Chapter 17. Working with MS-DOS files
Use the mtools programs to work with ms-dos based files, execute mtools for a full listing of available m* tools. There are a lot of files within the mtools package for working with ms-dos disks, also try the info documentation of mtools for more details.
 | The use of slashes |
|---|---|
Note that with mtools commands you can use the slashes on the a: part either way (ie. backslash (windows-style) or forward slash (UNIX system style)). |
- mformat
Formats an unmounted disk as an ms-dos floppy disk. Usage is similar to the ms-dos format utility, to format the first floppy disk you can type:
mformat a:
- mcopy
Copies files from an ms-dos disk when it's not mounted. Similar to the ms-dos copy command except it's more advanced.
Command syntax:
mcopy a:/file_or_files /destination/directory
- mmount
Mount an ms-dos disk, without using the normal UNIX system mount.
For example:
mmount a: /mnt/floppy
This will mount the floppy under /mnt/floppy (this option may or may not be necessary, it depends on your /etc/fstab setup).
- mbadblocks
Scans an ms-dos (fat formatted disk) for bad blocks, it marks any unused bad blocks as “bad” so they won't be used.
Example:
mbadblocks a:
- dosfsck
This program is used to check and repair ms-dos based filesystems. Use the -a option to automatically repair the filesystem (ie don't ask the user questions), the -t option to mark un-readable clusters as bad and the -v option to be more verbose (print more information).
Example:
dosfsck -at /dev/fd0
This would check your floppy disk for any errors (and bad sectors) and repair them automatically.