Options and filenames

The regular expression "pattern matching" routines follow the Unix-style rules. For example, `*' matches all MS-DOS files in lieu of `*.*'. The archive, hidden, read-only and system attribute bits are ignored during pattern matching.

All options use the - (minus) as their first character, not / as you'd expect in MS-DOS.

Most mtools commands allow multiple filename parameters, which doesn't follow MS-DOS conventions, but which is more user-friendly.

Most mtools commands allow options that instruct them how to handle file name clashes. See section name clashes, for more details on these. All commands accept the -V flags which prints the version, and most accept the -v flag, which switches on verbose mode. In verbose mode, these commands print out the name of the MS-DOS files upon which they act, unless stated otherwise. See section Commands, for a description of the options which are specific to each command.

Drive letters

The drive letter : (colon) has a special meaning. It is used to access image files which are directly specified on the command line using the -i options.

Example:

 mcopy -i my-image-file.bin ::file1 ::file2 .

This copies file1 and file2 from the image file (my-image-file.bin) to the /tmp directory.

You can also supply an offset within the image file by including @@offset into the file name.

Example:

 mcopy -i my-image-file.bin@@1M ::file1 ::file2 .

This looks for the image at the offset of 1M in the file, rather than at its beginning.

Current working directory

VFAT-style long file names

Long name       MS-DOS name     Reason for the change
---------       ----------      ---------------------
thisisatest     THISIS~1        filename too long
alain.knaff     ALAIN~1.KNA     extension too long
prn.txt         PRN~1.TXT       PRN is a device name
.abc            ABC~1           null filename
hot+cold        HOT_CO~1        illegal character

As you see, the following transformations happen to derive a short name:

*   

Illegal characters are replaced by underscores. The illegal characters are ;+=[]',\"*\\<>/?:|.

*   

Extra dots, which cannot be interpreted as a main name/extension separator are removed

*   

A ~n number is generated,

*   

The name is shortened so as to fit in the 8+3 limitation

The initial Unix-style file name (whether long or short) is also called the primary name, and the derived short name is also called the secondary name.

Example:

 mcopy /etc/motd a:Reallylongname

Mtools creates a VFAT entry for Reallylongname, and uses REALLYLO as a short name. Reallylongname is the primary name, and REALLYLO is the secondary name.

 mcopy /etc/motd a:motd

Motd fits into the DOS filename limits. Mtools doesn't need to derivate another name. Motd is the primary name, and there is no secondary name.

In a nutshell: The primary name is the long name, if one exists, or the short name if there is no long name.

Although VFAT is much more flexible than FAT, there are still names that are not acceptable, even in VFAT. There are still some illegal characters left (\"*\\<>/?:|), and device names are still reserved.

Unix name       Long name       Reason for the change
---------       ----------      ---------------------
prn             prn-1           PRN is a device name
ab:c            ab_c-1          illegal character

As you see, the following transformations happen if a long name is illegal:

*   

Illegal characters are replaces by underscores,

*   

A -n number is generated,

Name clashes

overwrite 

Overwrites the existing file. It is not possible to overwrite a directory with a file.

rename 

Renames the newly created file. Mtools prompts for the new filename

autorename 

Renames the newly created file. Mtools chooses a name by itself, without prompting

skip 

Gives up on this file, and moves on to the next (if any)

To chose one of these actions, type its first letter at the prompt. If you use a lower case letter, the action only applies for this file only, if you use an upper case letter, the action applies to all files, and you won't be prompted again.

You may also chose actions (for all files) on the command line, when invoking mtools:

-D o 

Overwrites primary names by default.

-D O 

Overwrites secondary names by default.

-D r 

Renames primary name by default.

-D R 

Renames secondary name by default.

-D a 

Autorenames primary name by default.

-D A 

Autorenames secondary name by default.

-D s 

Skip primary name by default.

-D S 

Skip secondary name by default.

-D m 

Ask user what to do with primary name.

-D M 

Ask user what to do with secondary name.

Note that for command line switches lower/upper differentiates between primary/secondary name whereas for interactive choices, lower/upper differentiates between just-this-time/always.

The primary name is the name as displayed in Windows 95 or Windows NT: i.e. the long name if it exists, and the short name otherwise. The secondary name is the "hidden" name, i.e. the short name if a long name exists.

By default, the user is prompted if the primary name clashes, and the secondary name is autorenamed.

If a name clash occurs in a Unix directory, mtools only asks whether to overwrite the file, or to skip it.

Case sensitivity of the VFAT file system

The VFAT file system allows you to store the case of a filename in the attribute byte, if all letters of the filename are the same case, and if all letters of the extension are the same case too. Mtools uses this information when displaying the files, and also to generate the Unix filename when mcopying to a Unix directory. This may have unexpected results when applied to files written using an pre-7.0 version of DOS: Indeed, the old style filenames map to all upper case. This is different from the behavior of the old version of mtools which used to generate lower case Unix filenames.

high capacity formats

In order to format these disks, you need to use an operating system specific tool. For Linux, suitable floppy tools can be found in the fdutils package at the following locations~:

http://www.fdutils.linux.lu/.

See the manual pages included in that package for further detail: Use superformat to format all formats except XDF, and use xdfcopy to format XDF.

  More sectors

These formats are supported by numerous DOS shareware utilities such as fdformat and vgacopy. In his infinite hubris, Bill Gate$ believed that he invented this, and called it `DMF disks', or `Windows formatted disks'. But in reality, it has already existed years before! Mtools supports these formats on Linux, on SunOS and on the DELL Unix PC.

  Bigger sectors

This method permits storage of up to 1992K on a 3 1/2 HD disk.

Mtools supports these formats only on Linux.

  2m

However, the drawback of this is that the first cylinder can hold less data than the others. Unfortunately, DOS can only handle disks where each track contains the same amount of data. Thus 2m hides the fact that the first track contains less data by using a shadow FAT. (Usually, DOS stores the FAT in two identical copies, for additional safety. XDF stores only one copy, but tells DOS that it stores two. Thus the space that would be taken up by the second FAT copy is saved.) This also means that you should never use a 2m disk to store anything else than a DOS file system.

Mtools supports these formats only on Linux.

  XDF

Mtools supports this format only on Linux.

Caution / Attention distributors: If mtools is compiled on a Linux kernel more recent than 1.3.34, it won't run on an older kernel. However, if it has been compiled on an older kernel, it still runs on a newer kernel, except that XDF access is slower. It is recommended that distribution authors only include mtools binaries compiled on kernels older than 1.3.34 until 2.0 comes out. When 2.0 will be out, mtools binaries compiled on newer kernels may (and should) be distributed. Mtools binaries compiled on kernels older than 1.3.34 won't run on any 2.1 kernel or later.

Exit codes

Bugs

The fat checking code chokes on 1.72 Mb disks mformatted with pre-2.0.7 mtools. Set the environmental variable MTOOLS_FAT_COMPATIBILITY (or the corresponding configuration file variable, `global variables') to bypass the fat checking.