FTL_FORMAT(1)

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.
       The boot area is not part of the FTL  partition,  and  can
       only be accessed via the raw memory device.

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.

       -bbootsize
              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 - dhinds@allegro.stanford.edu

SEE ALSO
       ftl_cs(4) ftl_check(8).