ftl_format(8)
NAME
ftl_format - Flash Translation Layer formatting utility
SYNOPSIS
ftl_format [-q] [-i] [-s spare] [-r reserve] [-b bootsize]
device
DESCRIPTION
Ftl_format creates a Flash Translation Layer partition on
a flash memory device. It needs to access the flash par
tition's raw character-mode device (such as /dev/mem0c0c).
This is actually a low-level format operation, required
before accessing a memory device via the FTL block device
driver. Once a partition is prepared with ftl_format, a
filesystem should be created in a separate step. Filesys
tem commands should access the device via the FTL device
file (such as /dev/ftl0).
Optionally, ftl_format can reserve a region at the begin
ning of the flash card address space for a boot image (or
any other purpose). The boot area is not part of the FTL
partition, and can only be accessed via the raw memory
device.
On Intel Series 100 flash cards, the first flash block is
used to store the card's configuration information struc
tures. If no boot area is specified on the command line,
ftl_format will automatically create one to span the first
block.
OPTIONS
-q Quiet mode: don't print formatting statistics.
-i Interactive: confirm before beginning the format.
- -s spare
- Reserve the specified number of erase blocks as
spares. The default is 1. A read-write partition
requires at least one spare block. - -r reserve
- Reserve the specified percentage of the total space
on the device to improve write efficiency. The
default is 5%. Reserving less space increases the
frequency of flash erase operations to reclaim free
blocks. - -b bootsize
- Requests that a portion of the flash card be
reserved for a boot image. The size will be
rounded up to an integral number of erase blocks.
AUTHOR
David Hinds - dahinds@users.sourceforge.net