Rawrite32 - NetBSD disk image tool for Win32

You may use this tool for preparing floppy disks or ZIP media to boot NetBSD from. It takes a file called "a filesystem image" (usually with a ".fs" suffix) or a compressed variant thereof (usually with ".fs.gz" suffix) and writes it to a removeable medium. This is similar to formating a disk with the "transfer system files" option checked.

This program has it's homepage at http://www.duskware.com/rawrite32, where you will also find it's full license terms, and source code. A short version of the license is reproduced below.

Details on howto invoke this utility and it's command line options are explained below.

This is a typical screen while working with Rawrite32. Please click on the parts of the screen you would like documentation on:

System menu

This system menu is anottaded by an option to invoke the about box, describing the copyright of the program and giving you the oportunity to visit the homepage of the program (just in case you forgot that URL).

Select a file

Opens a file browser dialog to select a file system image file. This is the typical way to enter a filename into the "Filename of image" edit box.

Write to disk...

Starts the transfer to disk. This button is disabled unless you have selected a valid drive to trasnfer to (any removable will do) and a valid image to copy there. It will be disabled on illegal sector offset inputs.

Exit

Quits the program. Same as pressing ESC.

Help

Invokes this help page. Hitting F1 will do this also.

Filename of image

The filename of the image to be written to disk. Rawrite32 accepts filesystem image files (suffix ".fs") and gzip-compressed filesystem images (suffix ".fs.gz"). The utility doesn't verify the contents of the image (i.e. you can use this tool to write a word document on your boot disk if you like), but it displays the MD5 checksum of the file (and additionaly of the decompressed contents, if the file is compressed). These values are displayed in the output area and copie to the clipboard. These values are published with every release or snapshot of NetBSD boot media, so you can compare them and verify you got the original image.

Program messages

The program outputs messages describing state/progress here. You can not enter anything there, it is like a TV: just watch the show.

Target drive

Select the removable media to write the image to. This combobox lists all drives marked as "removable" by the system. Rawrite32 does not support writing to hard disk.

Sector skip

Normally left blank, use following exact instructions only!

Some install media preparation process may involve copying multiple images to a media or leaving the first part of the media alone for other reasons (e.g. because it contains a partition table). This can be acomplished by entering the number of (512 Byte sized) sectors here.

Invocation and Command Line Options

Normally you invoke this program by double clicking on the EXE file in the windows explorer or on a link to it. You then use the "Select" button to open a browser dialog and select the file you would like to write to disk.

You can also select the file in the windows explorer and drag&drop it onto the program.

Another option is to invoke the program from the command line, passing the file to write as it's parameter.

In any case, if there is only one removeable disk drive in the system (typically the floppy drive) the programm will imediately try to write the image file there - after prompting you, of course.

License

Useage of this program is free. Use it at your own risk. See the full license for details.

If you would like to redistribute this program in any form, please see the full license for details.