Formatting a Disk

Disks are formatted by the manufacturer or reseller and usually do not need to be reformatted when you install the drive.

A disk must be formatted before:

• You can write data to it. However, most disks are already formatted.

• You can use the Solaris installation program to install the system.

Formatting is a destructive process--it overwrites data on the disk. For this reason, disks are usually formatted only by the manufacturer or reseller. If you think disk defects are causing recurring problems, you can use the format utility to do a surface analysis, but be careful to use only the commands that do not destroy data.

How to Determine If a Disk is Formatted

1. Become superuser.

2. Enter the format utility.

   # format

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

   Specify disk (enter its number): 0

4. Verify that the disk you chose is formatted by identifying the following message.

   [disk formatted]

Example--Determining If a Disk Is Formatted

The following example shows that disk c0t3d0 is formatted.

# format
AVAILABLE DISK SELECTIONS:
       0. c0t1d0 <SUN1.05 cyl 2036 alt 2 hd 14 sec 72> 
		       /iommu@f,e0000000/sbus@f,e0001000/espdma@f,400000/esp@f,800000/sd@1,0
       1. c0t3d0 <SUN1.05 cyl 2036 alt 2 hd 14 sec 72>
          /iommu@f,e0000000/sbus@f,e0001000/espdma@f,400000/esp@f,800000/sd@3,0
Specify disk (enter its number): 0
selecting c0t1d0
[disk formatted]

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

   ---

   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.

   ---

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 26 minutes (estimated). Continue? yes

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 <SUN1.05 cyl 2036 alt 2 hd 14 sec 72>
	          /iommu@f,e0000000/sbus@f,e0001000/espdma@f,400000/esp@f,800000/sd@1,0
       1. c0t3d0 <SUN1.05 cyl 2036 alt 2 hd 14 sec 72>
          /iommu@f,e0000000/sbus@f,e0001000/espdma@f,400000/esp@f,800000/sd@3,0
Specify disk (enter its number):0
Selecting c0t1d0
[disk unformatted]
format> format
Ready to format. Formatting cannot be interrupted
and takes 26 minutes (estimated). Continue? yes
Beginning format. The current time is Wed Jun 10 10:24:48 1998
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>