Solaris Systems Administrator’s Guide, Second Edition:Administering Devices

Disabling Volume Management

You may want to disable volume management for some users. To do so, use the following steps:

1. Become superuser.

2. Remove or rename the /etc/rc2.d/S92volmgt script.

3. Type /etc/init.d/volmgt stop and press Return.

You can disable part of volume management and leave other parts functional. You may, for example, want to automatically mount CD-ROMs, but use the Solaris 2.0 method for accessing files on a diskette. You can do so by commenting out the lines for diskettes in the /etc/vold.conf file, as shown:

# @(#)vold.conf 1.21     96/05/10 SMI
#
# Volume Daemon Configuration file
#

# Database to use (must be first)
db db_mem.so

# Labels supported
label dos label_dos.so floppy rmscsi pcmem
label cdrom label_cdrom.so cdrom
label sun label_sun.so floppy rmscsi pcmem

# Devices to use
use cdrom drive /dev/rdsk/c*s2 dev_cdrom.so cdrom%d
# use floppy drive /dev/rdiskette[0-9] dev_floppy.so floppy%d
use pcmem drive /dev/rdsk/c*s2 dev_pcmem.so pcmem%d forceload=true
# use rmscsi drive /dev/rdsk/c*s2 dev_rmscsi.so rmscsi%d

# Actions
insert dev/diskette[0-9]/* user=root /usr/sbin/rmmount
insert dev/dsk/* user=root /usr/sbin/rmmount
eject dev/diskette[0-9]/* user=root /usr/sbin/rmmount
eject dev/dsk/* user=root /usr/sbin/rmmount
notify rdsk/* group=tty user=root /usr/lib/vold/volmissing -p

# List of file system types unsafe to eject
unsafe ufs hsfs pcfs

Using Diskettes Without Volume Management

Use double-sided (DS), high-density (HD) 3.5-inch diskettes. Before you can copy ufs files or file systems to diskette, you must format the diskette. Use the tar command to copy ufs files to a single formatted diskette. Use cpio if you need to copy ufs files to multiple formatted diskettes. The cpio command recognizes end of media and prompts you to insert the next volume.

You also can make a DOS-file system on a diskette. To use a DOS-formatted diskette, you mount the diskette as a pcfs file system and use basic OS commands such as cp and mv to archive and retrieve files from the diskette.

Diskette Device Names

The device name for the diskette drive has changed with the SunOS 5.x system software. The device name for the diskette drive is /dev/diskette. The raw device file for a diskette is /dev/rdiskette.

Diskettes for ufs File Systems

The following sections describe how to format diskettes for use with ufs file systems, and describe how to copy files using the tar and cpio commands. They also describe how to retrieve files that were created using the SunOS 4.x bar command.

Formatting a ufs Diskette

Follow these steps to format a diskette for use with SunOS 5.x ufs file systems:

1. Check the diskette to make sure that it is not write protected.

2. Put the diskette in the drive.

CAUTION! Reformatting destroys any files already on the diskette.

3. Type fdformat and press Return. The message Press return to start formatting floppy is displayed.

4. Press Return. While the diskette is being formatted, a series of dots (...) is displayed. When formatting is complete, the prompt is redisplayed:

oak% fdformat
Press return to start formatting floppy.
....................................................................
oak%

Removing a Diskette from the Drive

Use the eject command to remove a diskette from the disk drive. You can also use the eject command to remove a CD-ROM disc from a CD-ROM drive. The default for the eject command is /dev/diskette when you type it with no arguments. To remove a diskette from the diskette drive, type eject and press Return. The diskette is ejected.

NOTE: If the drive jams, you can eject a diskette manually by sticking a straightened wire paper clip into the pinhole under the diskette slot.

To eject a CD-ROM disc from a CD-ROM drive, type eject cdrom and press Return.

Copying ufs Files to a Single Formatted Diskette

This section provides steps for using the tar command to copy files to a single formatted diskette. Note that the tar command does not require the raw device name, /dev/rdiskette. You can use either the /dev/rdiskette or /dev/diskette device name. The examples in this book use the raw device name.

Use the following steps to copy ufs files to a single formatted diskette:

1. Change to the directory that contains the file(s) you want to copy.

2. Insert a write-enabled formatted diskette protected into the drive.

CAUTION! Copying files to a formatted diskette using the c option destroys any files already on the diskette. If you want to preserve the files already on the diskette, use the r option described in "Appending Files to a Formatted Diskette (tar)" later.

3. Type tar cvf /dev/rdiskette filename filename filename ... and press Return. The file names you specify are copied to the diskette, overwriting any existing files on the diskette.

NOTE: You can use metacharacters (? and *) as part of the file names you specify. For example, to copy all documents with a .doc suffix, type *.doc as the file name argument.

4. Type eject and press Return to remove the diskette from the drive. The diskette is ejected from the drive.

5. Write the names of the files on the diskette label.

In this example, two files are copied to a diskette:

oak% cd /home/winsor
oak% ls evaluation*
evaluation.doc   evaluation.doc.backup
oak% tar cvf /dev/rdiskette evaluation*
a evaluation.doc 86 blocks
a evaluation.doc.backup 84 blocks
oak% eject
oak%

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