diskdefs - Man Page

The diskdefs file contains CP/M format descriptions, because CP/M in general does not store those in the file system and there are no standards of any kind.

A diskdefs file consists of one or more entries of the format:

    diskdef name
      seclen size
      tracks count
      sectrk count
      blocksize size
      maxdir count
      [dirblks count]
      boottrk number
      [bootsec number]
      [skew number]
      [skewtab sector[,sector]...]
      [os 2.2|3|isx|p2dos|zsys]
      [offset size]
      [logicalextents count]
      [libdsk:format name]
    end

skew and skewtab must only be used exclusively.

Comments are marked with a leading hash or semicolon and extend to the end of the line.

It is possible to reserve space after the directory beyond maxdir using an inflated DPB ALV0.  If the format makes use of that, dirblks must be set.

bootsec contains the total number of sectors used by the boot area. This is for CP/M systems that map multiple logical tracks onto a physical track. While raw disk images can be configured for doing the same, accessing libdsk images needs to be done by physical tracks.

cpm(5)