1SG_FORMAT(8) SG3_UTILS SG_FORMAT(8)
2
6 sg_format - format, resize a SCSI disk or format a tape
7
9 sg_format [--cmplst={0|1}] [--count=COUNT] [--dcrt] [--early]
10 [--ffmy=FFMT] [--fmtpinfo=FPI] [--format] [--help] [--ip_def] [--long]
11 [--mode=MP] [--pfu=PFU] [--pie=PIE] [--pinfo] [--poll=PT] [--resize]
12 [--rto_req] [--security] [--six] [--size=SIZE] [--tape=FM] [--verbose]
13 [--verify] [--version] [--wait] DEVICE
14
16 Not all SCSI direct access devices need to be formatted and some have
17 vendor specific formatting procedures. SCSI disks with rotating media
18 are probably the largest group that do support a 'standard' format
19 operation. They are typically factory formatted to a block size of 512
20 bytes with the largest number of blocks that the manufacturer recom‐
21 mends. The manufacturer's recommendation typically leaves aside a cer‐
22 tain number of tracks, spread across the media, for reassignment of
23 blocks to logical block addresses during the life of the disk.
24 This utility can format modern SCSI disks and potentially change their
26 block size (if permitted) and the block count (i.e. number of accessi‐
27 ble blocks on the media also known as "resizing"). Resizing a disk to
28 less than the manufacturer's recommended block count is sometimes
29 called "short stroking" (see NOTES section). Resizing the block count
30 while not changing the block size may not require a format operation.
31 The SBC-2 standard (see www.t10.org) has obsoleted the "format device"
32 mode page. Many of the low level details found in that mode page are
33 now left up to the discretion of the manufacturer.
34 When this utility is used without options (i.e. it is only given a
36 DEVICE argument) it prints out the existing block size and block count
37 derived from two sources. These two sources are a block descriptor in
38 the response to a MODE SENSE command and the response to a READ CAPAC‐
39 ITY command. The reason for this double check is to detect a "format
40 corrupt" state (see the NOTES section). This usage will not modify the
41 disk.
42 When this utility is used with the "--format" (or "-F") option it will
44 attempt to format the given DEVICE. There is a 15 second pause during
45 which time the user is invited thrice (5 seconds apart) to abort
46 sg_format. This occurs just prior the SCSI FORMAT UNIT command being
47 issued. See the NOTES section for more information.
48 Protection information is optional and is made up of one or more pro‐
50 tection intervals, each made up of 8 bytes associated with each logical
51 block. Four protection types are defined with protection type 0 being
52 no protection intervals. See the PROTECTION INFORMATION section below
53 for more information.
54 When the --tape=FM option is given then the SCSI FORMAT MEDIUM command
56 is sent to the DEVICE. FORMAT MEDIUM is defined in SSC and prepares a
57 volume for use which may include partitioning the medium. See the sec‐
58 tion below on TAPE for more information.
59
61 Arguments to long options are mandatory for short options as well. The
62 options are arranged in alphabetical order based on the long option
63 name.
64 -C, --cmplst={0|1}
66 sets the CMPLST ("complete list") bit in the FORMAT UNIT cdb to
67 0 or 1. The default is 1 in which case the existing GLIST
68 (grown list) is ignored. If the value is 0 then the existing
69 GLIST is taken into account. See the LISTS section below. In
70 most cases this bit should be left set; some MO disk drives need
71 this bit cleared.
72 -c, --count=COUNT
74 where COUNT is the number of blocks to be formatted or media to
75 be resized to. Can be used with either --format or --resize.
76 With --format this option need not be given in which case it is
77 assumed to be zero. With --format the interpretation of COUNT
78 is:
79 (COUNT > 0) : only format the first COUNT blocks and READ
80 CAPACITY will report COUNT blocks after format
81 (COUNT = 0) and block size unchanged : use existing block
82 count
83 (COUNT = 0) and block size changed : recommended maximum block
84 count for new block size
85 (COUNT = -1) : use recommended maximum block count
86 (COUNT < -1) : illegal
87 With --resize this option must be given and COUNT has this
88 interpretation:
89 (COUNT > 0) : after resize READ CAPACITY will report COUNT
90 blocks
91 (COUNT = 0) : after resize READ CAPACITY will report 0 blocks
92 (COUNT = -1) : after resize READ CAPACITY will report its
93 maximum number of blocks
94 (COUNT < -1) : illegal
95 In both cases if the given COUNT exceeds the maximum number of
96 blocks (for the block size) then the disk reports an error. See
97 NOTES section below.
98 -D, --dcrt
100 this option sets the DCRT bit in the FORMAT UNIT command's
101 parameter list header. It will "disable certification". Certifi‐
102 cation verifies that blocks are usable during the format
103 process. Using this option may speed the format. The default
104 action of this utility (i.e. when this option is not given) is
105 to clear the DCRT bit thereby requesting "media certification".
106 When the DCRT bit is set, the FOV bit must also be set hence
107 sg_format does that.
108 -e, --early
110 during a format operation, The default action of this utility is
111 to poll the disk every 60 seconds to determine the progress of
112 the format operation until it is finished. When this option is
113 given this utility will exit "early", that is as soon as the
114 format operation has commenced. Then the user can monitor the
115 progress of the ongoing format operation with other utilities
116 (e.g. sg_turs(8) or sg_requests(8)). This option and --wait are
117 mutually exclusive.
118 -t, --ffmt=FFMT
120 FFMT is placed in a field of the same name in the FORMAT UNIT
121 cdb. The field was introduced in SBC-4 revision 10. The default
122 value is 0 which implies the former action to typically write to
123 all blocks on the DEVICE and that can take a long time.
124 FFMT has values 1 and 2 for fast format with 3 being reserved
125 currently. The difference between 1 and 2 concerns read opera‐
126 tions on LBAs to which no data has been written to, since the
127 fast format. When FFMT is 1 the read operation should return
128 "unspecified logical block data" and complete without error.
129 When FFMT is 2 the read operation should yield check condition
130 status with a sense key set to hardware error, medium error or
131 command aborted. See SBC-4 revsion 10 section 4.35 for more
132 details.
133 -f, --fmtpinfo=FPI
135 sets the FMTPINFO field in the FORMAT UNIT cdb to a value
136 between 0 and 3. The default value is 0. The FMTPINFO field
137 from SBC-3 revision 16 is a 2 bit field (bits 7 and 6 of byte 1
138 in the cdb). Prior to that it was a single bit field (bit 7 of
139 byte 1 in the cdb) and there was an accompanying bit called
140 RTO_REQ (bit 6 of byte 1 in the cdb). The deprecated options
141 "--pinfo" and "--rto-req" represent the older usage. This option
142 should be used in their place. See the PROTECTION INFORMATION
143 section below for more information.
144 -F, --format
146 issue a SCSI FORMAT UNIT command. This will destroy all the
147 data held on the media. This option is required to change the
148 block size of a disk. The user is given a 15 second count down
149 to ponder the wisdom of doing this, during which time control-C
150 (amongst other Unix commands) can be used to kill this process
151 before it does any damage.
152 When used three times (or more) the preliminary MODE SENSE and
153 SELECT commands are bypassed, leaving only the initial INQUIRY
154 and FORMAT UNIT commands. This is for emergency use (e.g. when
155 the MODE SENSE/SELECT commands are not working) and cannot
156 change the logical block size.
157 See NOTES section for implementation details and EXAMPLES sec‐
158 tion for typical use.
159 -h, --help
161 print out the usage information then exit.
162 -I, --ip_def
164 sets the default Initialization Pattern. Some disks (SSDs) use
165 this to flag that a format should fully provision (i.e. asso‐
166 ciate a physical block with every logical block). The same disks
167 (SSDs) might thin provision if this option is not given. If this
168 option is given then the --security option cannot be given.
169 -l, --long
171 the default action of this utility is to assume 32 bit logical
172 block addresses. With 512 byte block size this permits more than
173 2 terabytes (almost 2 ** 41 bytes) on a single disk. This option
174 selects commands and parameters that allow for 64 bit logical
175 block addresses. Specifically this option sets the "longlba"
176 flag in the MODE SENSE (10) command and uses READ CAPACITY (16)
177 rather than READ CAPACITY (10). If this option is not given and
178 READ CAPACITY (10) or MODE SELECT detects a disk the needs more
179 than 32 bits to represent its logical blocks then it is set
180 internally. This option does not set the LONGLIST bit in the
181 FORMAT UNIT command. The LONGLIST bit is set as required depend‐
182 ing other parameters (e.g. when '--pie=PIE' is greater than
183 zero).
184 -M, --mode=MP
186 MP is a mode page number (0 to 62 inclusive) that will be used
187 for reading and perhaps changing the device logical block size.
188 The default is 1 which is the Read-Write Error Recovery mode
189 page.
190 -P, --pfu=PFU
192 sets the "Protection Field Usage" field in the parameter block
193 associated with a FORMAT UNIT command to PFU. The default value
194 is 0, the only other defined value currently is 1. See the PRO‐
195 TECTION INFORMATION section below for more information.
196 -q, --pie=PIE
198 sets the "Protection Interval Exponent" field in the parameter
199 block associated with a FORMAT UNIT command to PIE. The default
200 value is 0. PIE can only be non-zero with protection types 2
201 and 3. The value of 0 is typical for 512 byte blocks; with 4096
202 byte blocks a value of 3 may be appropriate (i.e. 8 protection
203 intervals interleaved with 4096 bytes of user data). A device
204 may not support any non-zero values. This field first appeared
205 in SBC-3 revision 18.
206 -p, --pinfo
208 this option is deprecated, use the --fmtpinfo=FPI option
209 instead. If used, then it sets bit 7 of byte 1 in the FORMAT
210 UNIT cdb and that is equivalent to setting --fmtpinfo=2. [So if
211 --pinfo is used (plus --fmtpinfo=FPI and --pfu=PFU are not given
212 or their arguments are 0) then protection type 1 is selected.]
213 -x, --poll=PT
215 where PT is the type of poll used. If PT is 0 then a TEST UNIT
216 READY command is used, otherwise a REQUEST SENSE command is
217 used. The default is currently 0 but this will change to 1 in
218 the near future. See the NOTES sections below.
219 -r, --resize
221 rather than format the disk, it can be resized. This means
222 changing the number of blocks on the device reported by the READ
223 CAPACITY command. This option should be used with the
224 --count=COUNT option. The contents of all logical blocks on the
225 media remain unchanged when this option is used. This means that
226 any resize operation can be reversed. This option cannot be used
227 together with either --format or a --size=SIZE whose argument is
228 different to the existing block size.
229 -R, --rto_req
231 The option is deprecated, use the --fmtpinfo=FPI option instead.
232 If used, then it sets bit 6 of byte 1 in the FORMAT UNIT cdb.
233 -S, --security
235 sets the "Security Initialization" (SI) bit in the FORMAT UNIT
236 command's initialization pattern descriptor within the parameter
237 list. According to SBC-3 the default initialization pattern
238 "shall be written using a security erasure write technique". See
239 the NOTES section on the SCSI SANITIZE command. If this option
240 is given then the --ip_def option cannot be given.
241 -6, --six
243 Use 6 byte variants of MODE SENSE and MODE SELECT. The default
244 action is to use the 10 byte variants. Some MO drives need this
245 option set when doing a format.
246 -s, --size=SIZE
248 where SIZE is the block size (i.e. number of bytes in each
249 block) to format the device to. The default value is whatever is
250 currently reported by the block descriptor in a MODE SENSE com‐
251 mand. If the block size given by this option is different from
252 the current value then a MODE SELECT command is used to change
253 it prior to the FORMAT UNIT command being started (as recom‐
254 mended in the draft standard). Many SCSI disks have 512 byte
255 sectors by default and allow up to 16 bytes extra in a sector
256 (i.e. 528 byte sectors). If the given size in unacceptable with
257 the disk, most likely an "Invalid field in parameter list" mes‐
258 sage will appear in sense data (requires the use of '-v' to
259 decode sense data).
260 -T, --tape=FM
262 will send a FORMAT MEDIUM command to the DEVICE with the FORMAT
263 field set to FM. This option is used to prepare a tape (i.e. the
264 "medium") in a tape drive for use. Values for FM include 0 to do
265 the "default" format; 1 to partition a volume and 2 to do a
266 default format then partition.
267 -v, --verbose
269 increase the level of verbosity, (i.e. debug output). "-vvv"
270 gives a lot more debug output.
271 -y, --verify
273 set the VERIFY bit in the FORMAT MEDIUM cdb. The default is that
274 the VERIFY bit is clear. This option is only appropriate for
275 tapes.
276 -V, --version
278 print the version string and then exit.
279 -w, --wait
281 the default format action is to set the "IMMED" bit in the FOR‐
282 MAT UNIT command's (short) parameter header. If this option
283 (i.e. --wait) is given then the "IMMED" bit is not set. If
284 --wait is given the FORMAT UNIT command waits until the format
285 operation completes before returning its response. This can be
286 many hours on large disks. This utility sets a 15 hour timeout
287 on such a FORMAT UNIT command! Some recent SSDs go to the other
288 extreme of completing a format operation in 1.5 seconds hence
289 waiting is not an issue.
290
292 The SBC-3 draft (revision 36) defines PLIST, CLIST, DLIST and GLIST in
293 section 4.13 on "Medium defects". Briefly, the PLIST is the "primary"
294 list of manufacturer detected defects, the CLIST ("certification" list)
295 contains those detected during the format operation, the DLIST is a
296 list of defects that can be given to the format operation. The GLIST is
297 the grown list which starts in the format process as CLIST+DLIST and
298 can "grow" later due to automatic reallocation (see the ARRE and AWRE
299 bits in the Read-Write Error Recovery mode page (see sdparm(8))) and
300 use of the SCSI REASSIGN BLOCKS command (see sg_reassign(8)).
301 The CMPLST bit (controlled by the --cmplst=0|1 option) determines
303 whether the existing GLIST, when the format operation is invoked, is
304 taken into account. The sg_format utility sets the FOV bit to zero
305 which causes DPRY=0, so the PLIST is taken into account, and DCRT=0, so
306 the CLIST is generated and used during the format process.
307 The sg_format utility does not permit a user to provide a defect list
309 (i.e. DLIST).
310
312 Protection Information (PI) is additional information held with logical
313 blocks so that an application and/or host bus adapter can check the
314 correctness of those logical blocks. PI is placed in one or more pro‐
315 tection intervals beside each logical block. A protection interval con‐
316 tains 8 bytes made up of a 2 byte "logical block guard" (CRC), a 2 byte
317 "logical block application guard", and a 4 byte "logical block refer‐
318 ence tag". Devices with 512 byte logical block size typically have one
319 protection interval appended, making its logical block data 520 bytes
320 long. Devices with 4096 byte logical block size often have 8 protection
321 intervals spread across its logical block data for a total size of 4160
322 bytes. Note that for all other purposes the logical block size is con‐
323 sidered to be 512 and 4096 bytes respectively.
324 SBC-3 drafts have added several "protection types" to the PI introduced
326 in the SBC-2 standard. SBC-3 defines 4 protection types (types 0 to 3)
327 with protection type 0 meaning no PI is maintained. While a device may
328 support one or more protection types, it can only be formatted with 1
329 of the 4. To change a device's protection type, it must be re-format‐
330 ted. For more information see the Protection Information in section
331 4.22 of draft SBC-3 revision 36.
332 A device that supports PI information (i.e. supports one or more pro‐
334 tection types 1, 2 and 3) sets the "PROTECT" bit in its standard
335 INQUIRY response. It also sets the SPT field in the EXTENDED INQUIRY
336 VPD page response to indicate which protection types it supports. Given
337 PROTECT=1 then SPT=0 implies the device supports PI type 1 only, SPT=1
338 implies the device supports PI types 1 and 2, and various other
339 non-obvious mappings up to SPT=7 which implies protection types 1, 2
340 and 3 are supported. The current protection type of a disk can be found
341 in the "P_TYPE" and "PROT_EN" fields in the response of a READ CAPACITY
342 (16) command (e.g. with the 'sg_readcap --long' utility).
343 Given that a device supports a particular protection type, a user can
345 then choose to format that disk with that protection type by setting
346 the "FMTPINFO" and "Protection Field Usage" fields in the FORMAT UNIT
347 command. Those fields correspond to the --fmtpinfo=FPI and the
348 --pfu=PFU options in this utility. The list below shows the four pro‐
349 tection types followed by the options of this utility needed to select
350 them:
351 0 : --fmtpinfo=0 --pfu=0
352 1 : --fmtpinfo=2 --pfu=0
353 2 : --fmtpinfo=3 --pfu=0
354 3 : --fmtpinfo=3 --pfu=1
355 The default value of FPI (in --fmtpinfo=FPI) is 0 and the default value
356 of PFU (in --pfu=PFU) is 0. So if neither --fmtpinfo=FPI nor --pfu=PFU
357 are given then protection type 0 (i.e. no protection information) is
358 chosen.
359
361 The SBC-2 standard states that the REQUEST SENSE command should be used
362 for obtaining progress indication when the format command is underway.
363 However, tests on a selection of disks shows that TEST UNIT READY com‐
364 mands yield progress indications (but not REQUEST SENSE commands). So
365 the current version of this utility defaults to using TEST UNIT READY
366 commands to poll the disk to find out the progress of the format. The
367 --poll=PT option has been added to control this.
368 When the --format option is given without the --wait option then the
370 SCSI FORMAT UNIT command is issued with the IMMED bit set which causes
371 the SCSI command to return after it has started the format operation.
372 The --early option will cause sg_format to exit at that point. Other‐
373 wise the DEVICE is polled every 60 seconds with TEST UNIT READY or
374 REQUEST SENSE commands until it reports an "all clear" (i.e. the format
375 operation has completed). Normally these polling commands will result
376 in a progress indicator (expressed as a percentage) being output to the
377 screen. If the user gets bored watching the progress report then
378 sg_format process can be terminated (e.g. with control-C) without
379 affecting the format operation which continues. However a target or
380 device reset (or a power cycle) will probably cause the device to
381 become "format corrupt".
382 When the --format and --wait options are both given then this utility
384 may take a long time to return. In this case care should be taken not
385 to send any other SCSI commands to the disk as it may not respond leav‐
386 ing those commands queued behind the active format command. This may
387 cause a timeout in the OS driver (in a lot shorter period than 15 hours
388 applicable to some format operations). This may result in the OS reset‐
389 ting the disk leaving the format operation incomplete. This may leave
390 the disk in a "format corrupt" state requiring another format to remedy
391 the situation.
392 When the block size (i.e. the number of bytes in each block) is changed
394 on a disk two SCSI commands must be sent: a MODE SELECT to change the
395 block size followed by a FORMAT command. If the MODE SELECT command
396 succeeds and the FORMAT fails then the disk may be in a state that the
397 draft standard calls "format corrupt". A block descriptor in a subse‐
398 quent MODE SENSE will report the requested new block size while a READ
399 CAPACITY command will report the existing (i.e. different) block size.
400 Alternatively the READ CAPACITY command may fail, reporting the device
401 is not ready, potentially requiring a format. The solution to this sit‐
402 uation is to do a format again (and this time the new block size does
403 not have to be given) or change the block size back to the original
404 size.
405 The SBC-2 standard states that the block count can be set back to the
407 manufacturer's maximum recommended value in a format or resize opera‐
408 tion. This can be done by placing an address of 0xffffffff (or the 64
409 bit equivalent) in the appropriate block descriptor field to a MODE
410 SELECT command. In signed (two's complement) arithmetic that value cor‐
411 responds to the manufacturer's maximum recommended value. To see
412 exactly which SCSI commands are being executed and parameters passed
413 add the "-vvv" option to the sg_format command line.
414 Short stroking is a technique to trade off capacity for performance.
416 Rotating disk performance is usually highest on the outer tracks (i.e.
417 lower logical block addresses) so by resizing or reformatting a disk to
418 a smaller capacity, average performance will usually be increased.
419 Other utilities may be useful in finding information associated with
421 formatting. These include sg_inq(8) to fetch standard INQUIRY informa‐
422 tion (e.g. the PROTECT bit) and to fetch the EXTENDED INQUIRY VPD page
423 (e.g. RTO and GRD_CHK bits). The sdparm(8) utility can be used to
424 access and potentially change the now obsolete format mode page.
425 scsiformat is another utility available for formatting SCSI disks with
427 Linux. It dates from 1997 (most recent update) and may be useful for
428 disks whose firmware is of that vintage.
429 The COUNT numeric argument may include a multiplicative suffix or be
431 given in hexadecimal. See the "NUMERIC ARGUMENTS" section in the
432 sg3_utils(8) man page.
433 The SCSI SANITIZE command was introduced in SBC-3 revision 27. It is
435 closely related to the ATA sanitize disk feature set and can be used to
436 remove all existing data from a disk. Sanitize is more likely to be
437 implemented on modern disks (including SSDs) than FORMAT UNIT's secu‐
438 rity initialization feature (see the --security option) and in some
439 cases much faster.
440 SSDs that support thin provisioning will typically unmap all logical
442 blocks during a format. The reason is to improve the SSD's endurance.
443 Also thin provisioned formats typically complete faster than fully pro‐
444 visioned ones on the same disk (see the --ip_def option). In either
445 case format operations on SSDs tend to be a lot faster than they are on
446 hard disks with spinning media.
447
449 Tape system use a variant of the FORMAT UNIT command used on disks.
450 Tape systems use the FORMAT MEDIUM command which is simpler with only
451 three fields in the cdb typically used. Apart from sharing the same
452 opcode the cdbs of FORMAT UNIT and FORMAT MEDIUM are quite different.
453 FORMAT MEDIUM's fields are VERIFY, IMMED and FORMAT (with TRANSFER
454 LENGTH always set to 0). The VERIFY bit field is set with the --verify
455 option. The IMMED bit is manipulated by the --wait option in the same
456 way it is for disks; one difference is that if the --poll=PT option is
457 not given then it defaults to PT of 1 which means the poll is done with
458 REQUEST SENSE commands.
459 The argument given to the --tape=FM option is used to set the FORMAT
461 field. FM can take values from "-1" to "15" where "-1" (the default)
462 means don't do a tape format; value "8" to "15" are for vendor specific
463 formats. The --early option may also be used to set the IMMED bit and
464 then exit this utility (rather than poll periodically until it is fin‐
465 ished). In this case the tape drive will still be busy doing the format
466 for some time but, according to T10, should still respond in full to
467 the INQUIRY and REPORT LUNS commands. Other commands (including REQUEST
468 SENSE) should yield a "not ready" sense key with an additional sense
469 code of "Logical unit not ready, format in progress". Additionally
470 REQUEST SENSE should contain a progress indication in its sense data.
471 When FM is 1 or 2 then the settings in the Medium partition mode page
473 control the partitioning. That mode page can be viewed and modified
474 with the sdparm utility.
475 Prior to invoking this utility the tape may need to be positioned to
477 the beginning of partition 0. In Linux that can typically be done with
478 the mt utility (e.g. 'mt -f /dev/st0 rewind').
479
481 These examples use Linux device names. For suitable device names in
482 other supported Operating Systems see the sg3_utils(8) man page.
483 In the first example below simply find out the existing block count and
485 size derived from two sources: a block descriptor in a MODE SELECT com‐
486 mand response and from the response of a READ CAPACITY commands. No
487 changes are made:
488 # sg_format /dev/sdm
490 Now a simple format, leaving the block count and size as they were pre‐
492 viously. The FORMAT UNIT command is executed in IMMED mode and the
493 device is polled every 60 seconds to print out a progress indication:
494 # sg_format --format /dev/sdm
496 Now the same format, but waiting (passively) until the format operation
498 is complete:
499 # sg_format --format --wait /dev/sdm
501 Next is a format in which the block size is changed to 520 bytes and
503 the block count is set to the manufacturer's maximum value (for that
504 block size). Note, not all disks support changing the block size:
505 # sg_format --format --size=520 /dev/sdm
507 Now a resize operation so that only the first 0x10000 (65536) blocks on
509 a disk are accessible. The remaining blocks remain unaltered.
510 # sg_format --resize --count=0x10000 /dev/sdm
512 Now resize the disk back to its normal (maximum) block count:
514 # sg_format --resize --count=-1 /dev/sdm
516 One reason to format a SCSI disk is to add protection information.
518 First check which protection types are supported by a disk (by checking
519 the SPT field in the Extended inquiry VPD page together with the Pro‐
520 tect bit in the standard inquiry response):
521 # sg_vpd -p ei -l /dev/sdb
523 extended INQUIRY data VPD page:
524 ACTIVATE_MICROCODE=0
525 SPT=1 [protection types 1 and 2 supported]
526 ....
527 Format with type 1 protection:
529 # sg_format --format --fmtpinfo=2 /dev/sdm
531 After a successful format with type 1 protection, READ CAPACITY(16)
533 should show something like this:
534 # sg_readcap -l /dev/sdm
536 Read Capacity results:
537 Protection: prot_en=1, p_type=0, p_i_exponent=0 [type 1 protec‐
538 tion]
539 Logical block provisioning: lbpme=0, lbprz=0
540 ....
541 To format with type 3 protection:
543 # sg_format --format --fmtpinfo=3 --pfu=1 /dev/sdm
545 For the disk shown above this will probably fail because the Extended
547 inquiry VPD page showed only types 1 and 2 protection are supported.
548
550 The exit status of sg_format is 0 when it is successful. Otherwise see
551 the sg3_utils(8) man page. Unless the --wait option is given, the exit
552 status may not reflect the success of otherwise of the format. Using
553 sg_turs(8) and sg_readcap(8) after the format operation may be wise.
554
556 Written by Grant Grundler, James Bottomley and Douglas Gilbert.
557
559 Report bugs to <dgilbert at interlog dot com>.
560
562 Copyright © 2005-2016 Grant Grundler, James Bottomley and Douglas
563 Gilbert
564 This software is distributed under the GPL version 2. There is NO war‐
565 ranty; not even for MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PUR‐
566 POSE.
567
569 sg_turs(8), sg_requests(8), sg_inq(8), sg_modes(8), sg_vpd(8), sg_reas‐
570 sign(8), sg_readcap(8), sg3_utils(8), sg_sanitize(8) [all in
571 sg3_utils], mt(mt-st), sdparm(8), scsiformat (old), hdparm(8)
572sg3_utils-1.42 February 2016 SG_FORMAT(8)