x86: To Check IDE Disk for Bad Blocks

IDE disk drives do not automatically map out bad blocks like other drives supported by Solaris software. Before installing Solaris on an IDE disk, you might want to perform a surface analysis on the disk. To perform surface analysis on an IDE disk, follow this procedure.

1. Become superuser or assume an equivalent role.

   Roles contain authorizations and privileged commands. For more information about roles, see Configuring RBAC (Task Map) in System Administration Guide: Security Services.

2. Boot to the installation media.
3. When you are prompted to select an installation type, select option 6, Single user shell.
4. Start the format(1M) program.

   # format

5. Specify the IDE disk drive on which you want to perform a surface analysis.

   # cxdy

   cx

   Is the controller number

   dy

   Is the device number

6. Determine if you have an fdisk partition.

   • If a Solaris fdisk partition already exists, proceed to Step 7.

   • If a Solaris fdisk partition does not exist, use the fdisk command to create a Solaris partition on the disk.

     format> fdisk

7. To begin the surface analysis, type:

   format> analyze

8. Determine the current settings, type:

   analyze> config

9. (Optional) To change settings, type:

   analyze> setup

10. To find bad blocks, type:

    analyze> type_of_surface_analysis

    type_of_surface_analysis

    Is read, write, or compare

    If format finds bad blocks, it remaps them.

11. To exit the analysis, type:

    analyze> quit

12. Determine if you want to specify blocks to remap.

    • If no, go to Step 13.

    • If yes, type:

      format> repair

13. To exit the format program, type:

    quit

14. Restart the media in multiuser mode by typing the following command.

    # exit