byte(F)
byte --
continuous stream of constant bytes
Description
The byte devices generate an unlimited supply of test data
but occupy only a small amount of disk space.
Each byte character special file provides an unlimited
stream of bytes. The value of each byte is the same as the minor
device number of the file.
The character special file /dev/zero is a
source of an unlimited stream of zero-value bytes.
Examples
Send test data (BELs) to a serial port:
cat /dev/byte/hex/07 > /dev/tty2d
Create a 10MB test file:
dd if=/dev/byte/hex/ff of=tenmeg bs=1k count=10240
Zero the first four sectors of a floppy disk to destroy
any existing boot block and superblock information
before making a filesystem on it:
dd if=/dev/zero of=/dev/rfd0 bs=2k count=1
Limitations
Not all /dev/byte/
files may be present on your system.
Files
/dev/byte/dec/0 /dev/byte/dec/255-
/dev/byte/hex/00 /dev/byte/hex/ff-
/dev/byte/octal/0 /dev/byte/octal/377-
sources of continuous streams of bytes with values 0 and 255
/dev/zero-
source of a continuous stream of bytes with value zero
See also
dd(C),
idmknod(ADM),
null(F)
© 2003 Caldera International, Inc. All rights reserved.
SCO OpenServer Release 5.0.7 -- 11 February 2003