SCSI Ultra320 Low Level format

[thkunkel]

I need to perform a low-level format on 2 Ultra320 drives. Does HP have a utility for this or one that they prefer?
I'd ideally boot into the utility or use it on the command line after booting up the machine.
The drives are sitting in a DL360 G5 server array.

Thanks.

[thkunkel]

I've been doing some searching and came across the HP STM utility. I don't know if that is an option, but if so, I would like to know where to get it from.

Thanks again.

[David Claypool]

There's really no such thing as low-level format on modern drives the way you used to think of it in old ST-506 or ESDI drives. SCSI/IDE/SAS/SATA drives don't give you real access to the underlying sectors at all; in fact, as the drive controller detects sectors going bad, it re-maps the sector to a set of spare sectors it has for this purpose. Whatever makes you think you need to low-level format the drive may simply be drives that have run out of spare sectors to remap.

Are you sure you have the right system, by the way? G5 servers use small-form-factor SAS or SATA drives; Ultra320 was never an option.

[thkunkel]

I double checked - Proliant DL360 server (2 SCSI slots).
I'm getting errors in the SMART interface and the hard drives are blinking orange. I looked up some SCSI error codes and wanted to try a low level format as a resolution.

Is there an equivalent to/mimic of a low level format for these drives?

Other suggestions are welcome, even how I can reviews SCSI code responses from the drive. I might have the wrong solution on this one.