Using a Floppy Disk Drive for IRIX File Transfer

Using a Floppy Disk Drive for IRIX File Transfer

You can use a floppy disk drive like a tape drive for IRIX file transfer. You can use the standard tape archive commands to write files to the floppy disk drive if it is in DOS format. Use the mkfp command to create the DOS filesystem on the floppy disk. See the mkfp(1M) reference page for complete information. You can also use the command version of fx(1M) to format your floppy disk for file transfer.

When you place files on a floppy disk, it is a good idea to make a note on the disk label of the format or the exact command used to place the files on the floppy disk. This makes it much easier for you (and others) to retrieve the files from the floppy disk. Also, whenever possible, change directories to the directory that contains the file and place the file on the floppy disk using a relative pathname, rather than specifying the absolute pathname.

Also, be aware that using a floppy disk to transfer files to systems made by other manufacturers may mean that the same tools are not available on the receiving system. The tar, cpio, and dd tools are usually available on all UNIX systems.

In the following examples, the floppy disk drive device name is given as /dev/rdsk/fds0d3.3.5. Your actual device name may be different.

Floppy Disk File Transfer With tar

To place a copy of the file transfer.file on a floppy disk with the tar command, use the syntax:

tar cvf /dev/rdsk/fds0d3.3.5 transfer.file

To retrieve the file, use the command:

tar xvf /dev/rdsk/fds0d3.3.5 transfer.file

To retrieve all files from a tar floppy disk, use the command:

tar xvf /dev/rdsk/fds0d3.3.5

or for high-density floppy disks:

tar xvf /dev/rdsk/fds0d3.3.5hi

For complete information on tar and its options, see the tar(1) reference page.

Floppy Disk File Transfer With cpio

To copy files to floppy disk with cpio, use the command:

ls transfer.file | cpio -oc > /dev/rdsk/fds0d3.3.5

To retrieve the file again, use the command:

cat /dev/rdsk/fds0d3.3.5 | cpio -i

For complete information on cpio and its options, see the cpio(1) reference page.

Floppy Disk File Transfer With dd

This dd command copies a file to the floppy disk:

dd if=transfer.file of=/dev/rdsk/fds0d3.3.5 conv=sync

The following command extracts the same file:

dd if=/dev/rdsk/fds0d3.3.5 of=transfer.file conv=sync

Note: dd works only with single files. You can use tar or cpio to create an archive file, though, and then use dd to transfer that archive. If you attempt to extract the file on another brand of workstation and you experience an error, try adding the conv=swab statement to your extraction command line. For complete information on dd, see the dd(1) reference page.