x86: How to Check an IDE Disk for Bad Blocks

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

1. Become superuser or assume 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

   The controller number

   dy

   The device number

6. Determine whether you have an fdisk partition.

   If an Oracle Solaris fdisk partition does not exist, use the fdisk command to create one on the disk.

   format> fdisk

7. Begin the surface analysis.

   format> analyze

8. Determine the current settings.

   analyze> config

9. (Optional) Change settings.

   analyze> setup

10. Determine whether any bad blocks exixt.

    analyze> type-of-surface-analysis

    type-of-surface-analysis

    Read, write, or compare

    If format finds bad blocks, it remaps them.

11. Exit the analysis.

    analyze> quit

12. Specify blocks to remap: if necessary.

    format> repair

13. Exit the format program.

    quit

14. Restart the media in multiuser mode.

    # exit