Mac OS X for Unix Geeks

Name

disktool

Syntax

disktool [-o | -r | -x | -y]
disktool [-d | -g | -m | -va | -vd | -vs] device
disktool [-e | -p | -s | -u] device 
                  integer_flag
disktool -n device vol_name
disktool -a device 
                  vol_name vol_flags

Description

Controls disks, including mounting, unmounting, ejecting, enabling permissions, and volume naming. Most options require a device name argument (for example, disk0), and some options require additional parameters.

Options/Usage

-a

Adds disk to Disk Arbitration tables, to notify applications of a mounted volume. This is useful if you have forced a mount, thus bypassing standard notification.

-d

Removes disk from Disk Arbitration tables, to notify applications of a dismount. This is useful if you have forced a dismount, thus bypassing standard notification.

-e

Ejects disk. Takes an additional argument that is normally set to 0.

-g

Gets HFS encoding on a volume.

-m

Mounts disk.

-n

Names volume.

-o

Opens vacant drive doors.

-p

Unmounts partition. Device name is that of a partition (for example, disk0s5). Takes an additional argument that is normally set to 0.

-r

Refreshes Disk Arbitration.

-s

Sets HFS encoding on a volume. Takes encoding as additional integer argument.

-u

Unmounts disk. Takes an additional argument that is normally set to 0.

-va

Adds device to /var/db/volinfo.database.

-vd

Deletes device from /var/db/volinfo.database.

-vs

Displays status of device in /var/db/volinfo.database.

-x

Disallows dismounts and ejects.

-y

Allows dismounts and ejects. ...