So .. I was attempting to write an image to a floppy today, when I noticed
that the write-protect tab on the floppy was switched.

However, instead of failing on the write, as I expected from the floppy
driver, it just printed an error message and went on to the next block.

I had no choice but to sit there and wait for it to stop pounding
mercilessly on the floppy drive (write a block, fail, reset the drive,
go right on to the next block).

[....]
Dec 18 14:10:45 idea /netbsd: fd0a: hard error writing fsbn 216 of 216-219
	(st0 40<abnrml> st1 2<write_protect> st2 0 cyl 6 head 0 sec 1)
Dec 18 14:10:46 idea /netbsd: fd0a: hard error writing fsbn 220 of 220-223
	(st0 40<abnrml> st1 2<write_protect> st2 0 cyl 6 head 0 sec 5)
Dec 18 14:10:46 idea /netbsd: fd0a: hard error writing fsbn 224 of 224-227
	(st0 40<abnrml> st1 2<write_protect> st2 0 cyl 6 head 0 sec 9)
Dec 18 14:10:47 idea /netbsd: fd0a: hard error writing fsbn 228 of 228-231
	(st0 40<abnrml> st1 2<write_protect> st2 0 cyl 6 head 0 sec 13)
Dec 18 14:10:47 idea /netbsd: fd0a: hard error writing fsbn 232 of 232-235
	(st0 40<abnrml> st1 2<write_protect> st2 0 cyl 6 head 0 sec 17)
[... ad naseum ...]

	There appeared to be absolutely no way to interrupt the dd process
to make this horrible nightmare come to a stop, until it had completed the
entire floppy's worth of data.

	How difficult would it be to modify the floppy driver to actually
return an error code in the event of a failure?

Cheers,
Phil
--
Phillip F Knaack
Systems Administrator, Information Development for Extension Audiences (IDEA)
Iowa State University Extension