In article <1992Mar23.192552.16081@ux1.cso.uiuc.edu> ctt31684@uxa.cso.uiuc.edu (... C H I N G ...) writes:

   hello,       while I was copying linux a while ago, i tried to use some unformatted
   disks with raw write.  and raw write couldn't recognize them or something until
   I DOS formatted them.  I'm wondering why do we need to DOS format in the
   first place anyways since raw write just writes to the appropriate tracks
   on the disk

In fact, DOS format does two or three separate things when used on a
diskette:

1.      It creates the actual tracks on it (if they don't already exist)
2.      It creates a DOS directory structure on the disk
3.      It may also transfer the operating system files on the disk, if
        asked

So, basically, you don't need the format command because of the DOS
directory structure, but to create the tracks for rawrite to write on.

In some operating systems the above things are separated to different
commands. For example, in SCO Unix (if I remember right), the format
command does only phase 1, and a separate command (mkfs) is used to
build the file system on the disk (phase 2)if required. This makes the
logical distinction much clearer, and I believe a linux-based format
will work that way, when (not 'if') created.

        Pauli
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