path: root/usr/src/man/man4/format.dat.4

'\" te
.\"  Copyright (c) 1999, Sun Microsystems, Inc.  All Rights Reserved
.\" The contents of this file are subject to the terms of the Common Development and Distribution License (the "License").  You may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
.\" You can obtain a copy of the license at usr/src/OPENSOLARIS.LICENSE or http://www.opensolaris.org/os/licensing.  See the License for the specific language governing permissions and limitations under the License.
.\" When distributing Covered Code, include this CDDL HEADER in each file and include the License file at usr/src/OPENSOLARIS.LICENSE.  If applicable, add the following below this CDDL HEADER, with the fields enclosed by brackets "[]" replaced with your own identifying information: Portions Copyright [yyyy] [name of copyright owner]
.TH FORMAT.DAT 4 "Apr 19, 2001"
.SH NAME
format.dat \- disk drive configuration for the format command
.SH DESCRIPTION
.sp
.LP
\fBformat.dat\fR enables you to use your specific disk drives with
\fBformat\fR(1M). On Solaris 2.3 and compatible systems, \fBformat\fR will
automatically configure and label SCSI drives, so that they need not be defined
in \fBformat.dat\fR. Three things can be defined in the data file:
.RS +4
.TP
.ie t \(bu
.el o
search paths
.RE
.RS +4
.TP
.ie t \(bu
.el o
disk types
.RE
.RS +4
.TP
.ie t \(bu
.el o
partition tables.
.RE
.SS "Syntax"
.sp
.LP
The following syntax rules apply to the data file:
.RS +4
.TP
.ie t \(bu
.el o
The pound \fB#\fR sign is the comment character. Any text on a line after a
pound sign is not interpreted by \fBformat\fR.
.RE
.RS +4
.TP
.ie t \(bu
.el o
Each definition in the \fBformat.dat\fR file appears on a single logical line.
If the definition is more than one line long, all but the last line of the
definition must end with a backslash (\e).
.RE
.RS +4
.TP
.ie t \(bu
.el o
A definition consists of a series of assignments that have an identifier on the
left side and one or more values on the right side. The assignment operator is
the equal sign (=). Assignments within a definition must be separated by a
colon (:).
.RE
.RS +4
.TP
.ie t \(bu
.el o
White space is ignored by \fBformat\fR(1M). If you want an assigned value to
contain white space, enclose the entire value in double quotes ("). This will
cause the white space within quotes to be preserved as part of the assignment
value.
.RE
.RS +4
.TP
.ie t \(bu
.el o
Some assignments can have multiple values on the right hand side. Separate
values by a comma (,).
.RE
.SS "Keywords"
.sp
.LP
The data file contains disk definitions that are read in by \fBformat\fR(1M)
when it starts up. Each definition starts with one of the following keywords:
\fBsearch_path\fR, \fBdisk_type\fR, and \fBpartition\fR.
.sp
.ne 2
.na
\fB\fBsearch_path\fR\fR
.ad
.RS 15n
4.x: Tells \fBformat\fR which disks it should search for when it starts up. The
list in the default data file contains all the disks in the GENERIC
configuration file. If your system has disks that are not in the GENERIC
configuration file, add them to the \fBsearch_path\fR definition in your data
file. The data file can contain only one \fBsearch_path\fR definition. However,
this single definition lets you specify all the disks you have in your system.
.sp
5.x: By default, \fBformat\fR(1M) understands all the logical devices that are
of the form \fB/dev/rdsk/cntndnsn\fR; hence \fBsearch_path\fR is not normally
defined on a 5.x system.
.RE

.sp
.ne 2
.na
\fB\fBdisk_type\fR\fR
.ad
.RS 15n
Defines the controller and disk model. Each \fBdisk_type\fR definition contains
information concerning the physical geometry of the disk. The default data file
contains definitions for the controllers and disks that the Solaris operating
environment supports. You need to add a new \fBdisk_type\fR only if you have an
unsupported disk. You can add as many \fBdisk_type\fR definitions to the data
file as you want.
.sp
The following controller types are supported by \fBformat\fR(1M):
.sp
.ne 2
.na
\fBXY450\fR
.ad
.RS 10n
Xylogics 450 controller (SMD)
.RE

.sp
.ne 2
.na
\fBXD7053\fR
.ad
.RS 10n
Xylogics 7053 controller (SMD)
.RE

.sp
.ne 2
.na
\fBSCSI\fR
.ad
.RS 10n
True SCSI (CCS or SCSI-2)
.RE

.sp
.ne 2
.na
\fBISP-80\fR
.ad
.RS 10n
IPI panther controller
.RE

The keyword itself is assigned the name of the disk type. This name appears in
the disk's label and is used to identify the disk type whenever
\fBformat\fR(1M) is run. Enclose the name in double quotes to preserve any
white space in the name.
.sp
Below are lists of identifiers for supported controllers. Note that an asterisk
('*') indicates the identifier is mandatory for that controller -- it is not
part of the keyword name.
.sp
The following identifiers are assigned values in all \fBdisk_type\fR
definitions:
.sp
.ne 2
.na
\fB\fBacyl*\fR\fR
.ad
.RS 12n
alternate cylinders
.RE

.sp
.ne 2
.na
\fB\fBasect\fR\fR
.ad
.RS 12n
alternate sectors per track
.RE

.sp
.ne 2
.na
\fB\fBatrks\fR\fR
.ad
.RS 12n
alternate tracks
.RE

.sp
.ne 2
.na
\fB\fBfmt_time\fR\fR
.ad
.RS 12n
formatting time per cylinder
.RE

.sp
.ne 2
.na
\fB\fBncyl*\fR\fR
.ad
.RS 12n
number of logical cylinders
.RE

.sp
.ne 2
.na
\fB\fBnhead*\fR\fR
.ad
.RS 12n
number of logical heads
.RE

.sp
.ne 2
.na
\fB\fBnsect*\fR\fR
.ad
.RS 12n
number of logical sectors per track
.RE

.sp
.ne 2
.na
\fB\fBpcyl*\fR\fR
.ad
.RS 12n
number of physical cylinders
.RE

.sp
.ne 2
.na
\fB\fBphead\fR\fR
.ad
.RS 12n
number of physical heads
.RE

.sp
.ne 2
.na
\fB\fBpsect\fR\fR
.ad
.RS 12n
number of physical sectors per track
.RE

.sp
.ne 2
.na
\fB\fBrpm*\fR\fR
.ad
.RS 12n
drive RPM
.RE

These identifiers are for SCSI and MD-21 Controllers
.sp
.ne 2
.na
\fB\fBread_retries\fR\fR
.ad
.RS 17n
page 1 byte 3 (read retries)
.RE

.sp
.ne 2
.na
\fB\fBwrite_retries\fR\fR
.ad
.RS 17n
page 1 byte 8 (write retries)
.RE

.sp
.ne 2
.na
\fB\fBcyl_skew\fR\fR
.ad
.RS 17n
page 3 bytes 18-19 (cylinder skew)
.RE

.sp
.ne 2
.na
\fB\fBtrk_skew\fR\fR
.ad
.RS 17n
page 3 bytes 16-17 (track skew)
.RE

.sp
.ne 2
.na
\fB\fBtrks_zone\fR\fR
.ad
.RS 17n
page 3 bytes 2-3 (tracks per zone)
.RE

.sp
.ne 2
.na
\fB\fBcache\fR\fR
.ad
.RS 17n
page 38 byte 2 (cache parameter)
.RE

.sp
.ne 2
.na
\fB\fBprefetch\fR\fR
.ad
.RS 17n
page 38 byte 3 (prefetch parameter)
.RE

.sp
.ne 2
.na
\fB\fBmax_prefetch\fR\fR
.ad
.RS 17n
page 38 byte 4 (minimum prefetch)
.RE

.sp
.ne 2
.na
\fB\fBmin_prefetch\fR\fR
.ad
.RS 17n
page 38 byte 6 (maximum prefetch)
.RE

Note: The Page 38 values are device-specific. Refer the user to the particular
disk's manual for these values.
.sp
For SCSI disks, the following geometry specifiers may cause a mode select on
the byte(s) indicated:
.sp
.ne 2
.na
\fB\fBasect\fR\fR
.ad
.RS 9n
page 3 bytes 4-5 (alternate sectors per zone)
.RE

.sp
.ne 2
.na
\fB\fBatrks\fR\fR
.ad
.RS 9n
page 3 bytes 8-9 (alt. tracks per logical unit)
.RE

.sp
.ne 2
.na
\fB\fBphead\fR\fR
.ad
.RS 9n
page 4 byte 5 (number of heads)
.RE

.sp
.ne 2
.na
\fB\fBpsect\fR\fR
.ad
.RS 9n
page 3 bytes 10-11 (sectors per track)
.RE

And these identifiers are for SMD Controllers Only
.sp
.ne 2
.na
\fB\fBbps*\fR\fR
.ad
.RS 8n
bytes per sector (SMD)
.RE

.sp
.ne 2
.na
\fB\fBbpt*\fR\fR
.ad
.RS 8n
bytes per track (SMD)
.RE

Note: under SunOS 5.x, bpt is only required for SMD disks. Under SunOS 4.x, bpt
was required for all disk types, even though it was only used for SMD disks.
.sp
And this identifier is for XY450 SMD Controllers Only
.sp
.ne 2
.na
\fB\fBdrive_type*\fR\fR
.ad
.RS 15n
drive type (SMD) (just call this "xy450 drive type")
.RE

.RE

.sp
.ne 2
.na
\fB\fBpartition\fR\fR
.ad
.RS 15n
Defines a partition table for a specific disk type. The partition table
contains the partitioning information, plus a name that lets you refer to it in
\fBformat\fR(1M). The default data file contains default partition definitions
for several kinds of disk drives. Add a partition definition if you
repartitioned any of the disks on your system. Add as many partition
definitions to the data file as you need.
.sp
Partition naming conventions differ in SunOS 4.x and in SunOS 5.x.
.sp
4.x: the partitions are named as \fBa\fR, \fBb\fR, \fBc\fR, \fBd\fR, \fBe\fR,
\fBf\fR, \fBg\fR, \fBh\fR.
.sp
5.x: the partitions are referred to by numbers \fB0\fR, \fB1\fR, \fB2\fR,
\fB3\fR, \fB4\fR, \fB5\fR, \fB6\fR, \fB7\fR.
.RE

.SH EXAMPLES
.LP
\fBExample 1 \fRA sample \fBdisk_type\fR and \fBpartition\fR.
.sp
.LP
Following is a sample \fBdisk_type\fR and \fBpartition\fR definition in
\fBformat.dat\fR file for SUN0535 disk device.

.sp
.in +2
.nf
disk_type = "SUN0535" \e
	: ctlr = SCSI : fmt_time = 4 \e
	: ncyl = 1866 : acyl = 2 : pcyl = 2500 : nhead = 7 : nsect = 80 \e
	: rpm = 5400
partition = "SUN0535" \e
	: disk = "SUN0535" : ctlr = SCSI \e
      : 0 = 0, 64400 : 1 = 115, 103600 : 2 = 0, 1044960 : 6 = 300, 876960
.fi
.in -2
.sp

.SH FILES
.sp
.ne 2
.na
\fB\fB/etc/format.dat\fR\fR
.ad
.RS 19n
default data file if \fBformat\fR \fB-x\fR is not specified, nor is there a
\fBformat.dat\fR file in the current directory.
.RE

.SH SEE ALSO
.sp
.LP
\fBformat\fR(1M)
.sp
.LP
\fISystem Administration Guide: Basic Administration\fR