FORMAT(8)             NetBSD/vax System Manager's Manual             FORMAT(8)

NAME
     format -- how to format disk packs

DESCRIPTION
     There are two ways to format disk packs.  The simplest is to use the
     format program.  The alternative is to use the DEC standard formatting
     software which operates under the DEC diagnostic supervisor.  This manual
     page describes the operation of format, then concludes with some remarks
     about using the DEC formatter.

     format is a standalone program used to format and check disks prior to
     constructing file systems.  In addition to the formatting operation,
     format records any bad sectors encountered according to DEC standard 144.
     Formatting is performed one track at a time by writing the appropriate
     headers and a test pattern and then checking the sector by reading and
     verifying the pattern, using the controller's ECC for error detection.  A
     sector is marked bad if an unrecoverable media error is detected, or if a
     correctable ECC error too many bits in length is detected (such errors
     are indicated as ``ECC'' in the summary printed upon completing the for-
     mat operation).  After the entire disk has been formatted and checked,
     the total number of errors are reported, any bad sectors and skip sectors
     are marked, and a bad sector forwarding table is written to the disk in
     the first five even numbered sectors of the last track.  It is also pos-
     sible to reformat sections of the disk in units of tracks.  format may be
     used on any UNIBUS or MASSBUS drive supported by the up and hp device
     drivers which uses 4-byte headers (everything except RP's).

     The test pattern used during the media check may be selected from one of:
     0xf00f (RH750 worst case), 0xec6d (media worst case), and 0xa5a5 (alter-
     nating 1's and 0's).  Normally the media worst case pattern is used.

     format also has an option to perform an extended ``severe burn-in'',
     which makes a number of passes using different patterns.  The number of
     passes can be selected at run time, up to a maximum of 48, with provision
     for additional passes or termination after the preselected number of
     passes.  This test runs for many hours, depending on the disk and proces-
     sor.

     Each time format is run to format an entire disk, a completely new bad
     sector table is generated based on errors encountered while formatting.
     The device driver, however, will always attempt to read any existing bad
     sector table when the device is first opened.  Thus, if a disk pack has
     never previously been formatted, or has been formatted with different
     sectoring, five error messages will be printed when the driver attempts
     to read the bad sector table; these diagnostics should be ignored.

     Formatting a 400 megabyte disk on a MASSBUS disk controller usually takes
     about 20 minutes.  Formatting on a UNIBUS disk controller takes signifi-
     cantly longer.  For every hundredth cylinder formatted format prints a
     message indicating the current cylinder being formatted.  (This message
     is just to reassure people that nothing is amiss.)

     format uses the standard notation of the standalone I/O library in iden-
     tifying a drive to be formatted.  A drive is  specified as zz(x,y), where
     zz refers to the controller type (either hp or up), x is the unit number
     of the drive; 8 times the UNIBUS or MASSBUS adaptor number plus the
     MASSBUS drive number or UNIBUS drive unit number; and y is the file sys-
     tem partition on drive x (this should always be 0).  For example,
     ``hp(1,0)'' indicates that drive 1 on MASSBUS adaptor 0 should be format-
     ted; while ``up(10,0)'' indicates that UNIBUS drive 2 on UNIBUS adaptor 1
     should be formatted.

     Before each formatting attempt, format prompts the user in case debugging
     should be enabled in the appropriate device driver.  A carriage return
     disables debugging information.

     format should be used prior to building file systems (with newfs(8) to
     ensure that all sectors with uncorrectable media errors are remapped.  If
     a drive develops uncorrectable defects after formatting, either bad144(8)
     or badsect(8) should be able to avoid the bad sectors.

EXAMPLES
     A sample run of format is shown below.  In this example (using a
     VAX-11/780), format is loaded from the console floppy; on an 11/750
     format will be loaded from the root file system with boot(8) following a
     ``B/3'' command.  Boldface means user input.  As usual, ``#'' and ``@''
     may be used to edit input.

          >>>L FORMAT
                    LOAD DONE, 00004400 BYTES LOADED
          >>>S 2
          Disk format/check utility

          Enable debugging (0=none, 1=bse, 2=ecc, 3=bse+ecc)? 0
          Device to format? hp(8,0)
          (error messages may occur as old bad sector table is read)
          Formatting drive hp0 on adaptor 1: verify (yes/no)? yes
          Device data: #cylinders=842, #tracks=20, #sectors=48
          Starting cylinder (0):
          Starting track (0):
          Ending cylinder (841):
          Ending track (19):
          Available test patterns are:
                    1 - (f00f) RH750 worst case
                    2 - (ec6d) media worst case
                    3 - (a5a5) alternating 1's and 0's
                    4 - (ffff) Severe burnin (up to 48 passes)
          Pattern (one of the above, other to restart)? 2
          Maximum number of bit errors to allow for soft ECC (3):
          Start formatting...make sure the drive is online
           ...
          (soft ecc's and other errors are reported as they occur)
           ...
          (if 4 write check errors were found, the program terminates like this...)
           ...
          Errors:
          Bad sector: 0
          Write check: 4
          Hard ECC: 0
          Other hard: 0
          Marked bad: 0
          Skipped: 0
          Total of 4 hard errors revectored.
          Writing bad sector table at block 808272
          (808272 is the block # of the first block in the bad sector table)
          Done
          (...program restarts to allow formatting other disks)
          (...to abort halt machine with ^P)


DIAGNOSTICS
     The diagnostics are intended to be self explanatory.

USING DEC SOFTWARE TO FORMAT
     Warning: These instructions are for people with 11/780 CPUs. The steps
     needed for 11/750 or 11/730 CPU's are similar, but not covered in detail
     here.

     The formatting procedures are different for each type of disk.  Listed
     here are the formatting procedures for RK07's, RP0X, and RM0X disks.

     You should shut down UNIX and halt the machine to do any disk formatting.
     Make certain you put in the pack you want formatted.  It is also a good
     idea to spin down or write protect the disks you don't want to format,
     just in case.

   Formatting an RK07
     Load the console floppy labeled, ``RX11 VAX DSK LD DEV #1'' in the con-
     sole disk drive, and type the following commands:

           >>>BOOT
           DIAGNOSTIC SUPERVISOR.  ZZ-ESSAA-X5.0-119  23-JAN-1980 12:44:40.03
           DS>ATTACH DW780 SBI DW0 3 5
           DS>ATTACH RK611 DMA
           DS>ATTACH RK07 DW0 DMA0
           DS>SELECT DMA0
           DS>LOAD EVRAC
           DS>START/SEC:PACKINIT

   Formatting an RP0X
     Follow the above procedures except that the ATTACH and SELECT lines
     should read:

           DS>ATTACH RH780 SBI RH0 8 5
           DS>ATTACH RP0X RH0 DBA0         (RP0X is, e.g., RP06)
           DS>SELECT DBA0

     This is for drive 0 on mba0; use 9 instead of 8 for mba1, etc.

   Formatting an RM0X
     Follow the above procedures except that the ATTACH and SELECT lines
     should read:

           DS>ATTACH RH780 SBI RH0 8 5
           DS>ATTACH RM0X RH0 DRA0
           DS>SELECT DRA0

     Don't forget to put your UNIX console floppy back in the floppy disk
     drive.

SEE ALSO
     bad144(8), badsect(8), newfs(8)

BUGS
     An equivalent facility should be available which operates under a running
     UNIX system.

     It should be possible to reformat or verify part or all of a disk, then
     update the existing bad sector table.

NetBSD 5.0_STABLE               April 17, 2003               NetBSD 5.0_STABLE
