Date: Mon, 2 Mar 1998 04:27:53 -0600 From: Karl Denninger <karl@mcs.net> To: John Kelly <jak@cetlink.net> Cc: Mike Smith <mike@smith.net.au>, scsi@FreeBSD.ORG Subject: Re: SCSI low level format, good or bad Message-ID: <19980302042753.31713@mcs.net> In-Reply-To: <35021f91.30584272@mail.cetlink.net>; from John Kelly on Mon, Mar 02, 1998 at 03:07:28AM %2B0000 References: <199803012359.PAA10350@dingo.cdrom.com> <35021f91.30584272@mail.cetlink.net>
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On Mon, Mar 02, 1998 at 03:07:28AM +0000, John Kelly wrote: > On Sun, 01 Mar 1998 15:59:14 -0800, Mike Smith <mike@smith.net.au> > wrote: > > >No. Conditions at the factory include > > >an extremely stable physical platform, > > Don't format your drive while jumping up and down on your desk. > > >minimal EMI, > > Don't format your drive while climbing a high-voltage wire tower. > > >clean power > > Buy a cheap UPS from the local office supply. > > >long-term thermal stability. > > Warm up your drive for a while. > > >No. I'll say it again; unless you *must* reformat, don't. > >Reformatting will degrade the quality of the entire disk. > > I'm not convinced. Neither am I, and I've been at this for more than 10 years now. I get the best results when I: 1) Take all new drives, and warm them to operating temperature in their operating configuration. This is going to NOT be the same as it was at the factory, as the enclosure I'm using is not the same as theirs! This means leaving them powered on for a couple of hours at least. Note that some drives have a problem with certain orientations (pay attention to the user's guides!) Circuit board down is basically always safe, but other than that you do need to look. 2) Low-level format the disk. 3) Run a surface media verify (the Adaptec controllers will automatically spare any recoverable defects that this finds. If you have UNrecoverable defects at this point, the drive should not be placed in service but rather RMAd and replaced). That's it. You'll still get burned by infant mortality once in a while, but other than that, you should get full service life this way. I've seen a non-trivial number of disks come off the factory line with non-optimal formats. I don't know if its a temperature tolerance thing or what, but this has been my experience. -- -- Karl Denninger (karl@MCS.Net)| MCSNet - Serving Chicagoland and Wisconsin http://www.mcs.net/ | T1's from $600 monthly to FULL DS-3 Service | NEW! K56Flex support on ALL modems Voice: [+1 312 803-MCS1 x219]| EXCLUSIVE NEW FEATURE ON ALL PERSONAL ACCOUNTS Fax: [+1 312 803-4929] | *SPAMBLOCK* Technology now included at no cost To Unsubscribe: send mail to majordomo@FreeBSD.org with "unsubscribe freebsd-scsi" in the body of the message
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