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format(1M)							    format(1M)

NAME
       format - format an HP SCSI disk array LUN

SYNOPSIS
       device_file

DESCRIPTION
       formats	one LUN of the HP SCSI disk array associated with device file,
       device_file.  The format will usually be a soft or zeroing  format,  in
       which the controller writes zeroes to the data area and parity area, if
       any, of the LUN.

       NOTE: The above should always be true of a sub-LUN, but the  controller
	      might  decide,  based on certain conditions, to do a full format
	      of a regular LUN, which consists of sending a mode select and  a
	      media  initialization  command to the physical drive(s) in ques‐
	      tion, followed by zeroing the data and parity area, if any.  The
	      conditions which will cause a full format to be done are as fol‐
	      lows:

	      1.     The controller  received  a  Mode	Select	command	 which
		     requires a drive sector size change.

	      2.     The  controller  received	a  Mode	 Select	 command which
		     changed a parameter in the Format Device Page (0x03).

	      3.     The LUN contains one or more failed drives.  In this case
		     only a certain subset of the drives containing the failed
		     drives will be formatted.

	      4.     Either the FmtData or the CmpLst bit in the  Format  Unit
		     CDB is set.

RETURN VALUE
       returns the following values:

	     0	   Successful completion.
	    -1	   Command failed.

DIAGNOSTICS AND ERRORS
       Errors can originate from problems with:

	      ·

	      ·	 SCSI (device level) communications

	      ·	 system calls

   Error messages generated by format:
       An error in command syntax has occurred.
	      Enter  command  again  with all required arguments, in the order
	      shown.

       To ensure that
	      does not modify a disk array  that  is  being  used  by  another
	      process,	attempts to obtain exclusive access to the disk array.
	      If the disk array is already  opened  by	another	 process  (for
	      example,	LVM  — the Logical Volume Manager), a "" error message
	      is returned by the  driver.   To	eliminate  the	""  condition,
	      determine what process has the device open.  In the case of LVM,
	      it is necessary to deactivate the volume	group  containing  the
	      array before formatting array LUNs (see vgchange(1M)).

       The  LUN	 number, which is derived from the device file name, is out of
       range.

       The addressed LUN
	      is not configured, and thus is  not  known  to  the  array  con‐
	      troller.

       Utilities must be able to open the device file for raw access.

       The device being addressed is not an HP SCSI disk array.

   SCSI (device level) communication errors:
       Sense data associated with the failed operation is printed.

   Error messages generated by system calls:
       uses the following system calls:

	      and

       Documentation  for  these HP-UX system calls contains information about
       the specific error conditions associated	 with  each  call.   does  not
       alter  the value of The interpretation of for printing purposes is per‐
       formed by the system utility

EXAMPLES
       To format the HP SCSI disk array LUN on a Series 800:

WARNING
       The command will destroy all user data on the addressed LUN.

DEPENDENCIES
       The HP C2425 and HP C2427 disk arrays are only supported on Series  700
       systems running HP-UX version 9.0X.

       The HP C2430 disk array is supported on Series 700 and 800 systems run‐
       ning HP-UX versions 9.0X and 10.0X.

AUTHOR
       was developed by HP.

								    format(1M)
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