1SDPARM(8) SDPARM SDPARM(8)
2
6 sdparm - access SCSI modes pages; read VPD pages; send simple SCSI com‐
7 mands.
8
10 sdparm [--all] [--clear=STR] [--command=CMD] [--dbd] [--defaults]
11 [--dummy] [--flexible] [--get=STR] [--help] [--hex] [--inquiry]
12 [--long] [--num-desc] [--page=PG[,SPG]] [--quiet] [--readonly] [--save]
13 [--set=STR] [--six] [--transport=TN] [--vendor=VN] [--verbose] [--ver‐
14 sion] DEVICE [DEVICE...]
15 sdparm --enumerate [--all] [--inquiry] [--long] [--page=PG[,SPG]]
17 [--transport=TN] [--vendor=VN]
18 sdparm --wscan [--verbose]
20
22 This utility fetches and potentially changes SCSI device (e.g. disk)
23 mode pages. Inquiry data including Vital Product Data (VPD) pages can
24 also be displayed. Commands associated with starting and stopping the
25 medium; loading and unloading the medium; and other housekeeping func‐
26 tion may also be issued by this utility.
27 Of the three invocations shown in the synopsis, the first is the most
29 general. The second variant that uses --enumerate is for dumping infor‐
30 mation held in sdparm's internal tables. The last variant is for Win‐
31 dows only and lists the available device names; see the OPTIONS entry
32 for --wscan.
33 If no options (other than DEVICE) are given then a selection of common
35 mode page fields for that device are listed. If the --long option is
36 also given then a description of the fields is placed on the right of
37 each line. If the --all option is given then all known mode page fields
38 for that device are listed. Individual fields can be displayed with the
39 --get=STR option (e.g. '--get=WCE' to fetch the state of the Writeback
40 Cache Enable field).
41 This utility completes with an exit status of 0 when successful. For
43 other values see the EXIT STATUS section below.
44 One or more DEVICE arguments can be given. The utility will essentially
46 apply the given options to each DEVICE in the list. If an error is
47 detected, it is noted and the utility continues. Error value 5 (file
48 open or close problem) is treated as lower priority when other errors
49 are detected. The exit status is the most recently detected error value
50 (excluding error value 5 if other errors have been detected). If all
51 actions succeed the exit status is zero.
52 By default this utility shows mode pages that are common to all trans‐
54 port protocols. These are termed as "generic" mode pages. If there is
55 no match on a generic mode page name or field then those pages specific
56 to the SAS transport are checked. Transport protocol specific mode
57 pages are selected with the --transport=TN option. See the TRANSPORT
58 section below. Vendor specific mode pages are selected with the --ven‐
59 dor=VN option. See the VENDORS section below.
60 Although originally for SCSI disks (or storage devices that appear to
62 the OS as SCSI disks) many of the mode pages are for other SCSI device
63 types. These include CD/DVD players that use the ATAPI (or any other)
64 transport, SCSI tapes drives and SCSI enclosures.
65 When the --inquiry option is given without a page number then the
67 Device Identification VPD page (page number 0x83) is requested and if
68 found it is decoded and output. If no page number is given and the
69 --all option is given then a list of VPD page names (but not their con‐
70 tents) supported by the DEVICE is output. When both the --inquiry and
71 --page=PG options are given then the VPD page can be specified as an
72 abbreviation (e.g. "sp" for the SCSI ports VPD page) or numerically
73 (e.g. "0x88"). If a VPD page is returned by the DEVICE but sdparm can‐
74 not decode it or the --hex option is given then it is output in hex.
75
77 Mandatory arguments to long options are mandatory for short options as
78 well. If an option takes a numeric argument then that argument is
79 assumed to be decimal unless otherwise indicated (e.g. with a leading
80 "0x" or a trailing "h"). The options are in alphabetical order, based
81 on the long option name.
82 -a, --all
84 output all recognized fields for the device type (e.g. disk) of
85 the DEVICE. Without this option (or the --page=PG[,SPG] option)
86 the default action is to output a relatively small number of
87 commonly used fields from different pages. When a specific
88 (mode) page number is given with the --page=PG[,SPG] option then
89 all the fields of that page are output (irrespective of the set‐
90 ting of this option). For this option's action when used with
91 the --enumerate option see the ENUMERATE section below.
92 -c, --clear=STR
94 In its simplest form STR contains a field acronym_name or a
95 field numerical descriptor. In the absence of an explicit value
96 argument (e.g. '--clear=WCE=1'), the field has its value cleared
97 to zero. See the PARAMETERS section below.
98 -C, --command=CMD
100 Perform given CMD. See section below on COMMANDS. To enumerate
101 supported commands use '-e -C x' (using any CMD name, valid or
102 otherwise).
103 -B, --dbd
105 disable block descriptors. This is a bit in MODE SENSE cdbs that
106 rarely needs to be set. One known case is a MODE SENSE 6 issued
107 to a Reduced Block Commands (RBC) device where the RBC standard
108 says it shall be set.
109 -D, --defaults
111 sets the given mode page to its default values. Requires the
112 --page=PG[,SPG] option to be given to specify the mode page. To
113 make the default mode page values also the saved mode page val‐
114 ues, use the --save option as well.
115 -d, --dummy
117 when set inhibits changes being placed in the DEVICE's mode
118 page. Instead the mode data that would have been sent to a MODE
119 SELECT command, is output in ASCII hex to the console. This
120 option is mainly for testing.
121 -e, --enumerate
123 lists out descriptive information about the pages and fields
124 known to this utility. Ignores the DEVICE argument and other
125 options apart from the --all, --inquiry, --long,
126 --page=PG[,SPG], --transport=TN and --vendor=VN. If --enumerate
127 is given without other options then the known (generic) mode
128 pages are listed. See the ENUMERATE section below.
129 -f, --flexible
131 Some devices, bridges and/or drivers attempt crude transforma‐
132 tions between mode sense 6 and 10 byte commands without cor‐
133 rectly rebuilding the response. This will cause the response to
134 be mis-interpreted (usually with an error saying the response is
135 malformed). With this option, the length of the response is
136 checked, and if it looks wrong, various corrections are
137 attempted. This option will also allow mode pages that don't
138 belong to the current device's peripheral type to be listed.
139 -g, --get=STR
141 In its simplest form STR contains a field acronym_name or a
142 field numerical descriptor. The field is fetched from mode page.
143 See the PARAMETERS section below. The --long and --hex options
144 effect the output format. Also if a value of "1" is given (e.g.
145 '--get=WCE=1') only the current value is output (i.e. not the
146 change mask, the default value and the saved value).
147 -h, --help
149 output the usage message then exit.
150 -H, --hex
152 rather than trying to decode mode (or VPD) pages, print them out
153 in hex. When used with the --get=STR option the corresponding
154 current, changeable, default and saved values are output in hex,
155 prefixed by "0x" and space separated. If a value of "1" is given
156 with the --get=STR option (e.g. '--get=WCE=1') then only the
157 current value is output in hex, prefixed by "0x". If a value of
158 "2" is given with the --get=STR option then only the current
159 value is output as a (signed) integer. This option can be used
160 multiple times (e.g. '-HH'). Useful with the ATA Information VPD
161 page which usually outputs its IDENTIFY (PACKET) DEVICE response
162 in 16 bit hex words; with '-HH' outputs that response in hex
163 bytes; with '-HHH' outputs the same response in a format suit‐
164 able for 'hdparm --Istdin' to decode.
165 -i, --inquiry
167 output INQUIRY VPD pages. In the absence of this option the
168 default action is to output mode pages. If the --inquiry option
169 is given without the --page=PG[,SPG] option then the device
170 identification VPD page (0x83) is decoded and output. If this
171 option and the --all option are given then the supported VPD
172 pages page (0x0) is decoded and output.
173 -l, --long
175 output extra information. In the case of mode page fields a
176 description (with units if applicable) is output to the right.
177 If used twice, then for some fields more information about its
178 values is given on one or more following lines, each prefixed by
179 a tab character. For usage with --enumerate see the ENUMERATE
180 section below.
181 -n, --num-desc
183 for a mode page that can have descriptors, the number of
184 descriptors for the given page on the DEVICE is output. Other‐
185 wise 0 is output.
186 -p, --page=PG[,SPG]
188 supply the page number (PG) and optionally the sub page number
189 (SPG) of the mode (or VPD) page to fetch. These numbers are
190 interpreted as decimal unless prefixed with "0x" or a trailing.
191 Sub page numbers are only valid for mode pages (not VPD pages).
192 Alternatively an abbreviation for a page can be given (see next
193 entry).
194 -p, --page=STR
196 a two or three letter abbreviation for a page can be given.
197 Known mode page abbreviations are checked first followed by
198 known VPD page abbreviations. For example '--page=ca' matches
199 the caching mode page. If no match is found then an error is
200 issued and a list of possibilities in the current context is
201 given (so '-p x' can be quite useful). If the STR matches a
202 known VPD page abbreviation then the --inquiry option is
203 assumed. For usage with --enumerate see the ENUMERATE section
204 below.
205 -q, --quiet
207 suppress output of device name followed by the vendor, product
208 and revision strings fetched from an INQUIRY response. Without
209 this option such a line is typically the first line output by
210 sdparm. Reduces output from the device identification VPD page,
211 typically to one line (or none) for each of di_lu, di_port,
212 di_target and di_asis.
213 -r, --readonly
215 override other logic to open DEVICE in read-only mode. The
216 default setting of the open read-only/read-write mode depends on
217 the operation requested (e.g. a --set=STR operation by default
218 will try a read-write mode open on DEVICE). This option may be
219 useful if a command is being sent to an ATA disk via a SCSI com‐
220 mand set. For example in Linux '-C stop' may require this option
221 to stop an ATA disk being restarted immediately.
222 -S, --save
224 when a mode page is being modified (by using the --clear=STR
225 and/or --set=STR options) then the default action is to modify
226 only the current values mode page. When this option is given
227 then the corresponding value(s) in the saved values mode page is
228 also changed. The next time the device is power cycled (or
229 reset) the saved values mode page becomes (i.e. is copied to)
230 the current values mode page. See NOTES section below.
231 -s, --set=STR
233 in its simplest form STR contains a field acronym_name or a
234 field numerical descriptor. In the absence of an explicit value,
235 each acronym_name has its value set to (all) ones. This means a
236 16 bit field will be set to 0xffff which is 65535 in decimal.
237 Alternatively each acronym_name or numerical descriptor may be
238 followed by "=<n>" where <n> is the value to set that field to.
239 See the PARAMETERS section below.
240 -6, --six
242 The default action of this utility is to issue MODE SENSE and
243 MODE SELECT SCSI commands with 10 byte cdbs. When this option is
244 given the 6 byte cdb variants are used. RBC and old SCSI devices
245 may need this option. This utility outputs a suggestion to use
246 this option if the SCSI status indicates that the 10 byte cdb
247 variant is not supported.
248 -t, --transport=TN
250 Specifies the transport protocol where TN is either a number in
251 the range 0 to 15 (inclusive) or an abbreviation (e.g. "fcp" for
252 the Fibre Channel Protocol). One way to list available transport
253 protocols numbers and their associated abbreviations is to give
254 an invalid transport protocol number such as '-t x'; another way
255 is '-e -l'.
256 -M, --vendor=VN
258 Specifies the vendor (i.e. manufacturer) where VN is either a
259 number (0 or more) or an abbreviation (e.g. "sea" for Seagate
260 disk vendor specific). One way to list available vendor numbers
261 and their associated abbreviations is to give an invalid vendor
262 number such as '-M x'; another way is '-e -l'.
263 -v, --verbose
265 increase the level of verbosity, (i.e. debug output). In some
266 cases more decoding is done (e.g. fields within a standard
267 INQUIRY response).
268 -V, --version
270 print the version string and then exit.
271 -w, --wscan
273 this option is available in Windows only. It lists storage
274 device names and the corresponding volumes, if any. When used
275 twice it adds the "bus type" of the closest transport (e.g. a
276 SATA disk in a USB connected enclosure has bus type Usb). When
277 used three times a SCSI adapter scan is added. When used four
278 times only a SCSI adapter scan is shown. See examples below and
279 the "Win32 port" section in the README file.
280
282 The reference document used for interpreting mode and VPD pages (and
283 the INQUIRY standard response) is T10/1713-D Revision 36e (SPC-4, 24
284 August 2012) found at http://www.t10.org . Obsolete and reserved items
285 in the standard INQUIRY response output are displayed in brackets.
286 A mode page for which no abbreviation is known (e.g. a vendor specific
288 mode page) can be listed in hexadecimal by using the option combination
289 '--page=PG --hex'.
290 Numbers input to sdparm (e.g. in the command line arguments) are
292 assumed to be in decimal unless there is a hexadecimal indicator. A
293 hexadecimal indicator is either a leading '0x' or '0X' (i.e. the C lan‐
294 guage convention) or a trailing 'h' or 'H' (i.e. the convention used at
295 www.t10.org ). In the case of --page= either a string or number is
296 expected, so hex numbers like 'ch' (12) should be prefixed by a zero
297 (e.g. '0ch').
298 The SPC-4 draft (rev 2) says that devices that implement no distinction
300 between current and saved pages can return an error (ILLEGAL REQUEST,
301 invalid field in cdb) if the SP bit (which corresponds to the --save
302 option) is _not_ set. In such cases the --save option needs to be
303 given.
304 If the --save option is given but the existing mode page indicates (via
306 its PS bit) that the page is not savable, then this utility generates
307 an error message. That message suggests to try again without the --save
308 option.
309 Since the device identification VPD page (acronym_name "di") poten‐
311 tially contains a lot of diverse designators, several associated
312 acronyms are available. They are "di_lu" for designators associated
313 with the addressed logical unit, "di_port" for designators associated
314 with the target port (which the command arrived via) and "di_target"
315 for designators associated with the target device. When "di" is used
316 designators are grouped by lu, then port and then target device. To
317 see all designators decoded in the order that they appear in the VPD
318 page use "di_asis".
319 Only those VPD pages defined by t10.org are decoded by this utility.
321 SPC-4 sets aside VPD pages codes from 0xc0 to 0xff (inclusive) for ven‐
322 dor specific pages some of which are decoded in the sg_vpd utility.
323 In the linux kernel 2.6 series any device node that understands a SCSI
325 command set (e.g. SCSI disks and CD/DVD drives) may be specified. More
326 precisely the driver that "owns" the device node must support the SG_IO
327 ioctl. In the lk 2.4 series only SCSI generic (sg) device nodes support
328 the SG_IO ioctl. However in the lk 2.4 series other SCSI device nodes
329 are mapped within this utility to their corresponding sg device nodes.
330 So if there is a SCSI disk at /dev/sda then 'sdparm /dev/sda' will work
331 in both the lk 2.6 and lk 2.4 series. However if there is an ATAPI
332 cd/dvd drive at /dev/hdc then 'sdparm /dev/hdc' will only work in the
333 lk 2.6 series.
334 In the Linux 2.6 series, especially with ATA disks, using sdparm to
336 stop (spin down) a disk may not be sufficient and other mechanisms will
337 start the disk again some time later. The user might additionally mark
338 the disk as "offline" with 'echo offline > /sys/block/sda/device/state'
339 where sda is the block name of the disk. To restart the disk "offline"
340 can be replaced with "running".
341
343 In their simplest form the --clear=, --get= and --set= options (or
344 their short forms) take an acronym_name such as "WCE". In the case of
345 '--get=WCE' the value of "Writeback Cache Enable" in the caching mode
346 page will be fetched. In the case of '--set=WCE' that bit will be set
347 (to one). In the case of '--clear=WCE' that bit will be cleared (to
348 zero). When an acronym_name is given then the mode page is imputed from
349 that acronym_name (e.g. WCE is in the caching mode page).
350 Instead of an acronym_name a field within a mode page can be described
352 numerically with a <start_byte>:<start_bit>:<num_bits> tuple. These are
353 the <start_byte> (origin 0) within the mode page, a <start_bit> (0 to 7
354 inclusive) and <num_bits> (1 to 64 inclusive). For example, the low
355 level representation of the RCD bit (the "Read Cache Disable bit in the
356 caching mode page) is "2:0:1". The <start_byte> can optionally be given
357 in hex (e.g. '--set=0x2:0:1' or '--set=2h:0:1'). With this form the
358 --page= option is required to establish which mode page is to be used.
359 Either form can optionally be followed by "=<val>". By default <val> is
361 decimal but can be given in hex in the normal fashion. Here are some
362 examples: '--set=2h:0:1=1h' and '-s MRIE=0x3'. When the acronym_name or
363 numeric form following --clear= is not given an explicit '=<val>' then
364 the value defaults to zero. When the acronym_name or numeric form fol‐
365 lowing --set= is not given an explicit '=<val>' then the value defaults
366 to "all ones" (i.e. as many as <num_bits> permits). For example
367 '--clear=WCE' and '--clear=WCE=0' have the same meaning: clear Write‐
368 back Cache Enable or, put more simply: turn off the writeback cache.
369 Multiple fields within the same mode page can be changed by giving a
371 comma separated list of acronym_names and/or the numerical form. For
372 example: '--set=TEST,MRIE=6'.
373 Some mode page have multiple descriptors. They typically have a fixed
375 header section at the start of the mode page that includes a field con‐
376 taining the number of descriptors that follow. Following the header is
377 a variable number of descriptors. An example is the SAS Phy Control and
378 Discover mode page. An acronym_name may include a trailing '.<num>'
379 where "<num>" is a descriptor number (origin 0). For example '-t sas -g
380 PHID.0' and '-t sas -g PHID' will yield the phy identifier of the first
381 descriptor of the above mode page; '-t sas -g PHID.1' will yield the
382 phy identifier of the second descriptor.
383
385 The --enumerate option essentially dumps out static information held by
386 this utility. A list of --enumerate variants and their actions follows.
387 For brevity subsequent examples of options are shown in their shorter
388 form.
389 --enumerate list generic mode page information
391 -e --all list generic mode page contents
392 (i.e. parameters)
393 -e --page=rw list contents of read write error
394 recovery mode page
395 -e --inquiry list VPD pages this utility can decode
396 -e --long list generic mode pages, transport
397 protocols, mode pages for each
398 supported transport protocol and
399 supported commands
400 -e -l --all additionally list the contents of
401 each mode page
402 -e --transport=fcp list mode pages for the fcp
403 transport protocol
404 -e -t fcp --all additionally list the contents of
405 each mode page
406 -e --vendor=sea list vendor specific mode pages for
407 "sea" (Seagate)
408 -e -M sea --all additionally list the contents of vendor
409 specific mode pages for "sea" (Seagate)
410 -e -p pcd -l list contents of SAS phy control and
411 discovery mode page plus (due to "-l")
412 some descfriptor format information
413 When known mode pages are listed (via the --enumerate option) each
415 line starts with a two or three letter abbreviation. This is followed
416 by the page number (in hex prefixed by "0x") optionally followed by a
417 comma and the subpage number. Finally the descriptive name of the mode
418 page (e.g. as found in SPC-4) is output.
419 When known parameters (fields) of a mode page are listed, each line
421 starts with an acronym (indented a few spaces). This will match (or be
422 an acronym for) the description for that field found in the (draft)
423 standards. Next are three numbers, separated by colons, surrounded by
424 brackets. These are the start byte (in hex, prefixed by "0x") of the
425 beginning of the field within the mode page; the starting bit (0
426 through 7 inclusive) and then the number of bits. The descriptive name
427 of the parameter (field) is then given. If appropriate the descriptive
428 name includes units (e.g. "(ms)" means the units are milliseconds).
429 Adding the '-ll' option will list information about possible field val‐
430 ues for selected mode page parameters.
431 Mode parameters for which the num_bits is greater than 1 can be viewed
433 as unsigned integers. Often 16 and 32 bit fields are set to 0xffff and
434 0xffffffff respectively (all ones) which usually has a special meaning
435 (see drafts). This utility outputs such values as "-1" to save space
436 (rather than their unsigned integer equivalents). "-1" can also be
437 given as the value to a mode page field acronym (e.g. '--set=INTT=-1'
438 sets the interval timer field in the Informational Exceptions control
439 mode page to 0xffffffff).
440
442 SCSI transport protocols are a relatively specialized area that can be
443 safely ignored by the majority of users.
444 Some transport protocols have protocol specific mode pages. These are
446 usually the disconnect-reconnect (0x2), the protocol specific logical
447 unit (0x18) and the protocol specific port (0x19) mode pages. In some
448 cases the latter mode page has several subpages. The most common trans‐
449 port protocol abbreviations likely to be used are "fcp", "spi" and
450 "sas".
451 Many of the field names are re-used in the same position so the acro‐
453 nym_name namespaces have been divided between generic mode pages (i.e.
454 when the --transport= option is _not_ given) and a namespace for each
455 transport protocol. A LUPID field from the protocol specific logical
456 unit (0x18) mode page and the PPID field from protocol specific port
457 (0x19) mode page are included in the generic modes pages; this is so
458 the respective (transport) protocol identifiers can be seen. In most
459 cases the user will know what the "port" transport is (i.e. the same
460 transport as the HBA in the computer) but the logical unit's transport
461 could be different.
462
464 SCSI leaves a lot of space for vendor specific information. Often this
465 is described in product manuals. The --vendor=VN (or -M=VN) option
466 allows known vendor specific mode pages to be examined and/or modified
467 by acronym.
468 In this utility the syntax and semantics of vendor specific mode pages
470 is very similar to those of transport protocol specific mode pages.
471 Both cannot be specified together. Vendor specific modes pages can
472 still be accessed numerically (as shown at the end of the EXAMPLES sec‐
473 tion).
474
476 The command option sends a SCSI command to the DEVICE. If the command
477 fails then this is reflected in the non-zero exit status. To obtain
478 more information about the error use the -v option.
479 capacity
481 sends a READ CAPACITY command (valid for disks and cd/dvd
482 media). If successful yields "blocks: " [the number of blocks],
483 "block_length: " [typically either 512 or 2048] and "capac‐
484 ity_mib: " [capacity in MibiBytes (1048576 byte units)].
485 eject stops the medium and ejects it from the device. Note that ejec‐
487 tion (by command or button) may be prevented in which case the
488 'unlock' command may be useful in extreme cases. Typically only
489 appropriate for cd/dvd drives and disk drives with removable
490 media. Objects if sent to another peripheral device type (but
491 objection can be overridden with '-f' option).
492 load loads the medium and and starts it (i.e. spins it up). See
494 'eject' command for supported device types.
495 profile
497 lists the various formats that a CD/DVD/HD-DVD/BD drive sup‐
498 ports. These are called "profiles" in the MMC standard. The pro‐
499 files are listed one per line. If media is in the drive then
500 the profile that matches the media (if any) has an "*" to the
501 right of the line.
502 ready sends the "Test Unit Ready" SCSI command to the DEVICE. No error
504 is reported if the device will respond to data requests (e.g.
505 READ) in a reasonable timescale. For example, if a disk is
506 stopped then it will report "not ready". All devices should
507 respond to this command.
508 sense sends a REQUEST SENSE command. It reports a hardware threshold
510 exceeded, warning or low power condition if flagged. If a
511 progress indication is present (e.g. during a format) then it
512 will be output as a percentage. Yields a process status of 0 if
513 the command succeeds and the sense key is 0; else yields 1. The
514 --quiet option can be used to lessen output, and --hex to output
515 sense data in hex.
516 speed=SPEED
518 permits the speed of a CD, DVD, HD_DVD or BD disc in a drive to
519 be set (or at least influenced). It has this format: --com‐
520 mand=speed=SPEED where SPEED is in kilobytes per second. In this
521 case a kilobyte is 1000 bytes. The "times one" speed for a CD is
522 176.4 kB/s, for a DVD is 1350 kB/s and for both HD-DVD and BD it
523 is 4500 kB/s. If SPEED is zero then the drive is set to the
524 speed that it considers gives optimal performance. This command
525 sends a SET STREAMING multi-media command (MMC) to the drive.
526 The EXACT bit is clear so the drive will round the given SPEED
527 as necessary. The command is designed to control read speed;
528 setting write speed should be left to "burning" programs.
529 start starts the medium (i.e. spins it up). Harmless if medium has
531 already been started. See 'eject' command for supported device
532 types. If the DEVICE is an ATA disk in Linux the '--readonly'
533 option may be required.
534 stop stops the medium (i.e. spins it down). Harmless if medium has
536 already been stopped. See 'eject' command for supported device
537 types. If the DEVICE is an ATA disk in Linux the '--readonly'
538 option may be required. See the NOTES section above.
539 sync sends a SYNCHRONIZE CACHE command. The device should flush any
541 data held in its (volatile) buffers to the media.
542 unlock tells a device to allow medium removal. It uses the SCSI "pre‐
544 vent allow medium removal" command. This is desperation stuff,
545 possibly overriding a prevention applied by the OS on a mounted
546 file system. The "eject" utility (from the "eject" package) is
547 more graceful and should be tried first. This command is only
548 appropriate for devices with removable media.
549 For loading and ejecting tapes the mt utility should be used (i.e. not
551 these commands). The 'ready' command is valid for tape devices.
552
554 To list the common (generic) mode parameters of a disk:
555 sdparm /dev/sda
557 To list the designators within the device identification VPD page of a
559 disk:
560 sdparm --inquiry /dev/sda
562 To see all parameters for the caching mode page:
564 sdparm --page=ca /dev/sda
566 To see all parameters for the caching mode page with parameter descrip‐
568 tions to the right:
569 sdparm --page=ca --long /dev/sda
571 To get the WCE values (current changeable default and saved) in hex:
573 sdparm -g WCE -H /dev/sda
575 0x01 0x00 0x01 0x01
576 To get the WCE current value in hex:
578 sdparm -g WCE=1 -H /dev/sda
580 0x01
581 To set the "Writeback Cache Enable" bit in the current values page:
583 sdparm --set=WCE /dev/sda
585 To set the "Writeback Cache Enable" bit in the current and saved values
587 page:
588 sdparm --set=WCE --save /dev/sda
590 To set the "Writeback Cache Enable" and clear "Read Cache Disable":
592 sdparm --set=WCE --clear=RCD --save /dev/sda
594 The previous example can also by written as:
596 sdparm -s WCE=1,RCD=0 -S /dev/sda
598 To re-establish the manufacturer's defaults in the current and saved
600 values of the caching mode page:
601 sdparm --page=ca --defaults --save /dev/sda
603 If an ATAPI cd/dvd drive is at /dev/hdc then its common (mode) parame‐
605 ters could be listed in the lk 2.6 series with:
606 sdparm /dev/hdc
608 If there is a DVD in the drive at /dev/hdc then it could be ejected in
610 the lk 2.6 series with:
611 sdparm --command=eject /dev/hdc
613 If the ejection is being prevented by software then that can be over‐
615 ridden with:
616 sdparm --command=unlock /dev/hdc
618 One disk vendor has a "Performance Mode" bit (PM) in the vendor spe‐
620 cific unit attention mode page [0x0,0x0]. PM=0 is server mode (the
621 default) while PM=1 is desktop mode. Desktop mode can be set (both cur‐
622 rent and saved values) with:
623 sdparm --page=0 --set=2:7:1=1 --save /dev/sda
625 The resultant change can be viewed in hex with the --hex option as
627 there are no acronyms for vendor extensions yet. The PM bit is now cov‐
628 ered by vendor specific mode pages and the above can also be accom‐
629 plished with:
630 sdparm --vendor=sea --set=PM --save /dev/sda
632 What follows are some examples from Windows using the '--wscan' option.
634 The idea is to list the storage device names on the system that might
635 be invoked by other uses of sdparm.
636 # sdparm --wscan
638 PD0 [C] FUJITSU MHY2160BH 0000
639 PD1 [DF] WD 2500BEV External 1.05 WD-WXE90
640 CDROM0 [E] MATSHITA DVD/CDRW UJDA775 CB03
641 So 'sdparm -a CDROM0' and 'sdparm -a E' will show all the (known) mode
643 page fields for the Matshita DVD/CD drive. By using the '--wsacan'
644 option twice, the bus type (as seen by the OS) is added to the output:
645 # sdparm -ww
647 PD0 [C] <Ata > FUJITSU MHY2160BH 0000
648 PD1 [DF] <Usb > WD 2500BEV External 1.05 WD-WXE90
649 CDROM0 [E] <Atapi> MATSHITA DVD/CDRW UJDA775 CB03
650 And the pattern continues to add a SCSI adapter scan. This may be use‐
652 ful if there are specialized storage related devices (e.g. a SES device
653 in an enclosure) but does add much extra information in this case.
654 # sdparm -www
656 PD0 [C] <Ata > FUJITSU MHY2160BH 0000
657 PD1 [DF] <Usb > WD 2500BEV External 1.05 WD-WXE90
658 CDROM0 [E] <Atapi> MATSHITA DVD/CDRW UJDA775 CB03
659 SCSI0:0,0,0 claimed=1 pdt=0h FUJITSU MHY2160BH 0000
661 SCSI1:0,0,0 claimed=1 pdt=5h MATSHITA DVD/CDRW UJDA775 CB03
662
664 To aid scripts that call sdparm, the exit status is set to indicate
665 success (0) or failure (1 or more). Note that some of the lower values
666 correspond to the SCSI sense key values. The exit status values are:
667 0 success
669 1 syntax error. Either illegal command line options, options with
671 bad arguments or a combination of options that is not permitted.
672 2 the DEVICE reports that it is not ready for the operation
674 requested. The device may be in the process of becoming ready
675 (e.g. spinning up but not at speed) so the utility may work
676 after a wait.
677 3 the DEVICE reports a medium or hardware error (or a blank
679 check). For example an attempt to read a corrupted block on a
680 disk will yield this value.
681 5 the DEVICE reports an "illegal request" with an additional sense
683 code other than "invalid operation code". This is often a sup‐
684 ported command with a field set requesting an unsupported capa‐
685 bility. For commands that require a "service action" field this
686 value can indicate that the command is not supported.
687 6 the DEVICE reports a "unit attention" condition. This usually
689 indicates that something unrelated to the requested command has
690 occurred (e.g. a device reset) potentially before the current
691 SCSI command was sent. The requested command has not been exe‐
692 cuted by the device. Note that unit attention conditions are
693 usually only reported once by a device.
694 9 the DEVICE reports an illegal request with an additional sense
696 code of "invalid operation code" which means that it doesn't
697 support the requested command.
698 11 the DEVICE reports an aborted command. In some cases aborted
700 commands can be retried immediately (e.g. if the transport
701 aborted the command due to congestion).
702 15 the utility is unable to open, close or use the given DEVICE.
704 The given file name could be incorrect or there may be permis‐
705 sion problems. Adding the -v option may give more information.
706 20 the DEVICE reports it has a check condition but "no sense".
708 Some polling commands (e.g. REQUEST SENSE) can react this way.
709 It is unlikely that this value will occur as an exit status.
710 21 the DEVICE reports a "recovered error". The requested command
712 was successful. Most likely a utility will report a recovered
713 error to stderr and continue, probably leaving the utility with
714 an exit status of 0 .
715 33 the command sent to DEVICE has timed out. This occurs in Linux
717 only; in other ports a command timeout will appear as a trans‐
718 port (or OS) error.
719 97 the response to a SCSI command failed sanity checks.
721 98 the DEVICE reports it has a check condition but the error
723 doesn't fit into any of the above categories.
724 99 any errors that can't be categorized into values 1 to 98 may
726 yield this value. This includes transport and operating system
727 errors after the command has been sent to the device.
728 Most of the error conditions reported above will be repeatable (an
730 example of one that is not is "unit attention") so the utility can be
731 run again with the -v option (or several) to obtain more information.
732
734 Written by Douglas Gilbert.
735
737 Report bugs to <dgilbert at interlog dot com>.
738
740 Copyright © 2005-2013 Douglas Gilbert
741 This software is distributed under a FreeBSD license. There is NO war‐
742 ranty; not even for MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PUR‐
743 POSE.
744
746 There is a web page discussing this package at
747 http://sg.danny.cz/sg/sdparm.html .
748
750 hdparm(hdparm), sg_modes, sg_wr_mode, sginfo, sg_inq, sg_vpd(all in
751 sg3_utils), smartmontools(smartmontools.sourceforge.net), mt,
752 eject(eject),
753sdparm-1.08 June 2013 SDPARM(8)