Provided by: sg3-utils_1.36-1ubuntu1_amd64 bug

NAME

       sg_read - read multiple blocks of data, optionally with SCSI READ commands

SYNOPSIS

       sg_read   [blk_sgio=0|1]   [bpt=BPT]   [bs=BS]  [cdbsz=6|10|12|16]  count=COUNT  [dio=0|1]
       [dpo=0|1] [fua=0|1] if=IFILE [mmap=0|1] [no_dxfer=0|1]  [odir=0|1]  [skip=SKIP]  [time=TI]
       [verbose=VERB] [--help] [--version]

DESCRIPTION

       Read data from a Linux SCSI generic (sg) device, a block device or a normal file with each
       read command issued to the same offset or logical block address (lba). This can be used to
       test  (or  time)  disk  caching,  SCSI  (or  some other) transport throughput, and/or SCSI
       command overhead.

       When the COUNT value is positive, then up to BPT blocks are read  at  a  time,  until  the
       COUNT  is  exhausted.  Each  read  operation  starts at the same lba which, if SKIP is not
       given, is the beginning of the file or device.

       The COUNT value may be negative when IFILE is a sg  device  or  is  a  block  device  with
       'blk_sgio=1'  set. Alternatively 'bpt=0' may be given. In these cases |COUNT| "zero block"
       SCSI READ commands are issued. "Zero block" means "do nothing" for SCSI READ 10, 12 and 16
       byte  commands  (but  not  for  the  6  byte  variant). In practice "zero block" SCSI READ
       commands have low latency and so are one way to measure SCSI command overhead.

OPTIONS

       blk_sgio=0 | 1
              The default action of this utility is to use the Unix read() command when the IFILE
              is a block device. In lk 2.6 many block devices can handle SCSI commands issued via
              the SG_IO ioctl. So when this option  is  set  the  SG_IO  ioctl  sends  SCSI  READ
              commands to IFILE if it is a block device.

       bpt=BPT
              where  BPT  is  the  maximum  number  of blocks each read operation fetches.  Fewer
              blocks will be fetched when the remaining COUNT is less than BPT. The default value
              for  BPT  is 128. Note that each read operation starts at the same lba (as given by
              skip=SKIP or 0).  If 'bpt=0' then the COUNT is interpreted as the  number  of  zero
              block SCSI READ commands to issue.

       bs=BS  where  BS is the size (in bytes) of each block read. This must be the block size of
              the physical device (defaults to 512) if SCSI commands are being issued to IFILE.

       cdbsz=6 | 10 | 12 | 16
              size of SCSI READ  commands  issued  on  sg  device  names,  or  block  devices  if
              'blk_sgio=1' is given. Default is 10 byte SCSI READ cdbs.

       count=COUNT
              when  COUNT  is  a  positive  number,  read  that  number of blocks, typically with
              multiple read operations. When COUNT is negative then |COUNT|  SCSI  READ  commands
              are performed requesting zero blocks to be transferred. This option is mandatory.

       dio=0 | 1
              default is 0 which selects indirect IO. Value of 1 attempts direct IO which, if not
              available, falls back to indirect IO and notes this at completion. This  option  is
              only   active   if   IFILE  is  an  sg  device.   If  direct  IO  is  selected  and
              /proc/scsi/sg/allow_dio has the value of 0 then a warning is issued  (and  indirect
              IO is performed)

       dpo=0 | 1
              when  set  the  disable page out (DPO) bit in SCSI READ commands is set.  Otherwise
              the DPO bit is cleared (default).

       fua=0 | 1
              when set the force unit access (FUA) bit in SCSI READ commands is  set.   Otherwise
              the FUA bit is cleared (default).

       if=IFILE
              read  from  this  IFILE. This argument must be given. If the IFILE is a normal file
              then it must be seekable (if (COUNT > BPT) or skip=SKIP is given). Hence  stdin  is
              not acceptable (and giving "-" as the IFILE argument is reported as an error).

       mmap=0 | 1
              default  is  0  which selects indirect IO. Value of 1 causes memory mapped IO to be
              performed. Selecting both dio and mmap is an error. This option is only  active  if
              IFILE is an sg device.

       no_dxfer=0 | 1
              when  set  then  DMA  transfers from the device are made into kernel buffers but no
              further (i.e. there is no second copy into the user space). The default value is  0
              in which case transfers are made into the user space.  When neither mmap nor dio is
              set then data transfer are copied via kernel buffers (i.e. a double  copy).  Mainly
              for testing.

       odir=0 | 1
              when  set  opens an IFILE which is a block device with an additional O_DIRECT flag.
              The default value is 0 (i.e. don't open block devices O_DIRECT).

       skip=SKIP
              all read operations will start offset by SKIP bs-sized blocks from the start of the
              input file (or device).

       time=TI
              When  TI  is  0  (default) doesn't perform timing.  When 1, times transfer and does
              throughput calculation, starting at the first issued command until completion. When
              2,  times  transfer  and does throughput calculation, starting at the second issued
              command until completion. When 3 times from third command, etc. An  average  number
              of commands (SCSI READs or Unix read()s) executed per second is also output.

       verbose=VERB
              as VERB increases so does the amount of debug output sent to stderr.  Default value
              is zero which yields the minimum amount of debug output.   A  value  of  1  reports
              extra information that is not repetitive.

       --help Output the usage message then exit.

       --version
              Output the version string then exit.

NOTES

       Various  numeric  arguments (e.g. SKIP) may include multiplicative suffixes or be given in
       hexadecimal. See the "NUMERIC ARGUMENTS" section in the sg3_utils(8) man page.

       Data usually gets to the user space in a 2 stage process: first the SCSI adapter DMAs into
       kernel  buffers  and then the sg driver copies this data into user memory.  This is called
       "indirect IO" and there is a "dio" option to select "direct IO" which  will  DMA  directly
       into  user memory. Due to some issues "direct IO" is disabled in the sg driver and needs a
       configuration  change  to  activate  it.  This  is  typically  done   with   "echo   1   >
       /proc/scsi/sg/allow_dio".  An  alternate way to avoid the 2 stage copy is to select memory
       mapped IO with 'mmap=1'.

SIGNALS

       The signal handling has been borrowed from dd: SIGINT,  SIGQUIT  and  SIGPIPE  output  the
       number  of  remaining  blocks  to  be  transferred;  then  they have their default action.
       SIGUSR1 causes the same information to be output  yet  the  copy  continues.   All  output
       caused by signals is sent to stderr.

EXAMPLES

       Let us assume that /dev/sg0 is a disk and we wish to time the disk's cache performance.

          sg_read if=/dev/sg0 bs=512 count=1MB mmap=1 time=2

       This  command  will  continually read 128  512 byte blocks from block 0.  The "128" is the
       default value for 'bpt' while "block 0" is chosen because  the  'skip'  argument  was  not
       given.  This will continue until 1,000,000 blocks are read. The idea behind using 'time=2'
       is that the first 64 KiB read operation will involve reading the magnetic media while  the
       remaining  read  operations  will "hit" the disk's cache. The output of third command will
       look like this:

         time from second command to end was 4.50 secs, 113.70 MB/sec
         Average number of READ commands per second was 1735.27
         1000000+0 records in, SCSI commands issued: 7813

EXIT STATUS

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

AUTHORS

       Written by Douglas Gilbert.

REPORTING BUGS

       Report bugs to <dgilbert at interlog dot com>.

COPYRIGHT

       Copyright © 2000-2012 Douglas Gilbert
       This  software  is distributed under the GPL version 2. There is NO warranty; not even for
       MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.

SEE ALSO

       To time streaming media read or write time see sg_dd is  in  the  sg3_utils  package.  The
       lmbench package contains lmdd which is also interesting.  raw(8), dd(1)