3. Using dos Floppy Disks

Using mtools is the easiest and most convenient way to work with dos disks.Install the mtools rpm package that came with the software.In the default setup,even general users can read dos floppy disks using mtools,hence anyone can exchange data with Windows OSs and make backups quick and easy.

mtools affixes an m to the head of dos commands.It can handle files just like dos does.The /dev/fd0 floppy disk drive compares to drive a:in dos.


dos Formatting Floppy Disks
To create a dos file system on an already formatted disk,use the command
below.

   $ mformat a:

Copying Linux Files onto a Floppy Disk

   $ mcopy hogehoge a:
   
Viewing Content

   $ mdir a:
   Volume in drive A has no label
   Volume Serial Number is hogehoge-hugahuga
   Directory for A:/
   
   MSCDEX EXE 25758 09-05-1996  11:11
   BILING SYS  3223 09-05-1996  11:11
   JFONT  SYS 22790 09-05-1996  11:11
   
If the mdir output looks as follows,the floppy has been formatted in vfat.It
will be easier for the system to identify it if you specify the floppy by the
log file name on the right end.

   MSCDEX EXE  25878 09-05-1996  11:11 mscdex.exe
   
Copying Floppy Disk Files into Linux

   $ mcopy a:mscdex.exe /home/watashi

For more information on mtools,see man or info.

In order to exchange text files with a Windows OS,you have to first convert the code with nfk or another command,because the character codes between Windows and Linux are different.To view data in Windows,you can use Netscape or Internet Explorer.