File: mtools.info, Node: default values, Next: global variables, Prev: general syntax, Up: Configuration
572 For most platforms, mtools contains reasonable compiled-in defaults for
573 physical floppy drives. Thus, you usually don't need to bother with the
574 configuration file, if all you want to do with mtools is to access your
575 floppy drives. On the other hand, the configuration file is needed if
576 you also want to use mtools to access your hard disk partitions and
580 File: mtools.info, Node: global variables, Next: per drive variables, Prev: default values, Up: Configuration
585 Global flags may be set to 1 or to 0.
587 The following global flags are recognized:
590 If this is set to 1, mtools skips most of its sanity checks. This
591 is needed to read some Atari disks which have been made with the
592 earlier ROMs, and which would not be recognized otherwise.
593 'MTOOLS_FAT_COMPATIBILITY'
594 If this is set to 1, mtools skips the fat size checks. Some disks
595 have a bigger FAT than they really need to. These are rejected if
596 this option is not set.
598 If this is set to 1, mtools displays all-upper-case short filenames
599 as lowercase. This has been done to allow a behavior which is
600 consistent with older versions of mtools which didn't know about
603 If this is set to 1, mtools won't generate VFAT entries for
604 filenames which are mixed-case, but otherwise legal dos filenames.
605 This is useful when working with DOS versions which can't grok VFAT
606 long names, such as FreeDOS.
608 In a wide directory, prints the short name with a dot instead of
609 spaces separating the basename and the extension.
610 'MTOOLS_NAME_NUMERIC_TAIL'
611 If this is set to one (default), generate numeric tails for all
612 long names (~1). If set to zero, only generate numeric tails if
613 otherwise a clash would have happened.
614 'MTOOLS_TWENTY_FOUR_HOUR_CLOCK'
615 If 1, uses the European notation for times (twenty four hour
616 clock), else uses the UK/US notation (am/pm)
618 Example: Inserting the following line into your configuration file
619 instructs mtools to skip the sanity checks:
622 Global variables may also be set via the environment:
623 export MTOOLS_SKIP_CHECK=1
625 Global string variables may be set to any value:
627 The format used for printing dates of files. By default, is
631 File: mtools.info, Node: per drive variables, Next: parsing order, Prev: global variables, Up: Configuration
633 3.5 Per drive flags and variables
634 =================================
638 * general information:: What a drive description looks like
639 * location information:: Where is the drive data physically stored
640 * geometry description:: Describes the physical characteristics of
642 * open flags:: Flags passed to the open system call when the
644 * miscellaneous variables:: Variables which don't fit in either category
645 * miscellaneous flags:: Switch variables, which can be enabled or disabled
646 * multiple descriptions:: How to supply several descriptions for a
647 drive, to be tried one after the other.
650 File: mtools.info, Node: general information, Next: location information, Prev: per drive variables, Up: per drive variables
652 3.5.1 General information
653 -------------------------
655 Per drive flags and values may be described in a drive section. A drive
656 section starts with 'drive' "DRIVELETTER" :
658 Then follow variable-value pairs and flags.
660 This is a sample drive description:
662 file="/dev/fd0" use_xdf=1
665 File: mtools.info, Node: location information, Next: geometry description, Prev: general information, Up: per drive variables
667 3.5.2 Location information
668 --------------------------
670 For each drive, you need to describe where its data is physically stored
671 (image file, physical device, partition, offset).
674 The name of the file or device holding the disk image. This is
675 mandatory. The file name should be enclosed in quotes.
678 Tells mtools to treat the drive as a partitioned device, and to use
679 the given partition. Only primary partitions are accessible using
680 this method, and they are numbered from 1 to 4. For logical
681 partitions, use the more general 'offset' variable. The
682 'partition' variable is intended for removable media such as
683 Syquest disks, ZIP drives, and magneto-optical disks. Although
684 traditional DOS sees Syquest disks and magneto-optical disks as
685 'giant floppy disks' which are unpartitioned, OS/2 and Windows NT
686 treat them like hard disks, i.e. partitioned devices. The
687 'partition' flag is also useful DOSEMU hdimages. It is not
688 recommended for hard disks for which direct access to partitions is
689 available through mounting.
692 Describes where in the file the MS-DOS file system starts. This is
693 useful for logical partitions in DOSEMU hdimages, and for ATARI ram
694 disks. By default, this is zero, meaning that the file system
695 starts right at the beginning of the device or file.
698 File: mtools.info, Node: geometry description, Next: open flags, Prev: location information, Up: per drive variables
700 3.5.3 Disk Geometry Configuration
701 ---------------------------------
703 Geometry information describes the physical characteristics about the
704 disk. Its has three purposes:
707 The geometry information is written into the boot sector of the
708 newly made disk. However, you may also describe the geometry
709 information on the command line. *Note mformat::, for details.
711 On some Unixes there are device nodes which only support one
712 physical geometry. For instance, you might need a different node
713 to access a disk as high density or as low density. The geometry
714 is compared to the actual geometry stored on the boot sector to
715 make sure that this device node is able to correctly read the disk.
716 If the geometry doesn't match, this drive entry fails, and the next
717 drive entry bearing the same drive letter is tried. *Note multiple
718 descriptions::, for more details on supplying several descriptions
719 for one drive letter.
721 If no geometry information is supplied in the configuration file,
722 all disks are accepted. On Linux (and on SPARC) there exist device
723 nodes with configurable geometry ('/dev/fd0', '/dev/fd1' etc), and
724 thus filtering is not needed (and ignored) for disk drives.
725 (Mtools still does do filtering on plain files (disk images) in
726 Linux: this is mainly intended for test purposes, as I don't have
727 access to a Unix which would actually need filtering).
729 If you do not need filtering, but want still a default geometry for
730 mformatting, you may switch off filtering using the 'mformat_only'
733 If you want filtering, you should supply the 'filter' flag. If you
734 supply a geometry, you must supply one of both flags.
737 On devices that support it (usually floppy devices), the geometry
738 information is also used to set the initial geometry. This initial
739 geometry is applied while reading the boot sector, which contains
740 the real geometry. If no geometry information is supplied in the
741 configuration file, or if the 'mformat_only' flag is supplied, no
742 initial configuration is done.
744 On Linux, initial geometry is not really needed, as the
745 configurable devices are able to auto-detect the disk type
746 accurately enough (for most common formats) to read the boot
749 Wrong geometry information may lead to very bizarre errors. That's
750 why I strongly recommend that you add the 'mformat_only' flag to your
751 drive description, unless you really need filtering or initial geometry.
753 The following geometry related variables are available:
757 The number of cylinders. ('cylinders' is the preferred form,
758 'tracks' is considered obsolete)
760 The number of heads (sides).
762 The number of sectors per track.
764 Example: the following drive section describes a 1.44M drive:
769 cylinders=80 heads=2 sectors=18
772 The following shorthand geometry descriptions are available:
775 high density 3 1/2 disk. Equivalent to: 'fat_bits=12 cylinders=80
778 high density 5 1/4 disk. Equivalent to: 'fat_bits=12 cylinders=80
781 double density 3 1/2 disk. Equivalent to: 'fat_bits=12
782 cylinders=80 heads=2 sectors=9'
784 double density 5 1/4 disk. Equivalent to: 'fat_bits=12
785 cylinders=40 heads=2 sectors=9'
787 The shorthand format descriptions may be amended. For example, '360k
788 sectors=8' describes a 320k disk and is equivalent to: 'fat_bits=12
789 cylinders=40 heads=2 sectors=8'
792 File: mtools.info, Node: open flags, Next: miscellaneous variables, Prev: geometry description, Up: per drive variables
797 Moreover, the following flags are available:
800 All i/o operations are done synchronously
802 The device or file is opened with the O_NDELAY flag. This is
803 needed on some non-Linux architectures.
805 The device or file is opened with the O_EXCL flag. On Linux, this
806 ensures exclusive access to the floppy drive. On most other
807 architectures, and for plain files it has no effect at all.
810 File: mtools.info, Node: miscellaneous variables, Next: miscellaneous flags, Prev: open flags, Up: per drive variables
812 3.5.5 General Purpose Drive Variables
813 -------------------------------------
815 The following general purpose drive variables are available. Depending
816 to their type, these variables can be set to a string (precmd) or an
820 The number of FAT bits. This may be 12 or 16. This is very rarely
821 needed, as it can almost always be deduced from information in the
822 boot sector. On the contrary, describing the number of fat bits
823 may actually be harmful if you get it wrong. You should only use
824 it if mtools gets the auto-detected number of fat bits wrong, or if
825 you want to mformat a disk with a weird number of fat bits.
827 Describes the DOS code page used for short filenames. This is a
828 number between 1 and 999. By default, code page 850 is used. The
829 reason for this is because this code page contains most of the
830 characters that are also available in ISO-Latin-1. You may also
831 specify a global code page for all drives by using the global
832 'default_codepage' parameter (outside of any drive description).
833 This parameters exists starting at version 4.0.0
835 On some variants of Solaris, it is necessary to call 'volcheck -v'
836 before opening a floppy device, in order for the system to notice
837 that there is indeed a disk in the drive. 'precmd="volcheck -v"'
838 in the drive clause establishes the desired behavior.
841 This parameter represents a default block size to be always used on
842 this device. All I/O is done with multiples of this block size,
843 independently of the sector size registered in the file system's
844 boot sector. This is useful for character devices whose sector
845 size is not 512, such as for example CD-ROM drives on Solaris.
847 Only the 'file' variable is mandatory. The other parameters may be
848 left out. In that case a default value or an auto-detected value is
852 File: mtools.info, Node: miscellaneous flags, Next: multiple descriptions, Prev: miscellaneous variables, Up: per drive variables
854 3.5.6 General Purpose Drive Flags
855 ---------------------------------
857 A flag can either be set to 1 (enabled) or 0 (disabled). If the value
858 is omitted, it is enabled. For example, 'scsi' is equivalent to
862 Instruct mtools to not use locking on this drive. This is needed
863 on systems with buggy locking semantics. However, enabling this
864 makes operation less safe in cases where several users may access
865 the same drive at the same time.
868 When set to 1, this option tells mtools to use raw SCSI I/O instead
869 of the standard read/write calls to access the device. Currently,
870 this is supported on HP-UX, Solaris and SunOS. This is needed
871 because on some architectures, such as SunOS or Solaris, PC media
872 can't be accessed using the 'read' and 'write' system calls,
873 because the OS expects them to contain a Sun specific "disk label".
875 As raw SCSI access always uses the whole device, you need to
876 specify the "partition" flag in addition
878 On some architectures, such as Solaris, mtools needs root
879 privileges to be able to use the 'scsi' option. Thus mtools should
880 be installed setuid root on Solaris if you want to access Zip/Jaz
881 drives. Thus, if the 'scsi' flag is given, 'privileged' is
882 automatically implied, unless explicitly disabled by 'privileged=0'
884 Mtools uses its root privileges to open the device, and to issue
885 the actual SCSI I/O calls. Moreover, root privileges are only used
886 for drives described in a system-wide configuration file such as
887 '/etc/mtools.conf', and not for those described in '~/.mtoolsrc' or
891 When set to 1, this instructs mtools to use its setuid and setgid
892 privileges for opening the given drive. This option is only valid
893 for drives described in the system-wide configuration files (such
894 as '/etc/mtools.conf', not '~/.mtoolsrc' or '$MTOOLSRC').
895 Obviously, this option is also a no op if mtools is not installed
896 setuid or setgid. This option is implied by 'scsi=1', but again
897 only for drives defined in system-wide configuration files.
898 Privileged may also be set explicitly to 0, in order to tell mtools
899 not to use its privileges for a given drive even if 'scsi=1' is
902 Mtools only needs to be installed setuid if you use the
903 'privileged' or 'scsi' drive variables. If you do not use these
904 options, mtools works perfectly well even when not installed setuid
909 Instructs mtools to interpret the device name as a vold identifier
910 rather than as a filename. The vold identifier is translated into
911 a real filename using the 'media_findname()' and
912 'media_oldaliases()' functions of the 'volmgt' library. This flag
913 is only available if you configured mtools with the
914 '--enable-new-vold' option before compilation.
918 Consider the media as a word-swapped Atari disk.
921 If this is set to a non-zero value, mtools also tries to access
922 this disk as an XDF disk. XDF is a high capacity format used by
923 OS/2. This is off by default. *Note XDF::, for more details.
925 Tells mtools to use the geometry for this drive only for
926 mformatting and not for filtering.
929 Tells mtools to use the geometry for this drive both for
930 mformatting and filtering.
933 Tells mtools to connect to floppyd (*note floppyd::).
936 File: mtools.info, Node: multiple descriptions, Prev: miscellaneous flags, Up: per drive variables
938 3.5.7 Supplying multiple descriptions for a drive
939 -------------------------------------------------
941 It is possible to supply multiple descriptions for a drive. In that
942 case, the descriptions are tried in order until one is found that fits.
943 Descriptions may fail for several reasons:
945 1. because the geometry is not appropriate,
946 2. because there is no disk in the drive,
947 3. or because of other problems.
949 Multiple definitions are useful when using physical devices which are
950 only able to support one single disk geometry. Example:
951 drive a: file="/dev/fd0H1440" 1.44m
952 drive a: file="/dev/fd0H720" 720k
954 This instructs mtools to use /dev/fd0H1440 for 1.44m (high density)
955 disks and /dev/fd0H720 for 720k (double density) disks. On Linux, this
956 feature is not really needed, as the /dev/fd0 device is able to handle
959 You may also use multiple drive descriptions to access both of your
960 physical drives through one drive letter:
962 drive z: file="/dev/fd0"
963 drive z: file="/dev/fd1"
965 With this description, 'mdir z:' accesses your first physical drive
966 if it contains a disk. If the first drive doesn't contain a disk,
967 mtools checks the second drive.
969 When using multiple configuration files, drive descriptions in the
970 files parsed last override descriptions for the same drive in earlier
971 files. In order to avoid this, use the 'drive+' or '+drive' keywords
972 instead of 'drive'. The first adds a description to the end of the list
973 (i.e. it will be tried last), and the first adds it to the start of the
977 File: mtools.info, Node: parsing order, Next: old style configuration, Prev: per drive variables, Up: Configuration
979 3.6 Location of configuration files and parsing order
980 =====================================================
982 The configuration files are parsed in the following order:
983 1. compiled-in defaults
984 2. '/etc/mtools.conf'
986 4. '$MTOOLSRC' (file pointed by the 'MTOOLSRC' environmental variable)
988 Options described in the later files override those described in the
989 earlier files. Drives defined in earlier files persist if they are not
990 overridden in the later files. For instance, drives A and B may be
991 defined in '/etc/mtools.conf' and drives C and D may be defined in
992 '~/.mtoolsrc' However, if '~/.mtoolsrc' also defines drive A, this new
993 description would override the description of drive A in
994 '/etc/mtools.conf' instead of adding to it. If you want to add a new
995 description to a drive already described in an earlier file, you need to
996 use either the '+drive' or 'drive+' keyword.
999 File: mtools.info, Node: old style configuration, Prev: parsing order, Up: Configuration
1001 3.7 Backwards compatibility with old configuration file syntax
1002 ==============================================================
1004 The syntax described herein is new for version 'mtools-3.0'. The old
1005 line-oriented syntax is still supported. Each line beginning with a
1006 single letter is considered to be a drive description using the old
1007 syntax. Old style and new style drive sections may be mixed within the
1008 same configuration file, in order to make upgrading easier. Support for
1009 the old syntax will be phased out eventually, and in order to discourage
1010 its use, I purposefully omit its description here.
1013 File: mtools.info, Node: Commands, Next: Compiling mtools, Prev: Configuration, Up: Top
1018 This section describes the available mtools commands, and the command
1019 line parameters that each of them accepts. Options which are common to
1020 all mtools commands are not described here, *note arguments:: for a
1021 description of those.
1025 * floppyd:: floppy daemon to run on your X server box
1026 * floppyd_installtest:: small utility to check for the presence of floppyd
1027 * mattrib:: change MS-DOS file attribute flags
1028 * mbadblocks:: tests a floppy disk, and marks the bad blocks in the FAT
1029 * mcat:: same as cat. Only useful with floppyd.
1030 * mcd:: change MS-DOS directory
1031 * mclasserase:: erase memory card
1032 * mcopy:: copy MS-DOS files to/from Unix
1033 * mdel:: delete an MS-DOS file
1034 * mdeltree:: recursively delete an MS-DOS directory
1035 * mdir:: display an MS-DOS directory
1036 * mdu:: list space occupied by directory and its contents
1037 * mformat:: add an MS-DOS file system to a low-level formatted floppy disk
1038 * minfo:: get information about an MS-DOS file system.
1039 * mlabel:: make an MS-DOS volume label
1040 * mkmanifest:: makes a list of short name equivalents
1041 * mmd:: make an MS-DOS subdirectory
1042 * mmount:: mount an MS-DOS disk
1043 * mpartition:: create an MS-DOS as a partition
1044 * mrd:: remove an MS-DOS subdirectory
1045 * mmove:: move or rename an MS-DOS file or subdirectory
1046 * mren:: rename an existing MS-DOS file
1047 * mshortname:: shows the short name of a file
1048 * mshowfat:: shows the FAT map of a file
1049 * mtoolstest:: tests and displays the configuration
1050 * mtype:: display contents of an MS-DOS file
1051 * mzip:: zip disk specific commands
1054 File: mtools.info, Node: floppyd, Next: floppyd_installtest, Prev: Commands, Up: Commands
1059 'Floppyd' is used as a server to grant access to the floppy drive to
1060 clients running on a remote machine, just as an X server grants access
1061 to the display to remote clients. It has the following syntax:
1063 'floppyd' ['-d'] ['-l'] ['-s' PORT] ['-r' USER] ['-b' IPADDR] ['-x'
1064 DISPLAY] DEVICENAMES
1066 'floppyd' is always associated with an X server. It runs on the same
1067 machine as its X server, and listens on port 5703 and above.
1069 4.1.1 Authentication
1070 --------------------
1072 'floppyd' authenticates remote clients using the 'Xauthority' protocol.
1073 Xhost authentication is not supported. Each floppyd is associated with
1074 an X server. When a remote client attempts to connect to floppyd, it
1075 sends floppyd the X authority record corresponding to floppyd's X
1076 server. Floppyd in turn then tries to open up a connection to the X
1077 server in order to verify the authenticity of the xauth record. If the
1078 connection to the X server succeeds, the client is granted access.
1081 *Caution*: In order to make authentication work correctly, the local
1082 host should *not* be listed in the 'xhost' list of allowed hosts.
1083 Indeed, hosts listed in 'xhost' do not need a correct 'Xauthority'
1084 cookie to connect to the X server. As 'floppyd' runs on the same host
1085 as the X server, all its probe connection would succeed even for clients
1086 who supplied a bad cookie. This means that your floppy drive would be
1087 open to the world, i.e. a huge security hole. If your X server does
1088 not allow you to remove 'localhost:0' and ':0' from the 'xhost' list,
1089 you can prevent floppyd from probing those display names with the '-l'
1092 4.1.2 Command line options
1093 --------------------------
1096 Daemon mode. Floppyd runs its own server loop. Do not supply this
1097 if you start floppyd from 'inetd.conf'
1099 Port number for daemon mode. Default is 5703 + DISPLAYNUMBER.
1100 This flag implies daemon mode. For example, for display
1101 'hitchhiker:5', the port would be 5708.
1103 Bind address (for multi homed hosts). This flag implies daemon
1106 Run the server under as the given user
1108 X display to use for authentication. By default, this is taken
1109 from the 'DISPLAY' variable. If neither the 'x' attribute is
1110 present nor 'DISPLAY' is set, floppyd uses ':0.0'.
1112 DEVICENAMES is a list of device nodes to be opened. Default is
1113 '/dev/fd0'. Multiple devices are only supported on mtools versions
1116 4.1.3 Connecting to floppyd
1117 ---------------------------
1119 In order to use floppyd, add the flag 'remote' to the device description
1120 in your '~/.mtoolsrc' file. If the flag 'remote' is given, the 'file'
1121 parameter of the device description is taken to be a remote address.
1122 It's format is the following:
1123 HOSTNAME':'DISPLAYNUMBER['/'[BASEPORT]['/'DRIVE]]. When using this
1124 entry, mtools connects to port BASEPORT+DISPLAYNUMBER at HOSTNAME. By
1125 default BASEPORT is 5703. The drive parameter is to distinguish among
1126 multiple drives associated with a single display (only mtools versions
1127 more recent than 3.9.11)
1132 The following starts a floppy daemon giving access to '/dev/fd0',
1133 listening on the default port 5703, tied to the default X servers:
1137 Each of the following starts a floppy daemon giving access to
1138 '/dev/fd1', tied to the :1 local X servers, and listening on port 5704.
1139 We assume that the local host is named 'hitchhiker'.
1142 floppyd -d -x :1 -p 5704 /dev/fd0
1144 If you want to start floppyd by 'inetd' instead of running it as a
1145 daemon, insert the following lines into '/etc/services':
1147 floppyd-0 5703/tcp # floppy daemon for X server :0
1148 floppyd-1 5704/tcp # floppy daemon for X server :1
1150 And insert the following into '/etc/inetd.conf' (assuming that you
1151 have defined a user named floppy in your '/etc/passwd'):
1154 floppyd-0 stream tcp wait floppy /usr/sbin/floppyd floppyd /dev/fd0
1155 floppyd-1 stream tcp wait floppy /usr/sbin/floppyd floppyd -x :1 /dev/fd0
1157 Note that you need to supply the X display names for the second
1158 floppyd. This is because the port is opened by inetd.conf, and hence
1159 floppyd cannot know its number to interfere the display number.
1161 On the client side, insert the following into your '~/.mtoolsrc' to
1162 define a drive letter accessing floppy drive in your X terminal:
1163 drive x: file="$DISPLAY" remote
1165 If your X terminal has more than one drive, you may access the
1166 additional drives as follows:
1167 drive y: file="$DISPLAY//1" remote
1168 drive z: file="$DISPLAY//2" remote
1171 File: mtools.info, Node: floppyd_installtest, Next: mattrib, Prev: floppyd, Up: Commands
1173 4.2 Floppyd_installtest
1174 =======================
1176 'Floppyd_installtest' is used to check for the presence of a running
1177 floppyd daemon. This is useful, if you have a small front-end script to
1178 mtools, which decides whether to use floppyd or not.
1180 'floppyd_installtest' ['-f'] Connect-String
1182 If the '-f' option is specified, 'floppyd_installtest' does a full
1183 X-Cookie authentication and complains if this does not work.
1185 The connect-String has the format described in the floppyd-section:
1186 HOSTNAME':'DISPLAYNUMBER['/'BASEPORT]
1189 File: mtools.info, Node: mattrib, Next: mbadblocks, Prev: floppyd_installtest, Up: Commands
1194 'Mattrib' is used to change MS-DOS file attribute flags. It has the
1197 'mattrib' ['-a|+a'] ['-h|+h'] ['-r|+r'] ['-s|+s'] ['-/'] ['-p']
1198 ['-X'] MSDOSFILE [ MSDOSFILES ... ]
1200 'Mattrib' adds attribute flags to an MS-DOS file (with the ''+''
1201 operator) or remove attribute flags (with the ''-'' operator).
1203 'Mattrib' supports the following attribute bits:
1206 Archive bit. Used by some backup programs to indicate a new file.
1208 Read-only bit. Used to indicate a read-only file. Files with this
1209 bit set cannot be erased by 'DEL' nor modified.
1211 System bit. Used by MS-DOS to indicate a operating system file.
1213 Hidden bit. Used to make files hidden from 'DIR'.
1215 'Mattrib' supports the following command line flags:
1217 Recursive. Recursively list the attributes of the files in the
1220 Concise. Prints the attributes without any whitespace padding. If
1221 neither the "/" option is given, nor the MSDOSFILE contains a
1222 wildcard, and there is only one MS-DOS file parameter on the
1223 command line, only the attribute is printed, and not the filename.
1224 This option is convenient for scripts
1226 Replay mode. Outputs a series of mformat commands that will
1227 reproduce the current situation, starting from a situation as left
1228 by untarring the MS-DOS file system. Commands are only output for
1229 attribute settings that differ from the default (archive bit set
1230 for files, unset for directories). This option is intended to be
1231 used in addition to tar. The 'readonly' attribute is not taken
1232 into account, as tar can set that one itself.
1235 File: mtools.info, Node: mbadblocks, Next: mcat, Prev: mattrib, Up: Commands
1240 The 'mbadblocks' command is used to mark some clusters on an MS-DOS
1241 filesystem bad. It has the following syntax:
1243 'mbadblocks' ['-s' SECTORLIST|'-c' CLUSTERLIST|-w] DRIVE':'
1245 If no command line flags are supplied, 'Mbadblocks' scans an MS-DOS
1246 filesystem for bad blocks by simply trying to read them and flag them if
1247 read fails. All blocks that are unused are scanned, and if detected bad
1248 are marked as such in the FAT.
1250 This command is intended to be used right after 'mformat'. It is not
1251 intended to salvage data from bad disks.
1253 4.4.1 Command line options
1254 --------------------------
1257 Use a list of bad clusters, rather than scanning for bad clusters
1260 Use a list of bad sectors (counted from beginning of filesystem),
1261 rather than trying for bad clusters itself.
1263 Write a random pattern to each cluster, then read it back and flag
1264 cluster as bad if mismatch. Only free clusters are tested in such
1265 a way, so any file data is preserved.
1270 'Mbadblocks' should (but doesn't yet :-( ) also try to salvage bad
1271 blocks which are in use by reading them repeatedly, and then mark them
1275 File: mtools.info, Node: mcat, Next: mcd, Prev: mbadblocks, Up: Commands
1280 The 'mcat' command is used to copy an entire disk image from or to the
1281 floppy device. It uses the following syntax:
1283 'mcat' ['-w'] DRIVE':'
1285 'Mcat' performs the same task as the Unix 'cat' command. It is
1286 included into the mtools package, since 'cat' cannot access remote
1287 floppy devices offered by the mtools floppy daemon. Now it is possible
1288 to create boot floppies remotely.
1290 The default operation is reading. The output is written to stdout.
1292 If the '-w' option is specified, mcat reads a disk-image from stdin
1293 and writes it to the given device. *Use this carefully!* Because of
1294 the low-level nature of this command, it will happily destroy any data
1295 written before on the disk without warning!
1298 File: mtools.info, Node: mcd, Next: mclasserase, Prev: mcat, Up: Commands
1303 The 'mcd' command is used to change the mtools working directory on the
1304 MS-DOS disk. It uses the following syntax:
1306 mcd [MSDOSDIRECTORY]
1308 Without arguments, 'mcd' reports the current device and working
1309 directory. Otherwise, 'mcd' changes the current device and current
1310 working directory relative to an MS-DOS file system.
1312 The environmental variable 'MCWD' may be used to locate the file
1313 where the device and current working directory information is stored.
1314 The default is '$HOME/.mcwd'. Information in this file is ignored if
1315 the file is more than 6 hours old.
1317 'Mcd' returns 0 on success or 1 on failure.
1319 Unlike MS-DOS versions of 'CD', 'mcd' can be used to change to
1320 another device. It may be wise to remove old '.mcwd' files at logout.
1323 File: mtools.info, Node: mclasserase, Next: mcopy, Prev: mcd, Up: Commands
1328 The 'mclasserase' command is used to wipe memory cards by overwriting it
1329 three times: first with '0xff', then with '0x00', then with '0xff'
1330 again. The command uses the following syntax:
1332 mclasserase [-d] MSDOSDRIVE
1334 MS-DOS drive is optional, if none is specified, use 'A:'. If more
1335 than one drive are specified, all but the last are ignored.
1337 'Mclasserase' accepts the following command line options:
1340 Stop after each erase cycle, for testing purposes
1344 'Mclasserase' returns 0 on success or -1 on failure.
1347 File: mtools.info, Node: mcopy, Next: mdel, Prev: mclasserase, Up: Commands
1352 The 'mcopy' command is used to copy MS-DOS files to and from Unix. It
1353 uses the following syntax:
1355 mcopy [-bspanvmQT] [-D CLASH_OPTION] SOURCEFILE TARGETFILE
1356 mcopy [-bspanvmQT] [-D CLASH_OPTION] SOURCEFILE [ SOURCEFILES... ] TARGETDIRECTORY
1357 mcopy [-tnvm] MSDOSSOURCEFILE
1359 'Mcopy' copies the specified file to the named file, or copies
1360 multiple files to the named directory. The source and target can be
1361 either MS-DOS or Unix files.
1363 The use of a drive letter designation on the MS-DOS files, 'a:' for
1364 example, determines the direction of the transfer. A missing drive
1365 designation implies a Unix file whose path starts in the current
1366 directory. If a source drive letter is specified with no attached file
1367 name (e.g. 'mcopy a: .'), all files are copied from that drive.
1369 If only a single, MS-DOS source parameter is provided (e.g. "mcopy
1370 a:foo.exe"), an implied destination of the current directory (''.'') is
1373 A filename of ''-'' means standard input or standard output,
1374 depending on its position on the command line.
1376 'Mcopy' accepts the following command line options:
1379 Text file transfer. Mcopy translates incoming carriage return/line
1380 feeds to line feeds when copying from MS-DOS to Unix, and
1381 vice-versa when copying from Unix to MS-DOS.
1383 Batch mode. Optimized for huge recursive copies, but less secure
1384 if a crash happens during the copy.
1386 Recursive copy. Also copies directories and their contents
1388 Preserves the attributes of the copied files
1390 When mcopying multiple files, quits as soon as one copy fails (for
1391 example due to lacking storage space on the target disk)
1393 Text (ASCII) file transfer. 'ASCII' translates incoming carriage
1394 return/line feeds to line feeds.
1396 Text (ASCII) file transfer with character set conversion. Differs
1397 from '-a' in the 'ASCII' also translates incoming PC-8 characters
1398 to ISO-8859-1 equivalents as far as possible. When reading DOS
1399 files, untranslatable characters are replaced by ''#''; when
1400 writing DOS files, untranslatable characters are replaced by ''.''.
1402 No confirmation when overwriting Unix files. 'ASCII' doesn't warn
1403 the user when overwriting an existing Unix file. If the target
1404 file already exists, and the '-n' option is not in effect, 'mcopy'
1405 asks whether to overwrite the file or to rename the new file (*note
1406 name clashes::) for details). In order to switch off confirmation
1407 for DOS files, use '-o'.
1409 Preserve the file modification time.
1411 Verbose. Displays the name of each file as it is copied.
1416 Unlike MS-DOS, the '+' operator (append) from MS-DOS is not supported.
1417 However, you may use 'mtype' to produce the same effect:
1418 mtype a:file1 a:file2 a:file3 >unixfile
1419 mtype a:file1 a:file2 a:file3 | mcopy - a:msdosfile
1422 File: mtools.info, Node: mdel, Next: mdeltree, Prev: mcopy, Up: Commands
1427 The 'mdel' command is used to delete an MS-DOS file. Its syntax is:
1429 'mdel' ['-v'] MSDOSFILE [ MSDOSFILES ... ]
1431 'Mdel' deletes files on an MS-DOS file system.
1433 'Mdel' asks for verification prior to removing a read-only file.
1436 File: mtools.info, Node: mdeltree, Next: mdir, Prev: mdel, Up: Commands
1441 The 'mdeltree' command is used to delete an MS-DOS file. Its syntax is:
1443 'mdeltree' ['-v'] MSDOSDIRECTORY [MSDOSDIRECTORIES...]
1445 'Mdeltree' removes a directory and all the files and subdirectories
1446 it contains from an MS-DOS file system. An error occurs if the
1447 directory to be removed does not exist.
1450 File: mtools.info, Node: mdir, Next: mdu, Prev: mdeltree, Up: Commands
1455 The 'mdir' command is used to display an MS-DOS directory. Its syntax
1458 'mdir' ['-/'] ['-f'] ['-w'] ['-a'] ['-b'] MSDOSFILE [ MSDOSFILES...]
1460 'Mdir' displays the contents of MS-DOS directories, or the entries
1461 for some MS-DOS files.
1463 'Mdir' supports the following command line options:
1466 Recursive output, just like MS-DOS' '-s' option
1468 Wide output. With this option, 'mdir' prints the filenames across
1469 the page without displaying the file size or creation date.
1471 Also list hidden files.
1473 Fast. Do not try to find out free space. On larger disks, finding
1474 out the amount of free space takes up some non trivial amount of
1475 time, as the whole FAT must be read in and scanned. The '-f' flag
1476 bypasses this step. This flag is not needed on FAT32 file systems,
1477 which store the size explicitly.
1479 Concise listing. Lists each directory name or filename, one per
1480 line (including the filename extension). This switch displays no
1481 heading information and no summary. Only a newline separated list
1482 of pathnames is displayed.
1484 An error occurs if a component of the path is not a directory.
1487 File: mtools.info, Node: mdu, Next: mformat, Prev: mdir, Up: Commands
1492 'Mdu' is used to list the space occupied by a directory, its
1493 subdirectories and its files. It is similar to the 'du' command on
1494 Unix. The unit used are clusters. Use the minfo command to find out
1497 'mdu' ['-a'] [ MSDOSFILES ... ]
1500 All files. List also the space occupied for individual files.
1502 Only list the total space, don't give details for each
1506 File: mtools.info, Node: mformat, Next: mkmanifest, Prev: mdu, Up: Commands
1511 The 'mformat' command is used to add an MS-DOS file system to a
1512 low-level formatted diskette. Its syntax is:
1514 'mformat' ['-t' CYLINDERS|'-T' TOT_SECTORS] ['-h' HEADS] ['-s' SECTORS]
1515 ['-f' SIZE] ['-1'] ['-4'] ['-8']
1517 ['-F'] ['-S' SIZECODE]
1518 ['-M' SOFTWARE_SECTOR_SIZE]
1519 ['-N' SERIAL_NUMBER] ['-a']
1520 ['-C'] ['-H' HIDDEN_SECTORS] ['-I' FSVERSION]
1521 ['-r' ROOT_SECTORS] ['-L' FAT_LEN]
1522 ['-B' BOOT_SECTOR] ['-k']
1523 ['-m' MEDIA_DESCRIPTOR]
1525 ['-c' CLUSTERS_PER_SECTOR]
1527 ['-X'] ['-2' SECTORS_ON_TRACK_0] ['-3']
1528 ['-0' RATE_ON_TRACK_0] ['-A' RATE_ON_OTHER_TRACKS]
1531 'Mformat' adds a minimal MS-DOS file system (boot sector, FAT, and
1532 root directory) to a diskette that has already been formatted by a Unix
1535 The following options are supported: (The S, 2, 1 and M options may
1536 not exist if this copy of mtools has been compiled without the USE_2M
1539 The following options are the same as for MS-DOS's format command:
1542 Specifies the volume label. A volume label identifies the disk and
1543 can be a maximum of 11 characters. If you omit the -v switch,
1544 mformat will assign no label to the disk.
1546 Specifies the size of the DOS file system to format. Only a
1547 certain number of predefined sizes are supported by this flag; for
1548 others use the -h/-t/-s flags. The following sizes are supported:
1550 160K, single-sided, 8 sectors per track, 40 cylinders (for 5
1553 160K, single-sided, 9 sectors per track, 40 cylinders (for 5
1556 320K, double-sided, 8 sectors per track, 40 cylinders (for 5
1559 360K, double-sided, 9 sectors per track, 40 cylinders (for 5
1562 720K, double-sided, 9 sectors per track, 80 cylinders (for 3
1565 1200K, double-sided, 15 sectors per track, 80 cylinders (for 5
1568 1440K, double-sided, 18 sectors per track, 80 cylinders (for 3
1571 2880K, double-sided, 36 sectors per track, 80 cylinders (for 3
1575 Specifies the number of tracks on the disk.
1577 Specifies the number of total sectors on the disk. Only one of
1578 these 2 options may be specified (tracks or total sectors)
1580 The number of heads (sides).
1582 Specifies the number of sectors per track. If the 2m option is
1583 given, number of 512-byte sector equivalents on generic tracks
1584 (i.e. not head 0 track 0). If the 2m option is not given, number
1585 of physical sectors per track (which may be bigger than 512 bytes).
1588 Formats a single side (equivalent to -h 1)
1591 Formats a 360K double-sided disk (equivalent to -f 360). When used
1592 together with -the 1 switch, this switch formats a 180K disk
1595 Formats a disk with 8 sectors per track.
1597 MS-DOS format's 'q', 'u' and 'b' options are not supported, and 's'
1598 has a different meaning.
1600 The following options are specific to mtools:
1603 Format the partition as FAT32.
1606 The size code. The size of the sector is 2 ^ (sizecode + 7).
1608 formats the disk as an XDF disk. *Note XDF::, for more details.
1609 The disk has first to be low-level formatted using the xdfcopy
1610 utility included in the fdutils package. XDF disks are used for
1611 instance for OS/2 install disks.
1613 2m format. The parameter to this option describes the number of
1614 sectors on track 0, head 0. This option is recommended for sectors
1617 don't use a 2m format, even if the current geometry of the disk is
1620 Data transfer rate on track 0
1622 Data transfer rate on tracks other than 0
1624 software sector size. This parameter describes the sector size in
1625 bytes used by the MS-DOS file system. By default it is the
1626 physical sector size.
1628 Uses the requested serial number, instead of generating one
1631 If this option is given, an Atari style serial number is generated.
1632 Ataris store their serial number in the OEM label.
1634 creates the disk image file to install the MS-DOS file system on
1635 it. Obviously, this is useless on physical devices such as
1636 floppies and hard disk partitions, but is interesting for image
1639 number of hidden sectors. This parameter is useful for formatting
1640 hard disk partition, which are not aligned on track boundaries
1641 (i.e. first head of first track doesn't belong to the partition,
1642 but contains a partition table). In that case the number of hidden
1643 sectors is in general the number of sectors per cylinder. This is
1646 Sets the fsVersion id when formatting a FAT32 drive. In order to
1647 find this out, run minfo on an existing FAT32 drive, and mail me
1648 about it, so I can include the correct value in future versions of
1651 Sets the size of a cluster (in sectors). If this cluster size
1652 would generate a FAT that too big for its number of bits, mtools
1653 automatically increases the cluster size, until the FAT is small
1654 enough. If no cluster size is specified explicitly, mtools uses a
1655 default value as described in section "Number of sectors per
1658 Sets the number of FAT copies. Default is 2. This setting can
1659 also be specified using the 'MTOOLS_NFATS' environment variable.
1661 Sets the size of the root directory (in sectors). Only applicable
1662 to 12 and 16 bit FATs. This setting can also be specified using
1663 the 'MTOOLS_DIR_LEN' environment variable.
1665 Sets the length of the FAT.
1667 Use the boot sector stored in the given file or device, instead of
1668 using its own. Only the geometry fields are updated to match the
1669 target disks parameters.
1671 Keep the existing boot sector as much as possible. Only the
1672 geometry fields and other similar file system data are updated to
1673 match the target disks parameters.
1675 Sets the sector number where the backup of the boot sector should
1676 be stored (only relevant on FAT32).
1679 Use a non-standard media descriptor byte for this disk. The media
1680 descriptor is stored at position 21 of the boot sector, and as
1681 first byte in each FAT copy. Using this option may confuse DOS or
1682 older mtools version, and may make the disk unreadable. Only use
1683 if you know what you are doing.
1685 To format a diskette at a density other than the default, you must
1686 supply (at least) those command line parameters that are different from
1689 'Mformat' returns 0 on success or 1 on failure.
1691 It doesn't record bad block information to the Fat, use 'mbadblocks'
1694 4.13.1 Number of sectors per cluster
1695 ------------------------------------
1697 If the user indicates no cluster size, mformat figures out a default
1700 For FAT32 it uses the following table to determine the number of
1701 sectors per cluster, depending on the total number of sectors on the
1704 more than 32*1024*1024*2: 64 sectors
1705 between 16*1024*1024*2 and 32*1024*1024*2: 32 sectors
1706 between 8*1024*1024*2 and 16*1024*1024*2: 16 sectors
1707 between 260*1024*2 and 81024*1024*2: 1 sectors
1709 This is derived from information on page 20 of Microsoft's
1710 'fatgen103' document, which currently can be found at the following
1713 'https://staff.washington.edu/dittrich/misc/fatgen103.pdf'
1715 For FAT12 and FAT16, mformat uses an iterative approach, where it
1716 starts with a set value, which it doubles until it is able to fill up
1717 the disk using that cluster size and a number of cluster less than the
1720 The starting value is 1 for disks with one head or less than 2000
1721 sectors, and 2 for disks with more than one head, and more than 2000
1724 The number of sectors per cluster cannot go beyond 128.
1727 File: mtools.info, Node: mkmanifest, Next: minfo, Prev: mformat, Up: Commands
1732 The 'mkmanifest' command is used to create a shell script (packing list)
1733 to restore Unix filenames. Its syntax is:
1735 'mkmanifest' [ FILES ]
1737 'Mkmanifest' creates a shell script that aids in the restoration of
1738 Unix filenames that got clobbered by the MS-DOS filename restrictions.
1739 MS-DOS filenames are restricted to 8 character names, 3 character
1740 extensions, upper case only, no device names, and no illegal characters.
1742 The mkmanifest program is compatible with the methods used in 'pcomm,
1743 arc,' and 'mtools' to change perfectly good Unix filenames to fit the
1744 MS-DOS restrictions. This command is only useful if the target system
1745 which will read the diskette cannot handle VFAT long names.
1750 You want to copy the following Unix files to a MS-DOS diskette (using
1751 the 'mcopy' command).
1760 'ASCII' converts the names to:
1770 mkmanifest very_long_name 2.many.dots illegal: good.c prn.dev Capital >manifest
1771 would produce the following:
1772 mv very_lon very_long_name
1773 mv 2xmany.dot 2.many.dots
1774 mv illegalx illegal:
1778 Notice that "good.c" did not require any conversion, so it did not
1779 appear in the output.
1781 Suppose I've copied these files from the diskette to another Unix
1782 system, and I now want the files back to their original names. If the
1783 file "manifest" (the output captured above) was sent along with those
1784 files, it could be used to convert the filenames.
1789 The short names generated by 'mkmanifest' follow the old convention
1790 (from mtools-2.0.7) and not the one from Windows 95 and mtools-3.0.
1793 File: mtools.info, Node: minfo, Next: mlabel, Prev: mkmanifest, Up: Commands
1798 The 'minfo' command prints the parameters of a MS-DOS file system, such
1799 as number of sectors, heads and cylinders. It also prints an mformat
1800 command line which can be used to create a similar MS-DOS file system on
1801 another media. However, this doesn't work with 2m or XDF media, and
1802 with MS-DOS 1.0 file systems
1805 Minfo supports the following option:
1807 Prints a hexdump of the boot sector, in addition to the other
1811 File: mtools.info, Node: mlabel, Next: mmd, Prev: minfo, Up: Commands
1816 The 'mlabel' command adds a volume label to a disk. Its syntax is:
1817 'mlabel' ['-vcsn'] ['-N' SERIAL] DRIVE:[NEW_LABEL]
1819 'Mlabel' displays the current volume label, if present. If NEW_LABEL
1820 is not given, and if neither the 'c' nor the 's' options are set, it
1821 prompts the user for a new volume label. To delete an existing volume
1822 label, press return at the prompt.
1824 The label is limited to 11 single-byte characters, e.g.
1827 Reasonable care is taken to create a valid MS-DOS volume label. If
1828 an invalid label is specified, 'mlabel' changes the label (and displays
1829 the new label if the verbose mode is set). 'Mlabel' returns 0 on
1830 success or 1 on failure.
1832 Mlabel supports the following options:
1834 Clears an existing label, without prompting the user
1836 Shows the existing label, without prompting the user.
1838 Assigns a new (random) serial number to the disk
1840 Sets the supplied serial number. The serial number should be
1841 supplied as an 8 digit hexadecimal number, without spaces
1844 File: mtools.info, Node: mmd, Next: mmount, Prev: mlabel, Up: Commands
1849 The 'mmd' command is used to make an MS-DOS subdirectory. Its syntax
1852 'mmd' ['-D' CLASH_OPTION] MSDOSDIRECTORY [ MSDOSDIRECTORIES... ]
1854 'Mmd' makes a new directory on an MS-DOS file system. An error
1855 occurs if the directory already exists.
1858 File: mtools.info, Node: mmount, Next: mmove, Prev: mmd, Up: Commands
1863 The 'mmount' command is used to mount an MS-DOS disk. It is only
1864 available on Linux, as it is only useful if the OS kernel allows to
1865 configure the disk geometry. Its syntax is:
1867 'mmount' MSDOSDRIVE [MOUNTARGS]
1869 'Mmount' reads the boot sector of an MS-DOS disk, configures the
1870 drive geometry, and finally mounts it passing 'mountargs' to 'mount. '
1871 If no mount arguments are specified, the name of the device is used. If
1872 the disk is write protected, it is automatically mounted read only.
1875 File: mtools.info, Node: mmove, Next: mpartition, Prev: mmount, Up: Commands
1880 The 'mmove' command is used to moves or renames an existing MS-DOS file
1882 'mmove' ['-v'] ['-D' CLASH_OPTION] SOURCEFILE TARGETFILE
1883 'mmove' ['-v'] ['-D' CLASH_OPTION] SOURCEFILE [ SOURCEFILES... ] TARGETDIRECTORY
1884 'Mmove' moves or renames an existing MS-DOS file or subdirectory.
1885 Unlike the MS-DOS version of 'MOVE', 'mmove' is able to move
1886 subdirectories. Files or directories can only be moved within one file
1887 system. Data cannot be moved from MS-DOS to Unix or vice-versa. If you
1888 omit the drive letter from the target file or directory, the same letter
1889 as for the source is assumed. If you omit the drive letter from all
1890 parameters, drive a: is assumed by default.
1893 File: mtools.info, Node: mpartition, Next: mrd, Prev: mmove, Up: Commands
1898 The 'mpartition' command is used to create MS-DOS file systems as
1899 partitions. This is intended to be used on non-Linux systems, i.e.
1900 systems where fdisk and easy access to SCSI devices are not available.
1901 This command only works on drives whose partition variable is set.
1903 'mpartition' '-p' DRIVE
1904 'mpartition' '-r' DRIVE
1905 'mpartition' '-I' ['-B' BOOTSECTOR] DRIVE
1906 'mpartition' '-a' DRIVE
1907 'mpartition' '-d' DRIVE
1908 'mpartition' '-c' ['-s' SECTORS] ['-h' HEADS]
1909 ['-t' CYLINDERS] ['-v' ['-T' TYPE] ['-b'
1910 BEGIN] ['-l' length] ['-f']
1913 Mpartition supports the following operations:
1916 Prints a command line to recreate the partition for the drive.
1917 Nothing is printed if the partition for the drive is not defined,
1918 or an inconsistency has been detected. If verbose ('-v') is also
1919 set, prints the current partition table.
1921 Removes the partition described by DRIVE.
1923 Initializes the partition table, and removes all partitions.
1925 Creates the partition described by DRIVE.
1927 "Activates" the partition, i.e. makes it bootable. Only one
1928 partition can be bootable at a time.
1930 "Deactivates" the partition, i.e. makes it unbootable.
1932 If no operation is given, the current settings are printed.
1934 For partition creations, the following options are available:
1936 The number of sectors per track of the partition (which is also the
1937 number of sectors per track for the whole drive).
1939 The number of heads of the partition (which is also the number of
1940 heads for the whole drive). By default, the geometry information
1941 (number of sectors and heads) is figured out from neighboring
1942 partition table entries, or guessed from the size.
1944 The number of cylinders of the partition (not the number of
1945 cylinders of the whole drive.
1947 The starting offset of the partition, expressed in sectors. If
1948 begin is not given, mpartition lets the partition begin at the
1949 start of the disk (partition number 1), or immediately after the
1950 end of the previous partition.
1952 The size (length) of the partition, expressed in sectors. If end
1953 is not given, mpartition figures out the size from the number of
1954 sectors, heads and cylinders. If these are not given either, it
1955 gives the partition the biggest possible size, considering disk
1956 size and start of the next partition.
1958 The following option is available for all operation which modify the
1961 Usually, before writing back any changes to the partition,
1962 mpartition performs certain consistency checks, such as checking
1963 for overlaps and proper alignment of the partitions. If any of
1964 these checks fails, the partition table is not changes. The '-f'
1965 allows you to override these safeguards.
1967 The following options are available for all operations:
1969 Together with '-p' prints the partition table as it is now (no
1970 change operation), or as it is after it is modified.
1972 If the verbosity flag is given twice, mpartition will print out a
1973 hexdump of the partition table when reading it from and writing it
1976 The following option is available for partition table initialization:
1978 Reads the template master boot record from file BOOTSECTOR.
1980 4.20.1 Choice of partition type
1981 -------------------------------
1983 Mpartition proceeds as follows to pick a type for the partition:
1985 - FAT32 partitions are assigned type 0x0C ("'Win95 FAT32, LBA'")
1987 - For all others, if the partition fits entirely within the 65536
1988 sector of the disk, assign 0x01 ("'DOS FAT12, CHS'") for FAT12
1989 partition and 0x04 ("'DOS FAT16, CHS'") for FAT16 partitions
1991 - If not covered by the above, assign 0x06 ("'DOS BIG FAT16 CHS'") if
1992 partition fits entirely within the first 1024 cylinders (CHS mode)
1994 - All remaining cases get 0x0E ("'Win95 BIG FAT16, LBA'")
1996 If number of fat bits is not known (not specified in drive's
1997 definition), then FAT12 is assumed for all drives with less than 4096
1998 sectors, and FAT16 for those with more than 4096 sectors.
2000 This corresponds more or less to the definitions outlined at
2001 'https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Partition_type#List_of_partition_IDs' and
2002 'https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/previous-versions/windows/it-pro/windows-2000-server/cc977219(v=technet.10)',
2003 with two notable differences:
2005 - If fat bits are unknown, the reference documents consider drives
2006 with less than 32680 sectors to be FAT12. Mtools uses 4096 sectors
2007 as the cutoff point, as older versions of DOS only support FAT12 on
2008 disks with less than 4096 sectors (and these older versions are the
2009 ones which would be most likely to use FAT12 in the first place).
2011 - The reference documents use a 8GB (wikipedia) or a 4GB (Microsoft)
2012 cutoff between 0x06 ('DOS BIG FAT16 CHS') and 0x0E. Mtools uses
2013 1024 cylinders. This is because any partition beyond 1024
2014 cylinders must be LBA and cannot be CHS. 8GB works out to be the
2015 biggest capacity which can be represented as CHS (63 sectors, 255
2016 heads and 1024 cylinders). 4GB is the capacity limit for windows
2017 2000, so it makes sense that a documentation for windows 2000 would
2018 specify this as the upper limit for any partition type.
2021 File: mtools.info, Node: mrd, Next: mren, Prev: mpartition, Up: Commands
2026 The 'mrd' command is used to remove an MS-DOS subdirectory. Its syntax
2029 'mrd' ['-v'] MSDOSDIRECTORY [ MSDOSDIRECTORIES... ]
2031 'Mrd' removes a directory from an MS-DOS file system. An error
2032 occurs if the directory does not exist or is not empty.
2035 File: mtools.info, Node: mren, Next: mshortname, Prev: mrd, Up: Commands
2040 The 'mren' command is used to rename or move an existing MS-DOS file or
2041 subdirectory. Its syntax is:
2043 'mren' ['-voOsSrRA'] SOURCEFILE TARGETFILE
2045 'Mren' renames an existing file on an MS-DOS file system.
2047 In verbose mode, 'Mren' displays the new filename if the name
2048 supplied is invalid.
2050 If the first syntax is used (only one source file), and if the target
2051 name doesn't contain any slashes or colons, the file (or subdirectory)
2052 is renamed in the same directory, instead of being moved to the current
2053 'mcd' directory as would be the case with 'mmove'. Unlike the MS-DOS
2054 version of 'REN', 'mren' can be used to rename directories.
2057 File: mtools.info, Node: mshortname, Next: mshowfat, Prev: mren, Up: Commands
2062 The 'mshortname' command is used to display the short name of a file.
2067 The shortname is displayed as it is stored in raw format on disk,
2068 without any character set conversion.
2071 File: mtools.info, Node: mshowfat, Next: mtoolstest, Prev: mshortname, Up: Commands
2076 The 'mshowfat' command is used to display the FAT entries for a file.
2079 'mshowfat' ['-o' OFFSET] FILES
2081 If no offset is given, a list of all clusters occupied by the file is
2082 printed. If an offset is given, only the number of the cluster
2083 containing that offset is printed.
2086 File: mtools.info, Node: mtoolstest, Next: mtype, Prev: mshowfat, Up: Commands
2091 The 'mtoolstest' command is used to tests the mtools configuration
2092 files. To invoke it, just type 'mtoolstest' without any arguments.
2093 'Mtoolstest' reads the mtools configuration files, and prints the
2094 cumulative configuration to 'stdout'. The output can be used as a
2095 configuration file itself (although you might want to remove redundant
2096 clauses). You may use this program to convert old-style configuration
2097 files into new style configuration files.
2100 File: mtools.info, Node: mtype, Next: mzip, Prev: mtoolstest, Up: Commands
2105 The 'mtype' command is used to display contents of an MS-DOS file. Its
2108 'mtype' ['-ts'] MSDOSFILE [ MSDOSFILES... ]
2110 'Mtype' displays the specified MS-DOS file on the screen.
2112 In addition to the standard options, 'Mtype' allows the following
2113 command line options:
2116 Text file viewing. 'Mtype' translates incoming carriage
2117 return/line feeds to line feeds.
2119 'Mtype' strips the high bit from the data.
2121 The 'mcd' command may be used to establish the device and the current
2122 working directory (relative to MS-DOS), otherwise the default is 'A:/'.
2124 'Mtype' returns 0 on success, 1 on utter failure, or 2 on partial
2127 Unlike the MS-DOS version of 'TYPE', 'mtype' allows multiple
2131 File: mtools.info, Node: mzip, Prev: mtype, Up: Commands
2136 The 'mzip' command is used to issue ZIP disk specific commands on Linux,
2137 Solaris or HP-UX. Its syntax is:
2141 'Mzip' allows the following command line options:
2146 Force eject even if the disk is mounted (must be given in addition
2149 Write protect the disk.
2151 Remove write protection.
2153 Password write protect.
2157 Temporarily unprotect the disk until it is ejected. The disk
2158 becomes writable, and reverts back to its old state when ejected.
2162 To remove the password, set it to one of the password-less modes '-r'
2163 or '-w': mzip will then ask you for the password, and unlock the disk.
2164 If you have forgotten the password, you can get rid of it by low-level
2165 formatting the disk (using your SCSI adapter's BIOS setup).
2167 The ZipTools disk shipped with the drive is also password protected.
2168 On MS-DOS or on a Mac, this password is automatically removed once the
2169 ZipTools have been installed. From various articles posted to Usenet, I
2170 learned that the password for the tools disk is 'APlaceForYourStuff'(1).
2171 Mzip knows about this password, and tries it first, before prompting you
2172 for a password. Thus 'mzip -w z:' unlocks the tools disk(2). The tools
2173 disk is formatted in a special way so as to be usable both in a PC and
2174 in a Mac. On a PC, the Mac file system appears as a hidden file named
2175 'partishn.mac'. You may erase it to reclaim the 50 Megs of space taken
2176 up by the Mac file system.
2181 This command is a big kludge. A proper implementation would take a
2182 rework of significant parts of mtools, but unfortunately I don't have
2183 the time for this right now. The main downside of this implementation
2184 is that it is inefficient on some architectures (several successive
2185 calls to mtools, which defeats mtools' caching).
2187 ---------- Footnotes ----------
2189 (1) To see the articles, search for 'APlaceForYourStuff' using Google
2192 (2) I didn't know about this yet when I bought my own Zip drive.
2193 Thus I ended up reformatting my tools disk, and hence I haven't had the
2194 opportunity to test the password yet. If anybody still has their tools
2195 disk with the original password, could you try it out? Thanks in
2199 File: mtools.info, Node: Compiling mtools, Next: Porting mtools, Prev: Commands, Up: Top
2201 5 Architecture specific compilation flags
2202 *****************************************
2204 To compile mtools, first invoke './configure' before 'make'. In
2205 addition to the standard 'autoconfigure' flags, there are two
2206 architecture specific flags available.
2208 './configure --enable-xdf'
2209 './configure --disable-xdf'
2210 Enables support for XDF disks. This is on by default. *Note
2212 './configure --enable-vold'
2213 './configure --disable-vold'
2214 Enables support for vold on Solaris. When used in conjunction with
2215 vold, mtools should use different device nodes than for direct
2218 './configure --enable-new-vold'
2219 './configure --disable-new-vold'
2220 Enables new support for vold on Solaris. This is supposed to work
2221 more smoothly than the old support.
2223 './configure --enable-floppyd'
2224 './configure --disable-floppyd'
2225 Enables support for floppyd. By default, floppyd support is
2226 enabled as long as the necessary X includes and libraries are
2230 File: mtools.info, Node: Porting mtools, Next: Command Index, Prev: Compiling mtools, Up: Top
2232 6 Porting mtools to architectures which are not supported yet
2233 *************************************************************
2235 This chapter is only interesting for those who want to port mtools to an
2236 architecture which is not yet supported. For most common systems,
2237 default drives are already defined. If you want to add default drives
2238 for a still unsupported system, run configuration.guess, to see which
2239 identification autoconf uses for that system. This identification is of
2240 the form cpu-vendor-os (for example sparc-sun-sunos). The cpu and the
2241 OS parts are passed to the compiler as preprocessor flags. The OS part
2242 is passed to the compiler in three forms.
2243 1. The complete OS name, with dots replaced by underscores. SCO3.2v2
2244 would yield sco3_2v2
2245 2. The base OS name. SCO3.2v2 would yield Sco
2246 3. The base OS name plus its major version. SCO3.2v2 would yield Sco3
2248 All three versions are passed, if they are different.
2250 To define the devices, use the entries for the systems that are
2251 already present as templates. In general, they have the following form:
2253 #if (defined (my_cpu) && defined(my_os))
2254 #define predefined_devices
2255 struct device devices[] = {
2256 { "/dev/first_drive", 'drive_letter', drive_description},
2258 { "/dev/last_drive", 'drive_letter', drive_description}
2263 "/dev/first_drive" is the name of the device or image file
2264 representing the drive. Drive_letter is a letter ranging from a to z
2265 giving access to the drive. Drive_description describes the type of the
2268 extra density (2.88M) 3 1/2 disk
2270 high density 3 1/2 disk
2272 double density 3 1/2 disk
2274 high density 5 1/4 disk
2276 double density 5 1/4 disk
2278 8 sector double density 5 1/4 disk
2280 single sided double density 5 1/4 disk
2282 single sided 8 sector double density 5 1/4 disk
2284 generic floppy drive (12 bit FAT)
2286 generic hard disk (16 bit FAT)
2288 generic device (all parameters match)
2290 generic ZIP drive using normal access. This uses partition 4.
2291 'Flags' are any special flags to be passed to open.
2293 generic ZIP drive using raw SCSI access. This uses partition 4.
2294 'Flags' are any special flags to be passed to open.
2296 the remote drive used for floppyd. Unlike the other items, this
2297 macro also includes the file name ($DISPLAY) and the drive letter
2300 Entries may be described in more detail:
2301 fat_bits,open_flags,cylinders,heads,sectors,DEF_ARG
2302 or, if you need to describe an offset (file system doesn't start at
2303 beginning of file system)
2304 fat_bits, open_flags, cylinders, heads, sectors, offset, DEF_ARG0
2307 is either 12, 16 or 0. 0 means that the device accepts both types
2310 may include flags such as O_NDELAY, or O_RDONLY, which might be
2311 necessary to open the device. 0 means no special flags are needed.
2312 'cylinders,heads,sectors'
2313 describe the geometry of the disk. If cylinders is 0, the heads
2314 and sectors parameters are ignored, and the drive accepts any
2317 is used if the DOS file system doesn't begin at the start of the
2318 device or image file. This is mostly useful for Atari Ram disks
2319 (which contain their device driver at the beginning of the file) or
2320 for DOS emulator images (which may represent a partitioned device.
2322 Definition of defaults in the devices file should only be done if
2323 these same devices are found on a large number of hosts of this type.
2324 In that case, could you also let me know about your new definitions, so
2325 that I can include them into the next release. For purely local file, I
2326 recommend that you use the '/etc/mtools.conf' and '~/.mtoolsrc'
2327 configuration files.
2329 However, the devices files also allows to supply geometry setting
2330 routines. These are necessary if you want to access high capacity
2333 Two routines should be supplied:
2335 1. Reading the current parameters
2336 static inline int get_parameters(int fd, struct generic_floppy_struct *floppy)
2338 This probes the current configured geometry, and return it in the
2339 structure generic_floppy_struct (which must also be declared). Fd
2340 is an open file descriptor for the device, and buf is an already
2341 filled in stat structure, which may be useful. This routine should
2342 return 1 if the probing fails, and 0 otherwise.
2344 2. Setting new parameters
2345 static inline int set_parameters(int fd, struct generic_floppy_struct *floppy)
2347 This configures the geometry contained in floppy on the file
2348 descriptor fd. Buf is the result of a stat call (already filled
2349 in). This should return 1 if the new geometry cannot be
2350 configured, and 0 otherwise.
2352 A certain number of preprocessor macros should also be supplied:
2355 refers to the track field in the floppy structure
2357 refers to the heads field in the floppy structure
2359 refers to the sectors per track field in the floppy structure
2360 'SECTORS_PER_DISK(floppy)'
2361 refers to the sectors per disk field in the floppy structure (if
2362 applicable, otherwise leave undefined)
2365 major number of the floppy device, when viewed as a block device
2368 major number of the floppy device, when viewed as a character
2369 device (a.k.a. "raw" device, used for fsck) (leave this undefined,
2370 if your OS doesn't have raw devices)
2372 For the truly high capacity formats (XDF, 2m, etc), there is no clean
2373 and documented interface yet.
2376 File: mtools.info, Node: Command Index, Next: Variable Index, Prev: Porting mtools, Up: Top
2382 File: mtools.info, Node: Variable Index, Next: Concept Index, Prev: Command Index, Up: Top
2390 * cylinders: geometry description. (line 60)
2391 * drive: general information. (line 6)
2392 * exclusive: open flags. (line 6)
2393 * fat_bits: miscellaneous variables.
2395 * file: location information. (line 10)
2396 * filter: miscellaneous flags. (line 78)
2397 * heads: geometry description. (line 63)
2398 * mformat_only: miscellaneous flags. (line 74)
2399 * MTOOLSRC: Configuration. (line 9)
2400 * MTOOLS_FAT_COMPATIBILITY: global variables. (line 6)
2401 * MTOOLS_LOWER_CASE: global variables. (line 6)
2402 * MTOOLS_NO_VFAT: global variables. (line 6)
2403 * MTOOLS_SKIP_CHECK: global variables. (line 6)
2404 * nodelay: open flags. (line 6)
2405 * sectors: geometry description. (line 65)
2406 * sync: open flags. (line 6)
2407 * tracks: geometry description. (line 60)
2408 * use_xdf: miscellaneous flags. (line 70)
2411 File: mtools.info, Node: Concept Index, Prev: Variable Index, Up: Top
2420 * ALPHA patches: Location. (line 6)
2421 * APlaceForYourStuff: mzip. (line 6)
2422 * Archive bit: mattrib. (line 6)
2423 * Atari: miscellaneous flags. (line 66)
2424 * Atari Ram disk: location information. (line 28)
2425 * Backwards compatibility: old style configuration.
2427 * Bad blocks: mbadblocks. (line 6)
2428 * bigger sectors: bigger sectors. (line 6)
2429 * blocksize: miscellaneous variables.
2431 * bugs: Location. (line 6)
2432 * Case sensitivity: case sensitivity. (line 6)
2433 * Changing file attributes: mattrib. (line 6)
2434 * character devices: miscellaneous variables.
2436 * Checking configuration file: mtoolstest. (line 6)
2437 * Clusters of a file: mshowfat. (line 6)
2438 * Command list: Commands. (line 6)
2439 * Compile time configuration: Compiling mtools. (line 6)
2440 * Compiled-in defaults: Porting mtools. (line 6)
2441 * Concatenating MS-DOS files: mcopy. (line 6)
2442 * Configuration file: default values. (line 6)
2443 * Configuration file name: configuration file location.
2445 * Configuration file name (parsing order): parsing order. (line 6)
2446 * Configuration file parsing order: parsing order. (line 6)
2447 * Configuration file syntax: general syntax. (line 6)
2448 * Configuration file, old syntax: old style configuration.
2450 * Configuration files: Configuration. (line 9)
2451 * Configuration of disk geometry: geometry description. (line 6)
2452 * Copying an entire disk image: mcat. (line 9)
2453 * Copying MS-DOS files: mcopy. (line 6)
2454 * CR/LF conversions: mcopy. (line 6)
2455 * Creating a directory: mmd. (line 6)
2456 * Current working directory: directory. (line 6)
2457 * Current working directory (changing the): mcd. (line 6)
2458 * Default configuration: default values. (line 6)
2459 * Default directory: directory. (line 6)
2460 * Default directory (changing the): mcd. (line 6)
2461 * Default values: default values. (line 6)
2462 * Deleting a directory: mrd. (line 6)
2463 * deleting an MS-DOS directory recursively: mdeltree. (line 6)
2464 * deleting MS-DOS files: mdel. (line 6)
2465 * Description of disk geometry: geometry description. (line 6)
2466 * diffs: Location. (line 6)
2467 * Directory: directory. (line 6)
2468 * Directory (changing): mcd. (line 6)
2469 * Directory creation: mmd. (line 6)
2470 * Directory listing: mdir. (line 6)
2471 * Directory removing: mrd. (line 6)
2472 * disable locking: miscellaneous flags. (line 11)
2473 * Disk Geometry: geometry description. (line 6)
2474 * Disk image: mcat. (line 9)
2475 * Disk label: mlabel. (line 6)
2476 * DMF disks: more sectors. (line 6)
2477 * DOSEMU hard disk image: location information. (line 14)
2478 * Drive configuration: per drive variables. (line 6)
2479 * Drive configuration, example: general information. (line 6)
2480 * Drive description: per drive variables. (line 6)
2481 * Drive description, example: general information. (line 6)
2482 * Drive independent configuration variables: global variables. (line 6)
2484 * Duplicate file names: name clashes. (line 6)
2485 * Ejecting a Zip/Jaz disk: mzip. (line 6)
2486 * Environmental variables: global variables. (line 6)
2487 * Erasing a directory: mrd. (line 6)
2488 * erasing an MS-DOS directory recursively: mdeltree. (line 6)
2489 * erasing MS-DOS files: mdel. (line 6)
2490 * exclusive access to a drive: open flags. (line 6)
2491 * Executing commands before opening the device: miscellaneous variables.
2493 * Fat: mshowfat. (line 6)
2494 * fdformat: more sectors. (line 6)
2495 * File name of device node: location information. (line 10)
2496 * File system creation: mformat. (line 6)
2497 * Filenames: arguments. (line 6)
2498 * floppyd: floppyd. (line 6)
2499 * Floppyd cat: mcat. (line 9)
2500 * floppyd_installtest: floppyd_installtest. (line 6)
2501 * Format of disk: geometry description. (line 6)
2502 * Formats, high capacity: high capacity formats.
2504 * Formatting disks: mformat. (line 6)
2505 * FreeDOS: global variables. (line 6)
2506 * getting parameters of a MS-DOS file system: minfo. (line 6)
2507 * Global configuration variables: global variables. (line 6)
2508 * Hdimage: location information. (line 6)
2509 * Hidden files: mattrib. (line 6)
2510 * High capacity formats: high capacity formats.
2512 * High capacity formats, mounting: mmount. (line 6)
2513 * High density disk: geometry description. (line 6)
2514 * Image file: location information. (line 10)
2515 * Initializing disks: mformat. (line 6)
2516 * Jaz disk (utilities): mzip. (line 6)
2517 * Jaz disks (partitioning them): mpartition. (line 6)
2518 * Jaz disks (partitions): location information. (line 14)
2519 * Jaz disks (raw SCSI access): miscellaneous flags. (line 17)
2520 * Labeling a disk: mlabel. (line 6)
2521 * Linux enhancements (High Capacity Formats): high capacity formats.
2523 * Linux enhancements (mmount): mmount. (line 6)
2524 * List of available commands: Commands. (line 6)
2525 * Listing a directory: mdir. (line 6)
2526 * Listing space occupied by directories and files: mdu. (line 6)
2527 * Location of configuration files: configuration file location.
2529 * Location of configuration files (parsing order): parsing order.
2531 * locking (disabling it): miscellaneous flags. (line 11)
2532 * Long file name: long names. (line 6)
2533 * Low density disk: geometry description. (line 6)
2534 * Magneto-optical disks: location information. (line 14)
2535 * mailing list: Location. (line 6)
2536 * Making a directory: mmd. (line 6)
2537 * Marking blocks as bad: mbadblocks. (line 6)
2538 * mattrib: mattrib. (line 6)
2539 * mbadblocks: mbadblocks. (line 6)
2540 * mcat: mcat. (line 9)
2541 * mcd: mcd. (line 6)
2542 * mcd (introduction): directory. (line 6)
2543 * mclasserase: mclasserase. (line 6)
2544 * mcopy: mcopy. (line 6)
2545 * Mcwd file: mcd. (line 6)
2546 * mdel: mdel. (line 6)
2547 * mdeltree: mdeltree. (line 6)
2548 * mdir: mdir. (line 6)
2549 * mdu: mdu. (line 6)
2550 * Memory Card: mclasserase. (line 6)
2551 * mformat: mformat. (line 6)
2552 * mformat (geometry used for): geometry description. (line 6)
2553 * mformat parameters: minfo. (line 6)
2554 * minfo: minfo. (line 6)
2555 * mkmanifest: mkmanifest. (line 6)
2556 * mlabel: mlabel. (line 6)
2557 * mmd: mmd. (line 6)
2558 * mmount: mmount. (line 6)
2559 * mmove: mmove. (line 6)
2560 * Mounting a disk: mmount. (line 6)
2561 * Moving files (mmove): mmove. (line 6)
2562 * Moving files (mren): mren. (line 6)
2563 * mpartition: mpartition. (line 6)
2564 * mrd: mrd. (line 6)
2565 * mren: mren. (line 6)
2566 * mshortname: mshortname. (line 6)
2567 * mshowfat: mshowfat. (line 6)
2568 * mtoolstest: mtoolstest. (line 6)
2569 * mzip: mzip. (line 6)
2570 * Name clashes: name clashes. (line 6)
2571 * Name of configuration files: configuration file location.
2573 * Name of configuration files (parsing order): parsing order. (line 6)
2574 * Name of device node: location information. (line 10)
2575 * Occupation of space by directories and files: mdu. (line 6)
2576 * Odd formats: high capacity formats.
2578 * Old configuration file syntax: old style configuration.
2580 * open flags: open flags. (line 6)
2581 * Options: arguments. (line 6)
2582 * OS/2 (layout of removable media): location information. (line 14)
2583 * OS/2 (XDF disks): XDF. (line 6)
2584 * Overwriting files: name clashes. (line 6)
2585 * packing list: mkmanifest. (line 6)
2586 * Parsing order: parsing order. (line 6)
2587 * Partitioned image file: location information. (line 14)
2588 * partitions (creating): mpartition. (line 6)
2589 * password protected Zip disks: mzip. (line 6)
2590 * patches: Location. (line 6)
2591 * Physically erase: mclasserase. (line 6)
2592 * plain floppy: device xxx busy: miscellaneous flags. (line 11)
2593 * Porting: Porting mtools. (line 6)
2594 * Primary file name (long names): long names. (line 6)
2595 * Primary file name (name clashes): name clashes. (line 6)
2596 * Ram disk: location information. (line 28)
2597 * raw device: miscellaneous variables.
2599 * Read errors: mbadblocks. (line 6)
2600 * Read-only files (changing the attribute): mattrib. (line 6)
2601 * Read-only files (listing them): mdir. (line 6)
2602 * Reading MS-DOS files: mcopy. (line 6)
2603 * recursively removing an MS-DOS directory: mdeltree. (line 6)
2604 * remote floppy access: floppyd. (line 6)
2605 * remote floppy access <1>: floppyd_installtest. (line 6)
2606 * Removable media: location information. (line 14)
2607 * Removing a directory: mrd. (line 6)
2608 * removing an MS-DOS directory recursively: mdeltree. (line 6)
2609 * removing MS-DOS files: mdel. (line 6)
2610 * Renaming files (mmove): mmove. (line 6)
2611 * Renaming files (mren): mren. (line 6)
2612 * SCSI devices: miscellaneous flags. (line 17)
2613 * Secondary file name (long names): long names. (line 6)
2614 * Secondary file name (name clashes): name clashes. (line 6)
2615 * setgid installation: miscellaneous flags. (line 40)
2616 * setuid installation: miscellaneous flags. (line 40)
2617 * setuid installation (needed for raw SCSI I/O): miscellaneous flags.
2619 * Solaris (compile time configuration of vold): Compiling mtools.
2621 * Solaris (Raw access to SCSI devices such as Zip & Jaz): miscellaneous flags.
2623 * Solaris (volcheck): miscellaneous variables.
2625 * Solaris (vold): miscellaneous flags. (line 57)
2626 * Space occupied by directories and files: mdu. (line 6)
2627 * Special formats: high capacity formats.
2629 * Subdirectory creation: mmd. (line 6)
2630 * Subdirectory removing: mrd. (line 6)
2631 * SunOS (Raw access to SCSI devices such as Zip & Jaz): miscellaneous flags.
2633 * synchronous writing: open flags. (line 6)
2634 * Syntax of the configuration file: general syntax. (line 6)
2635 * Syquest disks: location information. (line 14)
2636 * Syquest disks (raw SCSI access): miscellaneous flags. (line 17)
2637 * System files: mattrib. (line 6)
2638 * Testing configuration file for correctness: mtoolstest. (line 6)
2639 * Text files: mcopy. (line 6)
2640 * Tools disk (Zip and Jaz drives): mzip. (line 6)
2641 * Verifying configuration file: mtoolstest. (line 6)
2642 * VFAT-style file names: long names. (line 6)
2643 * vgacopy: more sectors. (line 6)
2644 * Vold (compile time configuration): Compiling mtools. (line 6)
2645 * Vold (mediamgr): miscellaneous flags. (line 57)
2646 * Weird formats: high capacity formats.
2648 * Windows 95 (DMF disks): more sectors. (line 6)
2649 * Windows 95-style file names: long names. (line 6)
2650 * Windows NT (layout of removable media): location information.
2652 * Wordswapped: miscellaneous flags. (line 66)
2653 * Working directory: directory. (line 6)
2654 * Working directory <1>: mcd. (line 6)
2655 * Write protecting a Zip/Jaz disk: mzip. (line 6)
2656 * Writing MS-DOS files: mcopy. (line 6)
2657 * X terminal: floppyd. (line 6)
2658 * X terminal <1>: floppyd_installtest. (line 6)
2659 * XDF disks: XDF. (line 6)
2660 * XDF disks (compile time configuration): Compiling mtools. (line 6)
2661 * XDF disks (how to configure): miscellaneous flags. (line 70)
2662 * Zip disk (utilities): mzip. (line 6)
2663 * Zip disks (partitioning them): mpartition. (line 6)
2664 * Zip disks (partitions): location information. (line 14)
2665 * Zip disks (raw SCSI access): miscellaneous flags. (line 17)
2666 * ZipTools disk: mzip. (line 6)
2672 Node: Location
\7f2962
2673 Node: Common features
\7f4351
2674 Node: arguments
\7f5115
2675 Node: drive letters
\7f6776
2676 Node: directory
\7f8130
2677 Node: long names
\7f8576
2678 Node: name clashes
\7f11122
2679 Node: case sensitivity
\7f13406
2680 Node: high capacity formats
\7f14640
2681 Node: more sectors
\7f15758
2682 Node: bigger sectors
\7f16813
2685 Node: exit codes
\7f20064
2687 Node: Configuration
\7f21235
2688 Node: configuration file location
\7f22372
2689 Node: general syntax
\7f22796
2690 Node: default values
\7f23627
2691 Node: global variables
\7f24155
2692 Node: per drive variables
\7f26234
2693 Node: general information
\7f27069
2694 Node: location information
\7f27511
2695 Node: geometry description
\7f29040
2696 Node: open flags
\7f32901
2697 Node: miscellaneous variables
\7f33501
2698 Node: miscellaneous flags
\7f35577
2699 Node: multiple descriptions
\7f39207
2700 Node: parsing order
\7f40881
2701 Node: old style configuration
\7f41912
2702 Node: Commands
\7f42611
2703 Node: floppyd
\7f44533
2704 Node: floppyd_installtest
\7f49326
2705 Node: mattrib
\7f49957
2706 Node: mbadblocks
\7f51750
2709 Node: mclasserase
\7f54719
2712 Node: mdeltree
\7f58748
2715 Node: mformat
\7f60949
2716 Node: mkmanifest
\7f69183
2718 Node: mlabel
\7f71727
2720 Node: mmount
\7f73229
2722 Node: mpartition
\7f74635
2725 Node: mshortname
\7f81255
2726 Node: mshowfat
\7f81585
2727 Node: mtoolstest
\7f81994
2730 Ref: mzip-Footnote-1
\7f85442
2731 Ref: mzip-Footnote-2
\7f85523
2732 Node: Compiling mtools
\7f85810
2733 Node: Porting mtools
\7f86909
2734 Node: Command Index
\7f92813
2735 Node: Variable Index
\7f92941
2736 Node: Concept Index
\7f94472
projects / platform / upstream / mtools.git / blob