Provided by: openseachest_24.08.1-1_amd64 
NAME
openSeaChest_Format - manual page for openSeaChest_Format
==========================================================================================
DESCRIPTION
==========================================================================================
openSeaChest_Format - openSeaChest drive utilities - NVMe Enabled Copyright (c) 2014-2024 Seagate
Technology LLC and/or its Affiliates, All Rights Reserved openSeaChest_Format Version: 3.2.0-8_0_1
X86_64 Build Date: Sep 19 2024 Today: 20240925T133706 User: current user
========================================================================================== Usage =====
openSeaChest_Format [-d <sg_device>] {arguments} {options}
Examples ========
openSeaChest_Format --scan openSeaChest_Format -d /dev/sg<#> -i openSeaChest_Format -d /dev/sg<#>
--SATInfo openSeaChest_Format -d /dev/sg<#> --llInfo openSeaChest_Format -d /dev/sg<#>
--showPhysicalElementStatus openSeaChest_Format -d /dev/sg<#> --removePhysicalElement 2
openSeaChest_Format -d /dev/sg<#> --repopulateElements openSeaChest_Format -d /dev/sg<#>
--showSupportedFormats openSeaChest_Format -d /dev/sg<#> --showFormatStatusLog openSeaChest_Format
-d /dev/sg<#> --formatUnit current --poll openSeaChest_Format -d /dev/sg<#> --formatUnit current
--poll --pattern file:path/to/myFile.bin openSeaChest_Format -d /dev/sg<#> --formatUnit 4096
--fastFormat 1 --poll openSeaChest_Format -d /dev/sg<#> --formatUnit current --poll --discardGList
--disableCertification --disablePrimaryList openSeaChest_Format -d /dev/sg<#> --formatUnit current
--protectionType 1 --poll openSeaChest_Format -d /dev/sg<#> --nvmFormat current --poll
openSeaChest_Format -d /dev/sg<#> --nvmFormat 4096 --poll openSeaChest_Format -d /dev/sg<#>
--nvmFormat current --poll --nvmFmtSecErase user openSeaChest_Format -d /dev/sg<#> --nvmFormat
current --poll --nvmFmtPI 1
Return codes ============
Generic/Common exit codes 0 = No Error Found 1 = Error in command line options 2 = Invalid Device
Handle or Missing Device Handle 3 = Operation Failure 4 = Operation not supported 5 = Operation
Aborted 6 = File Path Not Found 7 = Cannot Open File 8 = File Already Exists 9 = Need Elevated
Privileges Anything else = unknown error
Utility Options ===============
--csmiIgnorePort (Obsolete)
This option is obsolete and will be removed in future versions.
--csmiUsePort (Obsolete)
This option is obsolete and will be removed in future versions.
--csmiVerbose (Obsolete)
This option is obsolete and will be removed in future versions.
--echoCommandLine
Echo the command line entered into the utility on the screen.
--enableLegacyUSBPassthrough
Only use this option on old USB or IEEE1394 (Firewire) products that do not otherwise work with
the tool. This option will enable a trial and error method that attempts sending various ATA
Identify commands through vendor specific means. Because of this, certain products that may
respond in unintended ways since they may interpret these commands differently than the bridge
chip the command was designed for.
--force
Use the --force option to attempt to override and force a specific operation on a drive in case it
is returning "Not supported" messages. This can be used to override some checks for command or
feature support. Be aware that sending unsupported commands may result in command failures, and in
some circumstances, it may also cause indeterminate behavior of a device. Do not use this command
unless you are certain that a device supports the command or feature you are attempting to use.
This option is not guaranteed to make things work or fix issues. This option is not available to
override every support check or other incompatibility check in the software.
--forceATA
Using this option will force the current drive to be treated as a ATA drive. Only ATA commands
will be used to talk to the drive.
--forceATADMA
(SATA Only)
Using this option will force the tool to issue SAT commands to ATA device using the protocol set
to DMA whenever possible (on DMA commands). This option can be combined with --forceATA
--forceATAPIO
(SATA Only)
Using this option will force the tool to issue PIO commands to ATA device when possible. This
option can be combined with --forceATA
--forceATAUDMA
(SATA Only)
Using this option will force the tool to issue SAT commands to ATA device using the protocol set
to UDMA whenever possible (on DMA commands). This option can be combined with --forceATA
--forceSCSI
Using this option will force the current drive to be treated as a SCSI drive. Only SCSI commands
will be used to talk to the drive.
-h, --help
Show utility options and example usage (this output you see now) Please report bugs/suggestions to
seaboard@seagate.com. Include the output of --version information in the email.
--license
Display the Seagate End User License Agreement (EULA).
--modelMatch [model Number]
Use this option to run on all drives matching the provided model number. This option will provide
a closest match although an exact match is preferred. Ex: ST500 will match ST500LM0001
--noBanner
Use this option to suppress the text banner that displays each time openSeaChest is run.
--onlyFW [firmware revision]
Use this option to run on all drives matching the provided firmware revision. This option will
only do an exact match.
--onlySeagate
Use this option to match only Seagate drives for the options provided
-q, --quiet
Run openSeaChest_Format in quiet mode. This is the same as -v 0 or --verbose 0
-v [0-4], --verbose [0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4]
Show verbose information. Verbosity levels are: 0 - quiet 1 - default 2 - command descriptions 3 -
command descriptions and values 4 - command descriptions, values, and data buffers Example: -v 3
or --verbose 3
-V, --version
Show openSeaChest_Format version and copyright information & exit
Utility Arguments =================
-d, --device [deviceHandle | all]
Use this option with most commands to specify the device handle on which to perform an operation.
Example: /dev/sg<#> CSMI device handles can be specified as <error<#><#><#>> To run across all
devices detected in the system, use the "all" argument instead of a device handle. Example: -d
all NOTE: The "all" argument is handled by running the
specified options on each drive detected in the
OS sequentially. For parallel operations, please use a script opening a separate instance for each
device handle.
--displayLBA [LBA]
This option will read and display the contents of the specified LBA to the screen. The display
format is hexadecimal with an ASCII translation on the side (when available).
-F, --scanFlags [option list]
Use this option to control the output from scan with the options listed below. Multiple options
can be combined.
ata - show only ATA (SATA) devices
usb - show only USB devices scsi - show only SCSI (SAS) devices nvme - show only NVMe devices
interfaceATA - show devices on an ATA interface interfaceUSB - show devices on a USB interface
interfaceSCSI - show devices on a SCSI or SAS interface interfaceNVME = show devices on an NVMe
interface sd - show sd device handles sgtosd - show the sd and sg device handle mapping ignoreCSMI
- do not scan for any CSMI devices allowDuplicates - allow drives with both CSMI and PD handles
to show up multiple times in the list
-i, --deviceInfo
Show information and features for the storage device
--llInfo
Dump low-level information about the device to assist with debugging.
--poll
Use this option to cause another operation to poll for progress until it has completed. This
argument does not return to the command prompt and prints ongoing completion percentages (%)
the final test result.
Full drive procedures will take a
very long time.
Used with --sanitize, or --writeSame (SATA).
--progress [format | nvmformat | depop | repop]
Get the progress for a test that was started quietly without the polling option (default). You
must specify a test you wish to get progress from. Ex: "--progress dst" or "--progress sanitize"
The progress counts up from 0% to 100%.
-s, --scan
Scan the system and list all storage devices with logical /dev/sg<#> assignments. Shows model,
serial and firmware numbers. If your device is not listed on a scan immediately after booting,
then wait 10 seconds and run it again.
-S, --Scan
This option is the same as --scan or -s, however it will also perform a low level rescan to pick
up other devices. This low level rescan may wake devices from low power states and may cause the
OS to re-enumerate them. Use this option when a device is plugged in and not discovered in a
normal scan. NOTE: A low-level rescan may not be available on all interfaces or all OSs. The
low-level rescan is not guaranteed to find additional devices in the system when the device is
unable to come to a ready state.
--SATInfo
Displays SATA device information on any interface using both SCSI Inquiry / VPD / Log reported
data (translated according to SAT) and the ATA Identify / Log reported data.
--testUnitReady
Issues a SCSI Test Unit Ready command and displays the status. If the drive is not ready, the
sense key, asc, ascq, and fru will be displayed and a human readable translation from the SPC spec
will be displayed if one is available.
--fastDiscovery
Use this option
to issue a fast scan on the specified drive.
--depopulateMaxLBA [requested MaxLBA]
Use this option to specify a new maximum LBA when removing (depopulating) a physical storage
element. This is optional. If this is not specified, the device will determine the new maximum
LBA. NOTE: If you specify a maximum LBA the device does not support, it will not start the
depopulation.
--showPhysicalElementStatus
Use this option to see the status/health of the storage elements inside a drive. Use the element
# shown with the --removePhysicalElement option to remove that storage element from use. This
option can also be used to see if a depopulation is still in progress or if it has completed.
--showSupportedFormats
This option will show the supported formats of a device. These can be used to change the sector
size or used with a format operation. On SAS, this is the supported block lengths and protection
types VPD page. (SBC4 and later) On SATA, this is the sector configuration log. (ACS4 and later)
If the device does not report supported sector sizes, please consult your product manual.
WARNING: Customer unique firmware may have specific requirements that
restrict sector sizes on some products. It may not be possible to format/ fast format to common
sizes like 4K or 512B due to these customer requirements.
SAS Only: ========= --showFormatStatusLog (SAS Only)
Use this option to view the SCSI format status log. Note: This log is only valid after a
successful format unit operation.
Data Destructive Commands =========================
--pattern [repeat:asciinospaces | random | increment:startValue | file:filename]
Use this option with overwrite, sanitize, and format unit operations to write a specific pattern
to a range of LBAs or the whole drive.
* repeat - without spaces, enter an ASCII text string or a hexadecimal string terminated by a
lower case "h". This pattern will be repeated until it fills the logical size of the LBA. i.e.
helloword or FFFFFFFFh Note: A hexadecimal pattern will be interpreted as a 32bit unsigned
integer. 4 hex bytes (8 characters) must be given for a hex value to be used. Ex: 1F037AC8h or
0000FFFFh * random - the entire logical sector size will be filled with random bytes.This pattern
will be written to all LBAs in the desired range. * increment - enter the starting numerical
value. Starting with this value, each byte will be written with 1 + previous value. * file - user
supplied file name to use for a pattern. The file will be truncated or padded with zeros to the
logical sector size Note 1: Each file will be interpreted as a binary file. Note 2: A path must
also be provided if the file is not in the
local directory.
Note 3: Sanitize Overwrite on SATA only supports a 32bit pattern.
The file option will get truncated to a 32bit pattern for SATA products.
--removePhysicalElement [element #]
Use this option to remove a storage element from use on a drive. When this is done, the drive will
erase all user data and lower the capacity to a new point where the drive is still usable without
the provided element #. Use the --showPhysicalElementStatus option to see the status of the
depopulation operation.
[49m[38;5;9m There is an additional risk when performing a remove physical element as it
low-level formats
the drive and may make the drive inoperable if it is reset at any time while it is formatting.
[0m WARNING: Removing a physical element affect all LUNs/namespaces for devices
with multiple logical units or namespaces.
--repopulateElements
Use this option to repopulate any physical storage elements that have been removed from use. A
full disk overwrite is necessary before the drive is usable.
[49m[38;5;9m There is an additional risk when performing a repopulate as it low-level formats
the drive and may make the drive inoperable if it is reset at any time while it is formatting.
[0m WARNING: Removing a physical element affect all LUNs/namespaces for devices
with multiple logical units or namespaces.
--setSectorSize [new sector size]
Changing sector sizes is intended for supported Seagate products used in some hardware RAID
configurations. Please consult your hardware RAID documentation for information about
compatibility and using 4K native sectors before using this option! Software RAID or
individual/JBOD drive solutions will see no benefit as modern file systems and modern operating
systems are already 4K aware even on 512 emulation drives. Modern operating systems already align
file systems to 4K boundaries required by these drives for optimal performance. Performing a
sector size change is data destructive and has a risk that the adapter, driver, or operating
system may not know how to communicate with the device once this has completed.
[49m[38;5;9m There is an additional risk when performing a low-level format/fast format that may
make the drive inoperable if it is reset at any time while it is formatting.
[0m For SATA Drives, the set sector configuration command must be supported.
On SAS Drives, fast format must be supported to make these changes.
Use the --showSupportedFormats option to see the sector sizes the drive reports supporting. If
this option doesn't list anything, please consult your product manual. This option should be used
to quickly change between 5xxe and 4xxx sector sizes. Using this option to change from 512 to 520
or similar is not recommended at this time due to limited drive support
[49m[38;5;11m WARNING: Any interruption to the device while it is formatting may render the
drive inoperable! Use this at your own risk!
WARNING: Set sector size may affect all LUNs/namespaces for devices
with multiple logical units or namespaces.
WARNING (SATA): Do not interrupt this operation once it has started or
it may cause the drive to become unusable. Stop all possible background activity that would
attempt to communicate with the device while this operation is in progress
WARNING: It is not recommended to do this on USB as not
all USB adapters can handle a 4k sector size.
WARNING: Disable any out-of-band management systems/services/daemons
before using this option. Interruptions can be caused by these and may prevent completion of a
sector size change.
WARNING: It is recommended that this operation is done from a bootable environment
(Live USB) to reduce the risk of OS background activities running and triggering a device reset
while reformating the drive.
[0m
SAS Only: ========= --disableCertification
Use this option to disable the certification operation when performing a format unit operation.
--disablePrimaryList
Use this option to disable using the primary defect list when performing a format unit operation.
--discardGList
Use this option to discard the existing grown defect list when performing a format unit operation.
(set complete list bit)
--disableImmediateResponse
Use this option to disable the immediate response bit in a format unit operation. Note: This mode
may take a long time to complete.
--formatMaxLBA [ new max LBA ]
Use this option to specify a new Max LBA for a drive during a format unit operation. This may
speed up a format unit if formatting to test something, or also desiring to reduce a drive's
capacity while formatting. NOTE: Not all devices support reducing capacity during a format. Some
may ignore this parameter and format the full medium anyways. This is not guaranteed to stick or
reduce formatting time.
--protectionIntervalExponent [ exponent value ]
Use this option to specify the protection interval exponent for protection types 2 & 3. This
option is ignored for all other protection types.
--protectionType [ 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 ]
Use this option to specify the protection type to format the medium with. Note: Not all devices
support protection types.
--fastFormat [fast format mode] (SAS Only) (SBC4 required)
Use this option with the --formatUnit option to run a fast format. Changing sector sizes is
intended for supported Seagate products used in some hardware RAID configurations. Please consult
your hardware RAID documentation for information about compatibility and using 4K native sectors
before using this option! Software RAID or individual/JBOD drive solutions will see no benefit as
modern file systems and modern operating systems are already 4K aware even on 512 emulation
drives. Modern operating systems already align file systems to 4K boundaries required by these
drives for optimal performance. Performing a sector size change is data destructive and has a
risk that the adapter, driver, or operating system may not know how to communicate with the device
once this has completed.
[49m[38;5;9m There is an additional risk when performing a low-level fast format that may
make the drive inoperable if it is reset at any time while it is formatting.
[0m Available fast format modes:
0 - This is a standard format unit command. All logical
blocks will be overwritten. This command will take a very long time
1 - This is a fast format unit command keeping existing
data in physical sector. This option can be used to quickly change the the logical sector size
between 5xxe and 4xxx. The media may be readable, but data may be unspecified or may return errors
on read access according to it's error processing algorithms.
2 - This is a fast format unit command that can change the
logical sector size quickly. Media may or may not be read accessible until a write has been
performed to the media.
[49m[38;5;11m WARNING: Any interruption to the device while it is formatting may render the
drive inoperable! Use this at your own risk!
WARNING: Set sector size may affect all LUNs/namespaces for devices
with multiple logical units or namespaces.
WARNING: Disable any out-of-band management systems/services/daemons
before using this option. Interruptions can be caused by these and may prevent completion of a
sector size change.
WARNING: It is recommended that this operation is done from a bootable environment
(Live USB) to reduce the risk of OS background activities running and triggering a device reset
while reformating the drive.
[0m --formatUnit [current | new sector size] (SAS Only) (Clear)
This option will start a format unit operation on a SAS drive Use "current" to perform a format
unit operation with the Sector size currently being used, otherwise enter a new sector size to use
upon format completion. This command will erase all data on the drive. Combine this option with
--poll to poll for progress until the format is complete. Changing sector sizes is intended for
supported Seagate products used in some hardware RAID configurations. Please consult your hardware
RAID documentation for information about compatibility and supported/required sector sizes!
WARNING: Format Unit may affect all LUNs/namespaces for devices
with multiple logical units or namespaces.
WARNING: Customer unique firmware may have specific requirements that
restrict sector sizes on some products. It may not be possible to format/ fast format to common
sizes like 4K or 512B due to these customer requirements.
--securityInitialize
Use this option to set the security initialize bit in the initialization pattern for a format unit
command. SBC recommends migrating to sanitize to overwrite previously reallocated sectors. Note:
Not all products support this option.
--stopOnListError
Use this option to set the stop format bit in a format unit. If the device cannot locate or
access an existing primary or grown defect list, the format will stop and return with an error.
NVMe Only: ========= --nvmFmtMetadataSet [ xlba | separate ] (NVMe Only)
Use this option to specify how metadata is transmitted to the host system. Options:
xlba - metadata is transferred as part of the logical block data separate - metadata is
transferred as a separate buffer
Note: Not all devices support specifying this. If this option is not provided, the NVM format
will reuse the current setting.
--nvmFmtMS [ # of bytes for metadata ]
(NVMe Only)
This option is used to specify the length of metadata with a requested logical block size. The
device must support the combination of logical block size and metadata size or the format will be
rejected by the device.
--nvmFmtNSID [all | current]
(NVMe Only)
This option changes the NSID used when issuing the NVM format command. This can be used to control
formatting an entire device or a specific namespace if the device supports specifying specific
namespaces for a format command. Not all devices support this behavior. This has no effect on
devices that do not support targeting a specific namespace and will format the entire device If
this option is not given, the format will be issued to all namespaces by default.
--nvmFmtPI [ 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 ]
(NVMe Only)
Use this option to specify the protection type to format the medium with. Note: Not all devices
support protection types. If this option is not provided, the NVM format will reuse the current
setting.
--nvmFmtPIL [ beginning | end ] (NVMe Only)
Use this option to specify the location protection information in an NVM device's metadata. Note:
Not all devices support specifying this. If this option is not provided, the NVM format will
reuse the current setting.
--nvmFmtSecErase [none | user | crypto] (NVMe Only)
(None | Clear | Clear, Possible Purge)
This option is used to specify the type of erase to perform during an NVM format operation. All
user data will be inaccessible upon completion of an NVM format, no matter the erase requested.
Options:
none - no secure erase requested (previous data will not be accessible,
however the media may not have been erased by the controller.)
user - requests all user data is erased by the device. (Clear) crypto - requests a cryptographic
erase of all user data. Note: this mode
is not supported on all devices. (Clear, Possible Purge)
--nvmFormat [current | format # | sector size]
(NVMe Only)
This option is used to start an NVM format operation. Use "current" to perform a format operation
with the Sector size currently being used. If a value between 0 and 15 is given, then that will
issue the NVM format with the specified sector size/metadata size for that supported format on the
drive. Values 512 and higher will be treated as a new sector size to switch to and will be
matched to an appropriate lba format supported by the drive. This command will erase all data on
the drive. Combine this option with--poll to poll for progress until the format is complete. A
data sanitization compliant with IEEE 2883 Clear requires the --nvmFmtSecErase option to be
provided. Without this option the controller may not erase all user data and substitute returning
zeroes for performance instead.
openSeaChest_Format - openSeaChest drive utilities - NVMe Enabled Copyright (c) 2014-2024 Seagate
Technology LLC and/or its Affiliates, All Rights Reserved openSeaChest_Format Version: 3.2.0-8_0_1
X86_64 Build Date: Sep 19 2024 Today: 20240925T133706 User: current user
========================================================================================== Version Info
for openSeaChest_Format:
Utility Version: 3.2.0 opensea-common Version: 4.1.0 opensea-transport Version: 8.0.1
opensea-operations Version: 8.0.2 Build Date: Sep 19 2024 Compiled Architecture: X86_64 Detected
Endianness: Little Endian Compiler Used: GCC Compiler Version: 11.4.0 Operating System Type: Linux
Operating System Version: 5.15.153-1 Operating System Name: Ubuntu 22.04.4 LTS
SEE ALSO
The full documentation for openSeaChest_Format is maintained as a Texinfo manual. If the info and
openSeaChest_Format programs are properly installed at your site, the command
info openSeaChest_Format
should give you access to the complete manual.
openSeaChest_Format =========================... September 2024 OPENSEACHEST_FORMAT(1)