This chapter describes the format utility's menu and commands.
This is a list of the reference information in this chapter.
For a overview of when to use the format utility, see Chapter 31, Managing Disks (Overview).
You must be superuser or a member of an equivalent role to use the format utility. If you are not superuser or have assumed an equivalent role, you will see the following error message when trying to use the format utility:
$ format Searching for disks...done No permission (or no disks found)! |
Keep the following guidelines in mind when using the format utility and you want to preserve the existing data:
Save all your defect lists in files by using the format utility's dump command. The file name should include the drive type, model number, and serial number.
Save the paper copies of the manufacturer's defect list that was shipped with your drive.
The format main menu looks like the following:
FORMAT MENU: disk - select a disk type - select (define) a disk type partition - select (define) a partition table current - describe the current disk format - format and analyze the disk repair - repair a defective sector label - write label to the disk analyze - surface analysis defect - defect list management backup - search for backup labels verify - read and display labels save - save new disk/partition definitions inquiry - show vendor, product and revision volname - set 8-character volume name quit format> |
The following table describes the format main menu items.
Table 35–1 The format Main Menu Item Descriptions
Item |
Command or Menu? |
Description |
---|---|---|
disk |
Command |
Lists all of the system's drives. Also lets you choose the disk you want to use in subsequent operations. This disk is referred to as the current disk. |
type |
Command |
Identifies the manufacturer and model of the current disk. Also displays a list of known drive types. Choose the Auto configure option for all SCSI-2 disk drives. |
partition |
Menu |
Creates and modifies slices. For more information, see The partition Menu. |
current |
Command |
Displays the following information about the current disk:
|
format |
Command |
Formats the current disk by using one of these sources of information in this order:
|
fdisk |
Menu |
IA platform only: Runs the fdisk program to create a Solaris fdisk partition. |
repair |
Command |
Repairs a specific block on the current disk. |
label |
Command |
Writes a new label to the current disk. |
analyze |
Menu |
Runs read, write, compare tests. For more information, see The analyze Menu. |
defect |
Menu |
Retrieves and prints defect lists. For more information, see The defect Menu. |
backup |
Command |
Searches for backup labels. |
verify |
Command |
Prints the following information about the current disk:
|
save |
Command |
Saves new disk and partition information. |
inquiry |
Command |
Prints the vendor, product name, and revision level of the current drive (SCSI disks only). |
volname |
Command |
Labels the disk with a new eight-character volume name. |
quit |
Command |
Exits the format menu. |
The partition menu looks similar to the following:
format> partition PARTITION MENU: 0 - change `0' partition 1 - change `1' partition 2 - change `2' partition 3 - change `3' partition 4 - change `4' partition 5 - change `5' partition 6 - change `6' partition 7 - change `7' partition select - select a predefined table modify - modify a predefined partition table name - name the current table print - display the current table label - write partition map and label to the disk quit partition> |
The following table describes the partition menu items.
Table 35–2 Descriptions for partition Menu Items
The fdisk menu appears on IA based systems only and looks similar to the following.
format> fdisk Total disk size is 1855 cylinders Cylinder size is 553 (512 byte) blocks Cylinders Partition Status Type Start End Length % ========= ====== ======== ===== === ====== === 1 DOS-BIG 0 370 371 20 2 Active SOLARIS 370 1851 1482 80 SELECT ONE OF THE FOLLOWING: 1. Create a partition 2. Change Active (Boot from) partition 3. Delete a partition 4. Exit (Update disk configuration and exit) 5. Cancel (Exit without updating disk configuration) Enter Selection: |
The following table describes the fdisk menu items.
Table 35–3 x86: Descriptions for fdisk Menu Items
Menu Item |
Description |
---|---|
Create a partition |
Creates an fdisk partition. You must create a separate partition for each operating environment such as Solaris or DOS. There is a maximum of 4 partitions per disk. You are prompted for the size of the fdisk partition as a percentage of the disk. |
Change Active partition |
Lets you specify the partition to be used for booting. This menu item identifies where the first stage boot program looks for the second stage boot program. |
Delete a partition |
Deletes a previously created partition. This command destroys all the data in the partition. |
Exit |
Writes a new version of the partition table and exits the fdisk menu. |
Cancel |
Exits the fdisk menu without modifying the partition table. |
The analyze menu looks similar to the following.
format> analyze ANALYZE MENU: read - read only test (doesn't harm SunOS) refresh - read then write (doesn't harm data) test - pattern testing (doesn't harm data) write - write then read (corrupts data) compare - write, read, compare (corrupts data) purge - write, read, write (corrupts data) verify - write entire disk, then verify (corrupts data) print - display data buffer setup - set analysis parameters config - show analysis parameters quit analyze> |
The following table describes the analyze menu items.
Table 35–4 Descriptions for analyze Menu Item
The defect menu looks similar to the following:
format> defect DEFECT MENU: primary - extract manufacturer's defect list grown - extract manufacturer's and repaired defects lists both - extract both primary and grown defects lists print - display working list dump - dump working list to file quit defect> |
The following table describes the defect menu items.
Table 35–5 The defect Menu Item Descriptions
Sub-Command |
Description |
---|---|
primary |
Reads the manufacturer's defect list from the disk drive and updates the in-memory defect list. |
grown |
Reads the grown defect list, which are defects that have been detected during analysis, and then updates the in-memory defect list. |
both |
Reads both the manufacturer's defect list and the grown defect list, and then updates the in-memory defect list. |
|
Displays the in-memory defect list. |
dump |
Saves the in-memory defect list to a file. |
quit |
Exits the defect menu. |
The format.dat file that is shipped with the Solaris operating environment supports many standard disks. If your disk drive is not listed in the format.dat file, you can choose to add an entry for it or adding entries with the format utility by selecting the type command and choosing the other option.
Adding an entry to the format.dat file can save time if the disk drive will be used throughout your site. To use the format.dat file on other systems, copy the file to each system that will use the specific disk drive that you added to the format.dat file.
You should modify the /etc/format.dat file for your system if you have one of the following:
A disk that is not supported by the Solaris operating environment
A disk with a slice table that is different from the Solaris operating environment default configuration
Do not alter default entries in the /etc/format.dat file. If you want to alter the default entries, copy the entry, give it a different name, and make the appropriate changes to avoid confusion.
The format.dat contains specific disk drive information that is used by the format utility. Three items are defined in the format.dat file:
Search paths
Disk types
Slice tables
The following syntax rules apply to the /etc/format.dat file:
The pound sign (#) is the comment character. Any text on a line after a pound sign is not interpreted by the format utility.
Each definition in the format.dat file appears on a single logical line. If the definition is longer than one line long, all but the last line of the definition must end with a backslash (\).
A definition consists of a series of assignments that have an identifier on the left side and one or more values on the right side. The assignment operator is the equal sign (=). The assignments within a definition must be separated by a colon (:).
White space is ignored by the format utility. If you want an assigned value to contain white space, enclose the entire value in double quotation marks ("). This syntax will cause the white space within the quotes to be preserved as part of the assignment value.
Some assignments can have multiple values on the right hand side. Separate values by a comma.
The format.dat file contains disk definitions that are read by the format utility when it is started. Each definition starts with one of the following keywords: disk_type or partition. These keywords are described in the following table.
Table 35–6 Keyword Descriptions for the format.dat File
Keyword |
Use |
---|---|
disk_type |
Defines the controller and disk model. Each disk_type definition contains information that concerns the physical geometry of the disk. The default data file contains definitions for the controllers and disks that the Solaris operating environment supports. You need to add a new disk_type only if you have an unsupported disk. You can add as many disk_type definitions to the data file as you want. |
partition |
Defines a slice table for a specific disk type. The slice table contains the slice information, plus a name that lets you refer to it in the format utility. The default format.dat file contains default slice definitions for several kinds of disk drives. Add a slice definition if you recreated slices on any of the disks on your system. Add as many slice definitions to the data file as you need. |
The disk_type keyword in the format.dat file defines the controller and disk model. Each disk_type definition contains information about the physical geometry of the disk. The default format.dat file contains definitions for the controllers and disks that the Solaris operating environment supports. You need to add a new disk_type only if you have an unsupported disk. You can add as many disk_type definitions to the data file as you want.
The keyword itself is assigned the name of the disk type. This name appears in the disk's label, and is used to identify the disk type whenever the format utility is run. Enclose the name in double quotation marks to preserve any white space in the name. The following table describes the identifiers that must also be assigned values in all disk_type definitions.
Table 35–7 Required disk_type Identifiers
Identifier |
Description |
---|---|
ctlr |
Identifies the controller type for the disk type. Currently, the supported values are SCSI and ATA. |
ncyl |
Specifies the number of data cylinders in the disk type. This determines how many logical cylinders of the disk the system will be allowed to access. |
acyl |
Specifies the number of alternate cylinders in the disk type. These cylinders are used by the format utility to store information such as the defect list for the drive. You should always leave at least two cylinders for alternates. |
pcyl |
Specifies the number of physical cylinders in the disk type. This number is used to calculate the boundaries of the disk media. This number is usually equal to ncyl plus acyl. |
nhead |
Specifies the number of heads in the disk type. This number is used to calculate the boundaries of the disk media. |
nsect |
Specifies the number of data sectors per track in the disk type. This number is used to calculate the boundaries of the disk media. Note that this is only the data sectors. Any spares are not reflected in the number of data sections per track. |
rpm |
The rotations per minute of the disk type. This information is put in the label and later used by the file system to calculate the optimal placement of file data. |
Other identifiers might be necessary, depending on the controller. The following table describes the identifiers that are required for SCSI controllers.
Table 35–8 disk_type Identifiers for SCSI Controllers
Identifier |
Description |
---|---|
fmt_time |
A number that Indicates how long it takes to format a given drive. See the controller manual for more information. |
cache |
A number that controls the operation of the on-board cache while the format utility is operating. See the controller manual for more information. |
trks_zone |
A number that specifies how many tracks you have per defect zone, to be used in alternate sector mapping. See the controller manual for more information. |
asect |
A number that specifies how many sectors are available for alternate mapping within a given defect zone. See the controller manual for more information. |
The following are examples of disk_type definitions:
disk_type = "SUN1.3G" \ : ctlr = SCSI : fmt_time = 4 \ : trks_zone = 17 : asect = 6 : atrks = 17 \ : ncyl = 1965 : acyl = 2 : pcyl = 3500 : nhead = 17 : nsect = 80 \ : rpm = 5400 : bpt = 44823 disk_type = "SUN2.1G" \ : ctlr = SCSI : fmt_time = 4 \ : ncyl = 2733 : acyl = 2 : pcyl = 3500 : nhead = 19 : nsect = 80 \ : rpm = 5400 : bpt = 44823 disk_type = "SUN2.9G" \ : ctlr = SCSI : fmt_time = 4 \ : ncyl = 2734 : acyl = 2 : pcyl = 3500 : nhead = 21 : nsect = 99 \ : rpm = 5400 |
A partition table in the format.dat file defines a slice table for a specific disk type.
The partition keyword in the format.dat file is assigned the name of the slice table. Enclose the name in double quotation marks to preserve any white space in the name. The following table describes the identifiers that must be assigned values in all slice tables.
Table 35–9 Required Identifiers for Slice Tables
Identifier |
Description |
---|---|
disk |
The name of the disk_type that this slice table is defined for. This name must appear exactly as it does in the disk_type definition. |
ctlr |
The disk controller type that this slice table can be attached to. Currently, the supported values are ATA for ATA controllers and SCSI for SCSI controllers. The controller type that is specified here must also be defined for the disk_type that you specified in the disk_type definition. |
The other identifiers in a slice definition describe the actual slice information. The identifiers are the numbers 0 through 7. These identifiers are optional. Any slice that is not explicitly assigned is set to 0 length. The value of each of these identifiers is a pair of numbers separated by a comma. The first number is the starting cylinder for the slice, and the second is the number of sectors in the slice. The following are some examples of slice definitions:
partition = "SUN1.3G" \ : disk = "SUN1.3G" : ctlr = SCSI \ : 0 = 0, 34000 : 1 = 25, 133280 : 2 = 0, 2672400 : 6 = 123, 2505120 partition = "SUN2.1G" \ : disk = "SUN2.1G" : ctlr = SCSI \ : 0 = 0, 62320 : 1 = 41, 197600 : 2 = 0, 4154160 : 6 = 171, 3894240 partition = "SUN2.9G" \ : disk = "SUN2.9G" : ctlr = SCSI \ : 0 = 0, 195426 : 1 = 94, 390852 : 2 = 0, 5683986 : 6 = 282, 5097708 |
The format utility learns of the location of an alternate file by the following methods.
If a file name is given with the format -x option, that file is always used as the data file.
If the -x option is not specified, then the format utility looks in the current directory for a file named format.dat. If the file exists, it is used as the data file.
If neither of these methods yields a data file, the format utility uses the /etc/format.dat file as the data file. This file is shipped with the Solaris operating environment and should always be present.
When you use the format utility, you need to provide various kinds of information. This section describes the rules for this information. For information on using format's help facility when you enter data, see Getting Help on the format Utility.
Several places in the format utility require an number as input. You must either specify the data or select a number from a list of choices. In either case, the help facility causes format to print the upper and lower limits of the number expected. Simply enter the number desired. The number is assumed to be in decimal format unless a base is explicitly specified as part of the number (for example, 0x for hexadecimal).
The following are examples of integer input:
Enter number of passes [2]: 34 Enter number of passes [34] Oxf |
Whenever you are required to specify a disk block number, there are two ways to enter the information:
Block number as an integer
Block number in the cylinder/head/sector format
You can specify the information as an integer that represents the logical block number. You can specify the number in any base, but the default is decimal. The maximum operator (a dollar sign, $) can also be used here to let the format utility select the appropriate value. Logical block format is used by the SunOS disk drivers in error messages.
The other way to specify a block number is by the cylinder/head/sector designation. In this method, you must specify explicitly the three logical components of the block number: the cylinder, head, and sector values. These values are still logical, but they allow you to define regions of the disk that are related to the layout of the media.
If any of the cylinder/head/sector numbers are not specified, the value is assumed to be zero. You can also use the maximum operator in place of any of the numbers and let the format utility select the appropriate value. The following are some examples of cylinder, head, and sector entries:
Enter defective block number: 34/2/3 Enter defective block number: 23/1/ Enter defective block number: 457// Enter defective block number: 12345 Enter defective block number: Oxabcd Enter defective block number: 334/$/2 Enter defective block number: 892//$ |
The format utility always prints block numbers, in both formats. Also, the help facility shows you the upper and lower bounds of the block number expected, in both formats.
Command names are needed as input whenever the format utility displays a menu prompt. You can abbreviate the command names, as long as what you enter is sufficient to uniquely identify the command desired.
For example, use p to enter the partition menu from the format menu. Then, enter p to display the current slice table.
format> p PARTITION MENU: 0 - change `0' partition 1 - change `1' partition 2 - change `2' partition 3 - change `3' partition 4 - change `4' partition 5 - change `5' partition 6 - change `6' partition 7 - change `7' partition select - select a predefined table modify - modify a predefined partition table name - name the current table print - display the current table label - write partition map and label to the disk quit partition> p |
There are certain times in the format utility when you must name something. In these cases, you are free to specify any string you want for the name. If the name has white space in it, the entire name must be enclosed in double quotation marks ("). Otherwise, only the first word of the name is used.
For example, if you want to identify a specific partition table for a disk, you can use the name sub-command available from the partition menu:
partition> name Enter table name (remember quotes): "new disk3" |
The format utility provides a help facility that you can use whenever the format utility is expecting input. You can request help about what input is expected by entering a question mark (?). The format utility displays a brief description of what type of input is needed.
If you enter a ? at a menu prompt, a list of available commands is displayed.
The man pages associated with the format utility include the following:
format(1M) - Describes the basic format utility capabilities and provides descriptions of all command-line variables.
format.dat(4) – Describes disk drive configuration information for the format utility.