Adaptec PC/104, PCM-3420 manual Low-level Formatter scsifmt

Low-level Formatter (scsifmt)

Use the DOS-based scsifmt utility for low-level formatting of SCSI hard disk drives, removable media, Floptical drivers, and magneto-optical drivers. You can also use it to scan a disk device for surface defects before you store data on it.

Run scsifmt from the DOS prompt, not from the Windows MS-DOS prompt. Before you run it, be sure the disk devices you want to format are connected to the PCM-3420 host adapter and they are powered. Then follow these step :

1.Change to the directory where scsifmt.exe is located (usually c:\scsi)

,type scsifmt at the DOS prompt, and press Enter.

Notes : If you are formatting a SCSI disk device that supports more than one LUN (for example , Iomega's Bernoulidual multidrive) type scsifmt/L at the command line.

2.When the first screen appears, read it and press Enter to continue. (Press F1 at any time to view Help.) Information about your SCSI disk devices appear on the screen.

3.Use the arrow keys to move the highlight bar to a disk device you want to format or verify, then press Enter.

4.When the next screen appears, select either Format or Verify (to verify that the disk is free of surface defects), then press Enter.

Caution : Backup important data before you format the disk device ! A low-level format erases all data from the disk.

5.If you select Format, confirm that you want to format the disk, then wait while the disk device is formatted. This may take a long time if the disk is large.

If you select Verify, you can press Esc at any time to stop the verification process. (This does not damage the disk.) If the utility finds bad blocks on the disk, it displays information about them. You can reassign the bad block(s) to prevent data from being stored there.

6.Repeat steps 3, 4, and 5, as needed, to format or verify other disk devices. When are finished, press Esc to exit.

Chapter 1 General Information 27