How to Format a Disk

1. Become superuser.

2. Enter the format utility.

   # format

3. Enter the number of the disk that you want to format from the list displayed on your screen.

   Specify disk (enter its number): 0

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   Caution -

   Do not select the system disk. Formatting your system disk deletes your operating system and any data that you may have on this disk.

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4. To begin formatting the disk, enter format at the format> prompt. Confirm the command by typing y.

   format> format Ready to format. Formatting cannot be interrupted and takes 10 minutes (estimated). Continue? y

5. Verify that the disk format is successful by identifying the following messages.

   Formatting ... done Verifying media ... pass 0 - pattern = 0xc6dec6de 2035/12/18 pass 1 - pattern = 0x6db6db6d 2035/12/18 total of 0 defective blocks repaired.

Example--Formatting a Disk

The following example formats the disk c0t2d0.

# format
Searching for disks...done
AVAILABLE DISK SELECTIONS:
       0. c0t1d0 <SUN0535 cyl 1866 alt 2 hd 7 sec 80>
          /sbus@1,f8000000/esp@0,800000/sd@1,0
       1. c0t2d0 <SUN1.05 cyl 2036 alt 2 hd 14 sec 72>
          /sbus@1,f8000000/esp@0,800000/sd@2,0
Specify disk (enter its number):1
Selecting c0t2d0
[disk unformatted]
format> format
Ready to format. Formatting cannot be interrupted
and takes 23 minutes (estimated). Continue? y
Beginning format. The current time is Tue Nov 12 10:04:33 1996
Formatting ...
done
Verifying media ...
pass 0 - pattern = 0xc6dec6de
2035/12/18
pass 1 - pattern = 0x6db6db6d
2035/12/18
total of 0 defective blocks repaired.
format>