DASDFMT(8)					       DASDFMT(8)



NAME
       dasdfmt - formatting of DASD (ECKD) disk drives.


SYNOPSIS
       dasdfmt [-hptvyLVF]
	       [-m step |--hashmarks step]
	       [-b blockSize |--blocksize blockSize]
	       [-l volser |--label volser]
	       [-d diskLayout |--disk_layout diskLayout]
	       diskSpec



DESCRIPTION
       dasdfmt formats a DASD (ECKD) disk drive to prepare it for
       usage with Linux for S/390.  WARNING:  Careless	usage  of
       dasdfmt can result in LOSS OF DATA.


OPTIONS
       -t or --test
	      Disables	 any  modification  of	the  disk  drive.
	      asdfmtjust prints out, what it would do.


       -v     Increases verbosity.


       -y     Start formatting without further user-confirmation.


       -L or --no_label
	      Omit  the writing of a disk label after formatting.


       -V or --version
	      Print version number and exit.


       -F     Formats the device without checking, if the  device
	      is mounted or used as swap space.


       -d diskLayout or --disk_layout=diskLayout
	      Formats  the  device with compatible disk layout or
	      linux disk layout.  diskLayout is  either  cdl  for
	      the compatible disk layout (default) or ldl for the
	      linux disk layout.
	      Compatible disk layout means a special handling  of
	      the  first  two  tracks of the volume. This enables
	      other S/390 or zSeries operating systems to  access
	      this device (e.g. for backup purposes).


       -p or --progressbar
	      Print  a progress bar while formatting.  Do not use
	      this option if you are using a 3270 console.


       -m step or --hashmarks=step
	      Print a hashmark every step  cylinders.  The  value
	      step  has to be within range [1,1000], otherwise it
	      will be set to the default, which is 10.
	      You can use this option to see the progress of for
	      matting  in  case  you  are  not	able  to  use the
	      progress bar option -p, e.g. with a 3270	terminal.


       -b blockSize or --blocksize=blockSize
	      Specify  blocksize  to be used. blocksize must be a
	      positive integer and always be a power of two.  Due
	      to  some	limitations in the driver, it is strongly
	      recommended to use a blockSize of 4096.


       -l volser or --label=volser
	      Specify the volume serial number or volume  identi
	      fier  to be written to disk after formatting. If no
	      label is specified, a  sensible  default	is  used.
	      volser  is interpreted as ASCII string and is auto
	      matically  converted  to	uppercase  and	then   to
	      EBCDIC.

	      e.g. -l LNX001 or --label=DASD01

	      The  volser  identifies by serial number the volume
	      on which the partition resides or  will  reside.	A
	      volume  serial  number is 1 through 6 alphanumeric,
	      national ($, #, @), or special characters;  enclose
	      a  serial  number that contains special characters,
	      other than hyphens, in apostrophes. If  the  number
	      is  shorter  than six characters, it is padded with
	      trailing blanks.

	      Do not code a volume serial number as SCRTCH,  PRI
	      VAT,  or	Lnnnnn	(L  with five numbers); these are
	      used in OS/390 messages  to  ask	the  operator  to
	      mount  a volume. Do not code a volume serial number
	      as MIGRAT, which is used by the OS/390 Hierarchical
	      Storage Manager DFSMShsm for migrated data sets.


       diskSpec
	      This  parameter  specifies the device to be format
	      ted. It also can be given in two variants:

		   -f /dev/dasd/xxxx/device or
		   --device=/dev/dasd/xxxx/device
	      or
		   -n devnum or --devno=devnum

	      The first form use the commonly  used  UNIX  device
	      notation	where xxxx is the four-letter device num
	      ber.  The second form uses simply the  device  num
	      ber.

	      In  case	you are not using the device file system,
	      please specify for the commonly  used  UNIX  device
	      notation:

		   -f /dev/dasdx or
		   --device=/dev/dasdx

	      where x is one or more lowercase letter(s).
	      The  second  form using simply the device number is
	      equal to the case using the device file system.


BUGS
       None so far ;-)


SEE ALSO
       "LINUX for S/390 Device Drivers and Installation Commands"
       at http://www10.software.ibm.com/developerworks/opensource/linux390/docu/l390dd08.pdf


AUTHOR
       This man-page was written by Fritz Elfert <felfert@to.com>
       and updated by Volker Sameske <sameske@de.ibm.com>



			  Thu Jun 5 2001	       DASDFMT(8)