User`s guide

FORMAT
(FORMAT)
• Formats some disks and diskettes by writing headers to each block in a volume.
• Verifies that blocks on disks and diskettes can be read from or written to.
• Replaces bad blocks (ones from/to which you cannot read/write) on a device with
good blocks.
Format
FORMAT device:
Command Options
/[NO]QUERY
/SINGLEDENSITY
/VERIFY[:ONLY]
/PATTERN:value
/WAIT
Parameter
device:
Specifies the storage volume you want to format and/or verify.
Description
You can FORMAT and /VERIFY the following devices:
DW devices (Devices for Professional 300 Series processors)
RK05
RK06/RK07
RX01 and RX02 on RX02 drives
RX33
You can only /VERIFY [:ONLY] the following devices:
RL01/RL02
RX01
RX50
What Formatting Does
Using the FORMAT command to format a storage volume makes that volume usable
to the RT–11 operating system. The FORMAT command does this by writing headers
for each block on the volume. The header of a block contains data the device
controller must use to transfer data to and from that block.
RT–11 Command Descriptions 123