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MKFS.FAT(8)			  dosfstools			   MKFS.FAT(8)

NAME
       mkfs.fat - create an MS-DOS filesystem under Linux

SYNOPSIS
       mkfs.fat [ -a ] [ -A ] [ -b sector-of-backup ] [ -c ] [ -l filename ] [
       -C ] [ -f number-of-FATs ] [ -F FAT-size ] [  -h	 number-of-hidden-sec‐
       tors ] [ -i volume-id ] [ -I ] [ -m message-file ] [ -n volume-name ] [
       -r root-dir-entries ] [ -R number-of-reserved-sectors ] [  -s  sectors-
       per-cluster ] [ -S logical-sector-size ] [ -v ] device [ block-count ]

DESCRIPTION
       mkfs.fat is used to create an MS-DOS filesystem under Linux on a device
       (usually a disk partition).  device is the special  file	 corresponding
       to  the device (e.g /dev/hdXX).	block-count is the number of blocks on
       the device.  If omitted, mkfs.fat automatically determines the filesys‐
       tem size.

OPTIONS
       -a     Normally,	 for  any  filesystem except very small ones, mkfs.fat
	      will align all the data structures to cluster size, to make sure
	      that  as	long as the partition is properly aligned, so will all
	      the data structures in the  filesystem.	This  option  disables
	      alignment;  this may provide a handful of additional clusters of
	      storage at the expense of a significant performance  degradation
	      on RAIDs, flash media or large-sector hard disks.

       -A     Use Atari variation of the MS-DOS filesystem. This is default if
	      mkfs.fat is run on an Atari, then this option  turns  off	 Atari
	      format.  There  are some differences when using Atari format: If
	      not directed otherwise by the user, mkfs.fat will always	use  2
	      sectors per cluster, since GEMDOS doesn't like other values very
	      much.  It will also obey the maximum number  of  sectors	GEMDOS
	      can handle.  Larger filesystems are managed by raising the logi‐
	      cal sector size.	Under Atari format, an Atari-compatible serial
	      number for the filesystem is generated, and a 12 bit FAT is used
	      only for filesystems that have one of  the  usual	 floppy	 sizes
	      (720k,  1.2M, 1.44M, 2.88M), a 16 bit FAT otherwise. This can be
	      overridden with the -F  option.  Some  PC-specific  boot	sector
	      fields  aren't  written,	and  a	boot  message  (option	-m) is
	      ignored.

       -b sector-of-backup
	      Selects the location  of	the  backup  boot  sector  for	FAT32.
	      Default  depends	on  number of reserved sectors, but usually is
	      sector 6. The backup must be within the range of	reserved  sec‐
	      tors.

       -c     Check the device for bad blocks before creating the filesystem.

       -C     Create  the  file given as device on the command line, and write
	      the to-be-created filesystem to it. This can be used  to	create
	      the new filesystem in a file instead of on a real device, and to
	      avoid using dd in advance to create a file of appropriate	 size.
	      With  this option, the block-count must be given, because other‐
	      wise the intended size of the filesystem wouldn't be known.  The
	      file  created is a sparse file, which actually only contains the
	      meta-data areas (boot sector, FATs,  and	root  directory).  The
	      data  portions  won't be stored on the disk, but the file never‐
	      theless will have the correct size. The resulting	 file  can  be
	      copied  later  to	 a  floppy  disk  or  other device, or mounted
	      through a loop device.

       -f number-of-FATs
	      Specify the number of file allocation tables in the  filesystem.
	      The  default  is	2.  Currently the Linux MS-DOS filesystem does
	      not support more than 2 FATs.

       -F FAT-size
	      Specifies the type of file allocation tables used (12, 16 or  32
	      bit).   If  nothing  is  specified,  mkfs.fat will automatically
	      select between 12, 16 and 32 bit, whatever fits better  for  the
	      filesystem size.

       -h number-of-hidden-sectors
	      Select  the  number  of hidden sectors in the volume. Apparently
	      some digital cameras get indigestion if you feed them a CF  card
	      without  such  hidden sectors, this option allows you to satisfy
	      them. Assumes ´0´ if no value is given on the command line.

       -i  volume-id
	      Sets the volume ID of the newly created filesystem; volume-id is
	      a	 32-bit	 hexadecimal  number  (for  example,  2e24ec82).   The
	      default is a number which depends	 on  the  filesystem  creation
	      time.

       -I     It  is  typical  for fixed disk devices to be partitioned so, by
	      default, you are not permitted to create a filesystem across the
	      entire  device.	mkfs.fat  will	complain  and tell you that it
	      refuses to work.	This is different when using  MO  disks.   One
	      doesn't  always need partitions on MO disks.  The filesystem can
	      go directly to the whole disk.  Under other OSes this  is	 known
	      as the 'superfloppy' format.

	      This switch will force mkfs.fat to work properly.

       -l filename
	      Read the bad blocks list from filename.

       -m message-file
	      Sets  the	 message  the  user  receives on attempts to boot this
	      filesystem without having properly installed an  operating  sys‐
	      tem.  The message file must not exceed 418 bytes once line feeds
	      have been converted to carriage return-line  feed	 combinations,
	      and  tabs	 have been expanded.  If the filename is a hyphen (-),
	      the text is taken from standard input.

       -n volume-name
	      Sets the volume name (label) of the filesystem.  The volume name
	      can be up to 11 characters long.	The default is no label.

       -r root-dir-entries
	      Select  the  number  of entries available in the root directory.
	      The default is 112 or 224 for floppies and 512 for hard disks.

       -R number-of-reserved-sectors
	      Select the number of reserved  sectors.  With  FAT32  format  at
	      least  2	reserved sectors are needed, the default is 32. Other‐
	      wise the default is 1 (only the boot sector).

       -s sectors-per-cluster
	      Specify the number of disk sectors per cluster.  Must be a power
	      of 2, i.e. 1, 2, 4, 8, ... 128.

       -S logical-sector-size
	      Specify the number of bytes per logical sector.  Must be a power
	      of 2 and greater than or equal to 512,  i.e.  512,  1024,	 2048,
	      4096, 8192, 16384, or 32768.

       -v     Verbose execution.

BUGS
       mkfs.fat	 can  not  create boot-able filesystems. This isn't as easy as
       you might think at first glance for various reasons and has  been  dis‐
       cussed a lot already.  mkfs.fat simply will not support it ;)

AUTHOR
       Dave  Hudson  -	<dave@humbug.demon.co.uk>;  modified  by  Peter	 Anvin
       <hpa@yggdrasil.com>.   Fixes   and    additions	  by	Roman	 Hodek
       <roman@hodek.net> for Debian GNU/Linux.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
       mkfs.fat	 is  based  on	code  from  mke2fs  (written  by  Remy	Card -
       <card@masi.ibp.fr>) which is itself based on  mkfs  (written  by	 Linus
       Torvalds - <torvalds@cs.helsinki.fi>).

SEE ALSO
       fsck.fat(8), fatlabel(8), mkfs(8)

3.0.19				  2013-06-11			   MKFS.FAT(8)
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