Ubuntu Manpage: sg_modes - reads mode pages with SCSI MODE SENSE command

Provided by: sg3-utils_1.46-3ubuntu2.1_amd64

NAME

       sg_modes - reads mode pages with SCSI MODE SENSE command

SYNOPSIS

       sg_modes  [--all]  [--control=PC]  [--dbd]  [--dbout]  [--examine]  [--flexible]  [--help]
       [--hex] [--list] [--llbaa] [--maxlen=LEN]  [--page=PG[,SPG]]  [--raw]  [-R]  [--readwrite]
       [--six] [--verbose] [--version] [DEVICE]

       sg_modes  [-6]  [-a]  [-A]  [-c=PC]  [-d]  [-D]  [-e]  [-f]  [-h]  [-H] [-l] [-L] [-m=LEN]
       [-p=PG[,SPG]] [-r] [-subp=SPG] [-v] [-V] [-w] [-?] [DEVICE]

DESCRIPTION

       This utility sends a MODE SENSE SCSI command to the DEVICE and outputs the response. There
       is  a 6 byte and 10 byte (cdb) variant of the MODE SENSE command, this utility defaults to
       the 10 byte variant. The SPC-4 standard (and SPC-5 drafts) include  a  note  stating  that
       implementers  should  migrate away from the SCSI MODE SELECT(6) and MODE SENSE(6) commands
       in favour of the 10 byte variants (e.g. MODE SENSE(10)).

       This utility decodes mode page headers and block descriptors but outputs the  contents  of
       each  mode  page in hex. It also has no facility to change the mode page contents or block
       descriptor data. Mode page contents are decoded and can be changed by the sdparm utility.

       This utility supports two command line syntaxes, the preferred one is shown first  in  the
       synopsis  and  explained  in  this section. A later section on the old command line syntax
       outlines the second group of options.

       If no page is given (and --list is not selected) then --all is assumed. The  --all  option
       requests all mode pages (but not subpages) in a single response.

OPTIONS

Arguments to long options are mandatory for short options as well.

-a, --all
output all the mode pages reported by the DEVICE. This is what the page code 63
(0x3f) is defined to do. When used once, mode subpages are not fetched. When used
twice (e.g. '-aa'), all mode pages and subpages are requested which is equivalent
to '--page=63,255'.

-c, --control=PC
PC is the page control value. Up to four different versions of each page are held
by the device:
0 : current values (i.e. those active at present)
1 : changeable values
2 : default values (i.e. the manufacturer's settings)
3 : saved values
The changeable values are bit masks showing which fields could be changed with a
MODE SELECT. The saved values will be re-instated the next time the device is power
cycled or reset. If this option is not given then current values [0] are assumed.

-d, --dbd
disable block descriptors. By default, block descriptors (usually one (for disks)
or none) are returned in a MODE SENSE response. This option sets the "disable block
descriptors" (DBD) bit in the cdb which instructs the device not to return any
block descriptors in its response. Older devices may not support this setting and
may return an "illegal request" sense key; alternatively they may ignore it. Oddly
the Reduced Block Command set (RBC) requires this bit set.

-D, --dbout
disable outputting block descriptors. Irrespective of whether block descriptors are
present in the response or not, they are not output.

-e, --examine
examine each mode page in the range 0 through to 62 (inclusive). If some response
is given then print out the mode page name or number (in hex) if the name is not
known.
The sdparm utility which lists mode and VPD pages also has a --examine option will
similar functionility.

-f, --flexible
Some devices, bridges and/or drivers attempt crude translations between MODE SENSE
6 and 10 byte commands without correcting the response. This will cause the
response to be mis-interpreted (usually with an error saying the response is
malformed). With this option, the length of the response is checked, and if it
looks wrong, the response is then decoded as if the other mode sense (cdb length)
was sent.

-h, --help
print out the usage message then exit.

-H, --hex
The default action is to decode known mode page numbers (and subpage numbers) into
text. When this option is used once, the response is output in hexadecimal to
stdout. When this option is used twice, mode page numbers and page control values
are output in hex.
When this option is used three times, the full response to the MODE SENSE command
is output in hex to stdout without any decoding. This form can be redirected to a
file (or piped) and then used 'sdparm --inhex=' to decode.

-l, --list
lists all common page and subpage codes and their names that are found in the
command set that matches the peripheral type of the given DEVICE. If no DEVICE and
no --page=PG is given then the common page and subpage codes and their names are
listed for SBC (e.g. a disk). If no DEVICE is given and a --page=PG is given then
the common page and subpage codes and their names are listed for the command set
whose peripheral device type matches the value given to PG. For example 'sg_mode
--list --page=1' lists the command mode pages and subpages for tape devices.
Additionally if a sub_page_code is given then it is interpreted as a transport
identifier and command transport specific mode page codes and their names are
listed following the main mode page list. Other options are ignored.

-L, --llbaa
set the Long LBA Accepted (LLBAA) bit in the MODE SENSE (10) cdb. This bit is not
defined in the MODE SENSE (6) cdb so setting the '-L' and '--six' options is
reported as an error. When set the DEVICE may respond with 16 byte block
descriptors as indicated by the 'LongLBA' field in the response. In most cases
setting this option is not needed.

-m, --maxlen=LEN
The LEN argument is the maximum response length in bytes. It is the 'allocation
length' field in the cdb. When not given (or LEN is zero) then the allocation
length field is set to 4096 for MODE SENSE (10) or 252 for MODE SENSE (6). The LEN
argument must be non-negative and no greater than 65535 for MODE SENSE (10) and not
greater than 255 for MODE SENSE (6).

-O, --old
Switch to older style options. Please use as first option.

-p, --page=PG
page code to fetch. The PG is assumed to be a decimal value unless prefixed by '0x'
or has a trailing 'h'. It should be a value between 0 and 63 (inclusive). When not
given and a default is required then a value of 63 (0x3f), which fetches all mode
pages, is used.
Alternatively an acronym for the mode page can be given. The available acronyms can
be listed out with the --page=xxx option. They are almost the same as the acronyms
used for mode pages in the sdparm utility.

-p, --page=PG,SPG
page code and subpage code values to fetch. Both arguments are assumed to be
decimal unless flagged as hexadecimal. The page code should be between 0 and 63
inclusive. The subpage code should be between 0 and 255 inclusive. The default
value for the subpage code is 0.

-r, --raw
output the response in binary to stdout. Error messages and warnings, if any, are
sent to stderr. When this option is used twice (e.g. '-rr') then has the same
action as '-R'

-R output the selected mode page to stdout a byte per line. Each line contains two
hexadecimal digits (e.g. "3e"). Useful as input (after editing) to the
sg_wr_mode(8) utility.

-w, --readwrite
open DEVICE in "read-write" mode. Default is to open it in read-only mode.

-6, -s, --six
by default this utility sends a 10 byte MODE SENSE command to the DEVICE. However
some SCSI devices only support 6 byte MODE SENSE commands (e.g. SCSI-2 tape
drives). This parameter forces the use of 6 byte MODE SENSE commands.

-v, --verbose
increase level of verbosity. Can be used multiple times.

-V, --version
print out version string then exit.

NOTES

       If  the  normal  sg_modes utility fails with "illegal command operation code" then try the
       '--six' (or '-6') option.

       This utility performs a SCSI INQUIRY command to  determine  the  peripheral  type  of  the
       device (e.g. 0 -> Direct Access Device (disk)) prior to sending a MODE SENSE command. This
       helps in decoding the block descriptor and mode pages.

       This utility opens DEVICE in read-only mode (e.g. in Unix,  with  the  O_RDONLY  flag)  by
       default. It will open DEVICE in read-write mode if the --readwrite option is given.

       In  the  2.4 series of Linux kernels the DEVICE must be a SCSI generic (sg) device. In the
       2.6 series block devices (e.g. SCSI disks and DVD  drives)  can  also  be  specified.  For
       example "sg_modes -a /dev/sda" will work in the 2.6 series kernels.

EXIT STATUS

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

OLDER COMMAND LINE OPTIONS

The options in this section were the only ones available prior to sg3_utils version 1.23 .
Since then this utility defaults to the newer command line options which can be overridden
by using --old (or -O) as the first option. See the ENVIRONMENT VARIABLES section for
another way to force the use of these older command line options.

-6 by default this utility sends a 10 byte MODE SENSE command to the DEVICE. This
parameter forces the use of 6 byte MODE SENSE commands. See --six in the main
description.

-a see --all in the main description.

-A output all the mode pages and subpages supported by the DEVICE. Same as '--all
--all' in the new syntax.

-c=PC PC is the page control value. See --control=PC in the main description.

-d see --dbd in the main description.

-D see --dbout in the main description.

-e see --examine in the main description.

-f see --flexible in the main description.

-h The default action is to decode known mode page numbers (and subpage numbers) into
text. With this option mode page numbers (and subpage numbers) are output in
hexadecimal.

-H same action as the '-h' option.

-l see --list in the main description.

-L see --llbaa in the main description.

-N, --new
Switch to the newer style options.

-m=LEN see --maxlen=LEN in the main description.

-p=PG PG is page code to fetch. Should be a hexadecimal number between 0 and 3f inclusive
(0 to 63 decimal). The default value when required is 3f (fetch all mode pages).
Note that an acronym for the page and/or subpage values is not accepted in this
older format (because any acronym starting with the letters 'a' to 'f' is
ambiguous; it could either be a hex number or an acronym).

-p=PG,SPG
page code and subpage code values to fetch. The page code should be a hexadecimal
number between 0 and 3f inclusive. The subpage code should be a hexadecimal number
between 0 and ff inclusive. The default value for the subpage code is 0.

-r output the selected mode page to stdout a byte per line. Each line contains two
hexadecimal digits (e.g. "3e"). Useful as input (after editing) to the
sg_wr_mode(8) utility.

-subp=SPG
sub page code to fetch. Should be a hexadecimal number between 0 and 0xff
inclusive. The default value is 0.

-v increase verbosity of output.

-V print out version string then exit.

-w see --readwrite in the main description.

-? output usage message then exit. Ignore all other parameters.

ENVIRONMENT VARIABLES

       Since  sg3_utils  version  1.23  the environment variable SG3_UTILS_OLD_OPTS can be given.
       When it is present this utility will  expect  the  older  command  line  options.  So  the
       presence  of  this  environment variable is equivalent to using --old (or -O) as the first
       command line option.

AUTHOR

       Written by Douglas Gilbert

REPORTING BUGS

       Report bugs to <dgilbert at interlog dot com>.

COPYRIGHT

       Copyright © 2000-2020 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.