Abstract: A device for recording information on a storage medium is arranged for formatting the storage medium. The device has a medium interface for interfacing with the storage medium for recording data on the medium and retrieving data from the medium, and a host interface for receiving commands according to a protocol (ATA/ATAPI) from a host. The commands include a format command. The device has a formatter for formatting the storage medium according to a format process indicated by the format command. The formatting includes interrupting the format process until a point in time defined by a further command from the host so that no formatting in the background is performed, and therefore real-time performance of the device is not deteriorated by the formatting.