NAME

       sg_sync - send SCSI SYNCHRONIZE CACHE command

SYNOPSIS

       sg_sync  [--16]  [--count=COUNT]  [--group=GN]  [--help] [--immed] [--lba=LBA] [--sync-nv]
       [--timeout=SECS] [--verbose] [--version] DEVICE

DESCRIPTION

       Send SYNCHRONIZE CACHE(10) or SYNCHRONIZE CACHE(16) command to DEVICE.  These commands are
       defined  for  SCSI  block devices (see SBC-3). If successful these commands make sure that
       any blocks whose latest versions are  held  in  cache  are  written  to  (also  termed  as
       "synchronized with") the medium.

       If the LBA and COUNT arguments are both zero (their defaults) then all blocks in the cache
       are synchronized. If LBA is greater than zero while COUNT is zero then blocks in the cache
       whose  addresses  are  from  and  including  LBA  to  the  highest  lba  on the device are
       synchronized. If both LBA and COUNT are non zero then blocks in the cache whose  addresses
       lie in the range LBA to LBA+COUNT-1 inclusive are synchronized with the medium.

OPTIONS

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

       -S, --16
              performs  a  SYNCHRONIZE  CACHE(16)  command.  Default  is to perform a SYNCHRONIZE
              CACHE(10) command.

       -c, --count=COUNT
              where COUNT is the number of blocks to synchronize from and including LBA.  Default
              value  is 0. When 0 then all blocks in the cache from and including LBA argument to
              the highest block address are synchronized.

       -g, --group=GN
              where GN is the group number which can be between 0 and 31 inclusive.  The  default
              value  is 0 . Group numbers are used to segregate data collected within the device.
              This is a new feature in SBC-2 and can probably be ignored for the time being.

       -h, --help
              output the usage message then exit.

       -i, --immed
              sets the IMMED bit in the SYNCHRONIZE CACHE command. This instructs the device,  if
              the format of the command is acceptable, to return a GOOD status immediately rather
              than wait for the blocks in the cache to be synchronized with (i.e. written to) the
              medium.

       -l, --lba=LBA
              where  LBA  is  the lowest logical block address in the cache to synchronize to the
              medium. Default value is 0 .

       -s, --sync-nv
              synchronize the (volatile) cache with the non-volatile cache. Without  this  option
              (or  if  there  is no non-volatile cache in the device) the synchronization is with
              the medium. The SYNC_NV bit was made obsolete in SBC-3 revsion 35d.

       -t, --timeout=SECS
              where SECS is the number of seconds the OS  allows  the  SYNCHRONIZE  CACHE(16)  to
              complete before it tries to cancel the command. Cancelling commands (typically with
              the task management function "abort task") is best avoided.  Note  this  option  is
              only  active  together  with the --16 option. The default timeout is 60 seconds for
              both SYNCHRONIZE CACHE(10) and SYNCHRONIZE CACHE(16). Note that timeout issues  can
              be avoided with the --immed option.

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

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

NOTES

       With the SYNCHRONIZE CACHE(16) command LBA can be up to 64 bits in size and COUNT up to 32
       bits in size. With the SYNCHRONIZ CACHE(10) command LBA can be up to 32 bits in  size  and
       COUNT up to 16 bits in size.

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

EXIT STATUS

       The exit status of sg_sync 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 © 2004-2013 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_start(sg3_utils)