Provided by: sg3-utils_1.46-3ubuntu4_amd64 bug

NAME

       sg_write_buffer - send SCSI WRITE BUFFER commands

SYNOPSIS

       sg_write_buffer  [--bpw=CS]  [--dry-run]  [--help]  [--id=ID]  [--in=FILE]  [--length=LEN]
       [--mode=MO] [--offset=OFF]  [--read-stdin]  [--skip=SKIP]  [--specific=MS]  [--timeout=TO]
       [--verbose] [--version] DEVICE

DESCRIPTION

       Sends  one  or  more SCSI WRITE BUFFER commands to DEVICE, along with data provided by the
       user. In some cases no data is required, or data can be read from the file  given  in  the
       --in=FILE option, or data is read from stdin when either --read-stdin or --in=- is given.

       Some  WRITE BUFFER command variants do not have associated data to send to the device. For
       example "activate_mc" activates deferred microcode that was sent via  prior  WRITE  BUFFER
       commands.  There  is a different method used to download microcode to SES devices, see the
       sg_ses_microcode utility.

OPTIONS

       Arguments to long options are mandatory for  short  options  as  well.   The  options  are
       arranged in alphabetical order based on the long option name.

       -b, --bpw=CS
              where  CS is the chunk size in bytes. This will be the maximum number of bytes sent
              per WRITE BUFFER command. So if CS is less than the effective length then  multiple
              WRITE  BUFFER  commands are sent, each taking the next chunk from the read data and
              increasing the buffer offset field in the WRITE BUFFER command by  the  appropriate
              amount.  The  default  is  a  chunk  size of 0 which is interpreted as a very large
              number hence only one WRITE BUFFER command will be sent. This option should only be
              used  with  modes  that  "download microcode, with offsets ..."; namely either mode
              0x6, 0x7, 0xd or 0xe.
              The number in CS can optionally be followed by ",act" or ",activate".  In this case
              after  WRITE BUFFER commands have been sent until the effective length is exhausted
              another WRITE BUFFER command with its mode  set  to  "Activate  deferred  microcode
              mode" [mode 0xf] is sent.

       -d, --dry-run
              Do  all  the  command line processing and sanity checks including reading the input
              file. However at the point where a WRITE BUFFER SCSI command(s) would be sent, step
              over that call and assume it completed without errors and continue. DEVICE is still
              opened but can be /dev/null (in Unix).  It is recommended  to  use  --verbose  with
              this option to get an overview of what would have happened.

       -h, --help
              output  the  usage  message  then exit. If used multiple times also prints the mode
              names and their acronyms.

       -i, --id=ID
              this option sets the buffer id field in the cdb. ID is a value between 0  (default)
              and 255 inclusive.

       -I, --in=FILE
              read  data from file FILE that will be sent with the WRITE BUFFER command.  If FILE
              is '-' then stdin is read until an EOF is detected (this  is  the  same  action  as
              --read-stdin).  Data  is read from the beginning of FILE except in the case when it
              is a regular file and the --skip=SKIP option is given.

       -l, --length=LEN
              where LEN is the length, in bytes, of data to be written to  the  device.   If  not
              given  (and  the  length  cannot  be  deduced  from --in=FILE or --read-stdin) then
              defaults to zero. If the option is given and the length deduced from  --in=FILE  or
              --read-stdin  is less (or no data is provided), then bytes of 0xff are used as fill
              bytes.

       -m, --mode=MO
              this option sets the MODE field in the cdb. MO is a value between 0  (default)  and
              31  inclusive.  Alternatively  an abbreviation can be given.  See the MODES section
              below. To list the available mode abbreviations at run time  give  an  invalid  one
              (e.g. '--mode=xxx') or use the '-hh' option.

       -o, --offset=OFF
              this  option  sets  the  BUFFER  OFFSET  field in the cdb. OFF is a value between 0
              (default) and 2**24-1 . It is a byte offset.

       -r, --read-stdin
              read data from stdin until an EOF is detected. This data is  sent  with  the  WRITE
              BUFFER  command to DEVICE. The action of this option is the same as using '--in=-'.
              Previously this option's long name was --raw and it may still be used for  backward
              compatibility.

       -s, --skip=SKIP
              this  option  is  only  active  when --in=FILE is given and FILE is a regular file,
              rather than stdin. Data is read starting at byte offset SKIP to the end of file (or
              the  amount  given  by  --length=LEN).   If not given the byte offset defaults to 0
              (i.e. the start of the file).

       -S, --specific=MS
              MS is the MODE SPECIFIC field in the cdb. This is a 3-bit field so the values 0  to
              7  are  accepted. This field was introduced in SPC-4 revision 32 and can be used to
              specify additional events that activate deferred microcode (when MO is 0xD).

       -t, --timeout=TO
              TO is the command timeout (in seconds) for each WRITE BUFFER command issued by this
              utility. Its default value is 300 seconds (5 minutes) and should only be altered if
              this is not sufficient.

       -v, --verbose
              increase the level of verbosity, (i.e. debug output).

       -V, --version
              print the version string and then exit.

MODES

       Following is a list of WRITE BUFFER command settings for the  MODE  field.   First  is  an
       acronym  accepted  by  the  MO  argument of this utility.  Following the acronym in square
       brackets are the corresponding decimal and hex values that may also be given for  MO.  The
       following are listed in numerical order.

       hd  [0, 0x0]
              Combined header and data (obsolete in SPC-4).

       vendor  [1, 0x1]
              Vendor specific.

       data  [2, 0x2]
              Data (was called "Write Data" in SPC-3).

       dmc  [4, 0x4]
              Download microcode and activate (was called "Download microcode" in SPC-3).

       dmc_save  [5, 0x5]
              Download microcode, save, and activate (was called "Download microcode and save" in
              SPC-3).

       dmc_offs  [6, 0x6]
              Download microcode with offsets and activate (was called "Download  microcode  with
              offsets" in SPC-3).

       dmc_offs_save  [7, 0x7]
              Download microcode with offsets, save, and activate (was called "Download microcode
              with offsets and save" in SPC-3).

       echo  [10, 0xa]
              Write data to echo buffer (was called "Echo buffer" in SPC-3).

       dmc_offs_ev_defer  [13, 0xd]
              Download microcode with offsets, select activation events, save, and defer activate
              (introduced in SPC-4).

       dmc_offs_defer  [14, 0xe]
              Download microcode with offsets, save, and defer activate (introduced in SPC-4).

       activate_mc  [15, 0xf]
              Activate deferred microcode (introduced in SPC-4).

       en_ex  [26, 0x1A]
              Enable expander communications protocol and Echo buffer (obsolete in SPC-4).

       dis_ex  [27, 0x1B]
              Disable expander communications protocol (obsolete in SPC-4).

       deh  [28, 0x1C]
              Download application client error history (was called "Download application log" in
              SPC-3).

NOTES

       If no --length=LEN is given this utility reads up to 8 MiB of data  from  the  given  file
       FILE  (or  stdin).  If  a  larger  amount of data is required then the --length=LEN option
       should be given.

       The user should be aware that most operating systems have limits on  the  amount  of  data
       that  can  be  sent  with  one  SCSI  command.  In  Linux this depends on the pass through
       mechanism used (e.g. block SG_IO or the sg driver) and various setting  in  sysfs  in  the
       Linux  lk  2.6/3  series (e.g. /sys/block/sda/queue/max_sectors_kb). Devices (i.e. logical
       units) also typically have limits on the maximum amount of data they  can  handle  in  one
       command.  These  two  limitations suggest that modes containing the word "offset" together
       with the --bpw=CS option are required as firmware files get larger and larger. And CS  can
       be  quite  small,  for  example  4096 bytes, resulting in many WRITE BUFFER commands being
       sent.

       Attempting to download a microcode/firmware file that is too large may cause an  error  to
       occur  in  the  pass-through layer (i.e. before the SCSI command is issued). In Linux such
       error reports can be obscure as in "pass  through  os  error  invalid  argument".  FreeBSD
       reports  such  errors well to the machine's console but returns a cryptic error message to
       this utility.

       Downloading incorrect microcode into a device  has  the  ability  to  render  that  device
       inoperable.  One would hope that the device vendor verifies the data before activating it.
       If the SCSI WRITE BUFFER  command  is  given  values  in  its  cdb  (e.g.  LEN)  that  are
       inappropriate  (e.g. too large) then the device should respond with a sense key of ILLEGAL
       REQUEST and an additional sense code of INVALID FIELD in CDB. If a  WRITE  BUFFER  command
       (or  a  sequence  of  them)  fails due to device vendor verification checks then it should
       respond with a sense key of ILLEGAL REQUEST  and  an  additional  sense  code  of  COMMAND
       SEQUENCE ERROR.

       All  numbers given with options are assumed to be decimal.  Alternatively numerical values
       can be given in hexadecimal preceded by either "0x" or "0X" (or  has  a  trailing  "h"  or
       "H").

EXAMPLES

       The  following  sends  new  firmware  to  an enclosure. Sending a 1.5 MB file in one WRITE
       BUFFER command caused the enclosure  to  lock  up  temporarily  and  did  not  update  the
       firmware.  Breaking  the  firmware  file  into  4  KB  chunks (an educated guess) was more
       successful:

         sg_write_buffer -b 4k -m dmc_offs_save -I firmware.bin /dev/sg4

       The firmware update occurred in  the  following  enclosure  power  cycle.  With  a  modern
       enclosure  the  Extended Inquiry VPD page gives indications in which situations a firmware
       upgrade will take place.

EXIT STATUS

       The exit status of  sg_write_buffer  is  0  when  it  is  successful.  Otherwise  see  the
       sg3_utils(8) man page.

AUTHORS

       Written by Luben Tuikov and Douglas Gilbert.

REPORTING BUGS

       Report bugs to <dgilbert at interlog dot com>.

COPYRIGHT

       Copyright © 2006-2018 Luben Tuikov and Douglas Gilbert
       This  software  is distributed under a FreeBSD license. There is NO warranty; not even for
       MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.

SEE ALSO

       sg_read_buffer, sg_ses_microcode(sg3_utils)