diskcopy WAS: [svlug] Stalls during install

[Erik Steffl]

  that depends on the filesystem on the floppy.

  comparing the DOS and Linux notion of 'floppies':

  linux knows a lot of devices (and provides relatively consistent
programmer's and user's interface to them), one of them is floppy

  floppy can be accessed as raw device or you can use it as a disk with
a filesystem.

  device: you can copy device to a file on a hard disk (quite a few
programs can do that, I think you can use cat, dd, cpio, ...), without
even knowing the filesystem on the floppy. of course, you have to know
physical formatting of both floppies.

  filesystem: you mount the filesystem and use cp -r (to hd and then
second cp -r from hd to second floppy). I am not aware of linux program
that would have exactly the same functionality as diskcopy but you can
easily write a script to do it. and avoid one major drawback of diskcopy
(it was still there last time I checked it, I admit it was quite some
time ago) - having to change the two floppies few times no matter how
much memory do you have.

  for dos filesystem: you can use mtools (they provide the same basic
tools for working with DOS disk as DOS provides)

	erik


> p.s. is there a program in linux that makes diskcopies?  my school admin
> runs linux on a server...he was bagering me about how DOS can make a simple
> diskcopy just by typing diskcopy a: a: and linux "supposedly the wonderful
> and powerful OS" cant even do it...I would really like to know the command
> so i can shove it in his face..anyone know?


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