How to make a floppy file image and mounting it in Linux

To make a file image of a floppy disk in Linux (like Ubuntu), you need (of course) a computer with a floppy drive (/dev/fd0). Insert the floppy you want to copy to an image file and issue the command:

$ sudo dd bs=512 count=2880 if=/dev/fd0 of=floppy.img 

Block size (bs) and count above is for a 1,44 MB 3.5" floppy disk.

The image file can be copied back to another floppy disk with the command: 

$ sudo dd bs=512 count=2880 if=floppy.img of=/dev/fd0

The image file can also be mounted directly from the image file without the need of a physical floppy disk: 

$ sudo mkdir /media/fd
$ sudo mount -o loop floppy.img /media/fd/

I use the above method to move the content from a number of floppy disks to my hard drives. Computers today are rarely seen with a floppy drive and I wanted to secure the content before it is too late 🙂