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Date:      Fri, 27 Feb 1998 16:08:19 -0600
From:      Karl Denninger  <karl@mcs.net>
To:        sthaug@nethelp.no
Cc:        andreas@klemm.gtn.com, scsi@FreeBSD.ORG
Subject:   Re: how long does it take to low level format a 9 GB Baraccuda ?
Message-ID:  <19980227160819.41343@mcs.net>
In-Reply-To: <4963.888616356@verdi.nethelp.no>; from sthaug@nethelp.no on Fri, Feb 27, 1998 at 10:52:36PM %2B0100
References:  <19980227220454.26986@klemm.gtn.com> <4963.888616356@verdi.nethelp.no>

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On Fri, Feb 27, 1998 at 10:52:36PM +0100, sthaug@nethelp.no wrote:
> > I had to power cycle my machine when a low level format wasn't
> > finished. I felt that this preformatting already took a long
> > time ( > 30 min).
> > 
> > Now I connected the drive Led and see the LED blinking
> > during preformat 1 1/2 sec. red light, 1 sec. pause,
> > alternating....
> > 
> > How long do I have to wait to preformat this drive ?
> 
> I remember when we got the first 9 GB disks on SunOS systems. If you
> wanted to (low level) format it, you needed to change the definition of
> SD_FMT_TIME (default was a max of 2 hours) and recompile the kernel :-)
> 
> So I would *not* be surprised if it takes 3-4 hours.
> 
> Steinar Haug, Nethelp consulting, sthaug@nethelp.no
> 
> To Unsubscribe: send mail to majordomo@FreeBSD.org
> with "unsubscribe freebsd-scsi" in the body of the message

A couple of hours is about right.  We use a lot of Quantum 9G drives here in
our RAID systems, and the RAID controller takes about 2 hours to format one.

As a matter of good practice, its probably a good idea to turn on a new
drive in its working orientation, allow the temperature to stabilize, and
then low-level format it.

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