rzdisk(8)rzdisk(8)Namerzdisk - SCSI disk maintenance utility
Syntax
/bin/rzdisk
/bin/rzdisk -c [ ask ] special
/bin/rzdisk -d [ bfi | sector | block ] special
/bin/rzdisk -f [ vendor | known ] special
/bin/rzdisk -g [ current | saved | default | changeable ] special
/bin/rzdisk -h
/bin/rzdisk -i special
/bin/rzdisk -r LBN special
/bin/rzdisk -s LBN length special
Description
The utility, a SCSI disk maintenance program, formats a SCSI disk,
scans a SCSI disk for bad blocks, and reassigns bad blocks on a SCSI
disk.
The special file argument is a raw device pathname. You must specify
an unmounted c partition of a character device special file (for exam‐
ple, ).
Options-c Changes disk parameters.
If the ask argument isn't specified, the disk parameters are set
to the default values. When the ask argument is specified, you
are interactively asked about each field marked as changeable in
each page having changeable parameters. In both cases, you are
asked whether to save the parameters on disk. If you answer
'yes', the parameters are saved on the disk which also updates
the current parameters. Otherwise, only the current parameters
are updated. You must save the parameters if you want them to
be preserved when the system is power cycled. Also note, the
direct-access device format parameters (Page 3) and the rigid
disk drive geometry parameters (Page 4) only get saved after
formatting the drive, regardless of whether you said 'yes' to
saving the parameters.
-d Reads defect lists from the disk.
This option allows you to get defect lists from the disk in
either bfi (bytes from index), sector, or block, formats.
-g Gets parameters from the disk.
This option allows you to get either current, saved, default, or
changeable parameters from the disk. The program displays the
parameters of all pages supported by the drive.
The changeable parameters are those fields which can be changed.
Any field displayed with a '1' value in it can be changed.
The default parameters are those parameters supplied by the ven‐
dor.
The current parameters are those parameters which you are cur‐
rently running with. These parameters are setup from the saved
parameters when the drive is powered on.
The saved parameters are those parameters which have been saved
on the disk. These parameters get used each time the drive is
powered on.
-f Formats a SCSI hard disk (see Restrictions).
Since Digital ships the SCSI disk already formatted, only use
this option if you have encountered a serious problem and must
reformat the disk. You can format a disk with the vendor (manu‐
facturer) defect list or with the known (vendor and grown)
defect list. The grown defect list contains any blocks that may
have been reassigned during the life of the SCSI disk drive.
When formatting a disk, you must specify the raw device path‐
name.
The following example reformats the disk on drive 3 using the
known defect list:
/bin/rzdisk -f known /dev/rrz3c
The -f option with no additional arguments formats a SCSI floppy
diskette (see Restrictions). New floppy diskettes are usually
not formatted. You need to format each diskette before you can
store data on it.
The following example shows how to format a floppy diskette in
RX23 drive one:
/bin/rzdisk -f /dev/rrzlc
The floppy format operation is interactive. The program will
guide you through formatting the diskette.
-i Requests inquiry data from the disk.
This option causes the program to dump all inquiry data returned
from the disk. The information dumped includes the peripheral
device type, the device type qualifier, the removable medium
field, the version number, vendor identification, product infor‐
mation, and the firmware revision level.
-h Calls the HELP menu to the screen.
-r Reassigns a bad block on the disk (see Restrictions).
When reassigning a bad block, you must specify the LBN, which is
a unique number (decimal notation) that represents the disk
block as reported in the errorlog file, and the raw device path‐
name.
The following example reassigns block 222658 on the c partition
of drive 3:
/bin/rzdisk -r 222658 /dev/rrz3c
The program reads the specified LBN prior to reassigning the
block. If reads valid data from the block, then the block is
not actually bad or the SCSI driver already reassigned the
block. In this case, asks if the reassignment should be can‐
celed. Answer yes to cancel the reassignment. This prevents
double reassignment and replacement of good blocks.
-s Scans for bad blocks on a specified area of the disk.
When scanning a disk, you must specify the LBN, which is a
unique number (decimal notation) that represents the disk block
relative to the start of the partition, the length, and the raw
device pathname of the partition to scan.
To start scanning from the first block of the specified parti‐
tion, use the number 0 to represent the LBN. When the number 0
is specified, the scan starts at the first block of the speci‐
fied partition.
The length is a decimal number that indicates how many 512-byte
blocks to scan. To scan up to and including the last block of
the specified partition, use the number -1 to represent the
length. By specifying the length, you define the scope of the
scan within the identified partition.
The following example scans the first ten blocks of the entire
disk (c partition) on drive 3:
/bin/rzdisk 0 10 -s /dev/rrz3c
The following example scans the entire disk (c partion) on drive
3:
/bin/rzdisk 0 -1 -s /dev/rrz3c
Diagnostics
The program generates messages when the user is not privileged, when
the LBN is not in the specified partition, and when the length exceeds
the size of the partition.
Restrictions
You must have super-user privileges to run the program.
You should not have to format your system disk.
The system should be in single-user mode and the file systems on the
disk should be unmounted when running the program, except when format‐
ting floppy diskettes.
Use the -f option with caution and only if the SCSI hard disk drive
seems corrupted. Be aware that when you format a disk, all resident
data is destroyed.
Digital supports formatting, writing, and reading of High Density (HD)
3.5 inch diskettes in the RX23 and RX26 disk drives, or 5.25 inch
diskettes in the RX33 disk drive.
Digital supports reading, but not formatting or writing, of Double Den‐
sity (DD) 3.5 inch diskettes in the RX23 and RX26 disk drives or 5.25
inch diskettes in the RX33 disk drive. Reliable reading of DD
diskettes requires they be written only on a double density drive and
have not been overwritten by an RX23, RX26, RX33, or other high density
drive. This restriction occurs because of differences in the write
heads between DD and HD drives. Data written by a DD drive cannot be
completely overwritten by a HD drive.
This same restriction applies to the RX33 5.25 inch diskettes when
using low density (48 TPI - Tracks Per Inch) diskettes. Diskettes
overwritten on different machines may suffer read failures from reduced
signal-to-noise ratios. So long as a diskette is formatted and written
on a single machine, there should be no problem.
The -r option is supported only with those SCSI disks that support the
reassign block command.
See Alsodkio(4), rz(4), chpt(8), mount(8), restore(8), uerf(8)
Guide to the Error Logger
rzdisk(8)
