Linux and Floppy Disk Question...

[Joe]

so....I'm trying to create a boot floppy for Windows 95....using my Linux computer. And I'm utterly at a loss as to how to go about formatting the floppy (I have the boot floppy images on my laptops HDD aready).

So far i've tried the following codes in terminal

fdformat -n /dev/fd0
^ is the lowlevel format command, with my floppy drive set as the destination

# /sbin/mkfs.ext3 /dev/fd0

^ The above code would've created a Linux filesystem on the floppy, which wouldn't have done my much good, but I figured it was worth a shot

and the last code is....

# /sbin/mkfs.vfat /dev/fd0

That would've been the Ideal code, since it would've created a DOS file system on the Floppy, which I'll need to get the boot disk images onto the floppy.

but I keep getting a device or file system is Read Only....anyway around that? (Yes I did use su to have root access)

I'm using Ubuntu 8. something, and an IBM thinkpad with an SCSI floppy drive

[Sarah]

(Ubuntu 8.04 is the only Ubuntu release in the 8.something range so far. Next will be 8.10, then onto 9.04. Releases are six months apart.)

mkfs -t ext2 /dev/fd0 is the proper syntax that I was taught for normal formatting for Linux.

So, for Windows, you may want to try

mkfs -t vfat /dev/fd0

I haven't made a 95 floppy disk through Linux so I've yet to confirm it.

If that doesn't make a difference.... go over your steps again. KISS is sometimes the most useful information you could have. (Keep It Simple, Stupid- Thanks to my shop teacher for that one.)

1) Am I logged in as the proper user?
2) Typos or improper syntax?
3) What's the command line interface say in response?

You could also try chmod.
chmod 777 /dev/fd0
would give read(4), write(2), and execute(1) access to root, group, and others. Sometimes that fixes silly errors. Just be wary of who you may be giving permissions to.

Also, it's always helpful to post all responses from your command line interface. Sometimes, I can tell right away what the problem is from its response.

If I was no help with that, you could always try the man pages. man {command}

Here are some possibly useful resources:
https://help.ubuntu.com/community/UsefulDocumentation
Linux bash commands - MAN Pages
Linux Command Directory: Index
Linux Newbie Guide: Shortcuts And Commands
Ubuntu Forums (Large amount of common questions already answered)

Honestly, if I'm looking for information, I usually Google it. Then I check man pages. Then I check my books and notes. Then I ask someone. It's almost always resolved by googling.

I hope some of this helps. Good luck.