Formatting a Disk

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

A disk must be formatted before you can do the following:

Write data to the disk. However, most disks are already formatted.
Use the Oracle Solaris installation utility to install the system.

Caution - Formatting a disk is a destructive process because 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 the cause of recurring problems, you can use the format utility to do a surface analysis. However, be careful to use only the commands that do not destroy data.

How to Determine if a Disk Is Formatted

Become an administrator.
For more information, see How to Use Your Assigned Administrative Rights in Oracle Solaris Administration: Security Services.
Invoke the format utility.
```
# format
```
A numbered list of disks is displayed.
Type the number of the disk that you want to check.
```
Specify disk (enter its number): 0
```
Verify that the disk you chose is formatted by noting the following message:
```
[disk formatted]
```

Example 11-2 Determining if a Disk Is Formatted

The following example shows that disk c2t3d0 is formatted.

# format
AVAILABLE DISK SELECTIONS:
       0. c2t0d0 <SUN72G cyl 14087 alt 2 hd 24 sec 424>
          /pci@1c,600000/scsi@2/sd@0,0
       1. c2t1d0 <SUN72G cyl 14087 alt 2 hd 24 sec 424>
          /pci@1c,600000/scsi@2/sd@1,0
       2. c2t2d0 <SUN146G cyl 14087 alt 2 hd 24 sec 848>
          /pci@1c,600000/scsi@2/sd@2,0
       3. c2t3d0 <SUN146G cyl 14087 alt 2 hd 24 sec 848>
          /pci@1c,600000/scsi@2/sd@3,0
Specify disk (enter its number): 3
selecting c2t3d0
[disk formatted]

How to Format a Disk

Disks are formatted by the manufacturer. Reformatting a disk should occur rarely. The process is time-consuming and removes all data from the disk.

Become an administrator.
For more information, see How to Use Your Assigned Administrative Rights in Oracle Solaris Administration: Security Services.
Invoke the format utility.
```
# format
```
A numbered list of disks is displayed.
Type the number of the disk that you want to format.
```
Specify disk (enter its number): 3
```
Caution - Do not select the disk that contains the root file system. If you format a root pool disk, you delete the OS and any data on this disk.

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

format> format
The protection information is not enabled
The disk will be formatted with protection type 0

Ready to format.  Formatting cannot be interrupted
and takes 169 minutes (estimated). Continue? yes

Verify that the disk format was successful by noting the following messages:

Beginning format. The current time is Fri Apr 1 ...

Formatting...
done

Verifying media...
        pass 0 - pattern = 0xc6dec6de
14086/23/734  

        pass 1 - pattern = 0x6db6db6d
   14086/23/734  

Total of 0 defective blocks repaired.

Exit the format utility.
```
format> quit
```

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