addbadsec(1M)

NAME

     addbadsec - map out defective disk blocks

SYNOPSIS

     addbadsec  [-p]   [   -a blkno   [blkno...]]   [-f filename]
     raw_device

DESCRIPTION

     addbadsec is used by the system administrator to map out bad
     disk  blocks.  Normally,  these blocks are identified during
     surface  analysis,  but  occasionally  the  disk   subsystem
     reports  unrecoverable data errors indicating a bad block. A
     block number reported in this way can be fed  directly  into
     addbadsec,  and  the  block will be remapped. addbadsec will
     first attempt hardware remapping. This is supported on  SCSI
     drives  and  takes  place at the disk hardware level. If the
     target is an IDE drive, then software remapping is used.  In
     order  for software remapping to succeed, the partition must
     contain an alternate slice and there must be  room  in  this
     slice to perform the mapping.

     It should be understood that bad blocks lead to  data  loss.
     Remapping  a defective block does not repair a damaged file.
     If a bad block occurs to a disk-resident file system  struc-
     ture such as a superblock, the entire slice might have to be
     recovered from a backup.

OPTIONS

     The following options are supported:

     -a    Adds the specified blocks to the hardware or  software
           map.  If  more than one block number is specified, the
           entire list should be quoted and block numbers  should
           be separated by white space.

     -f    Adds the specified blocks to the hardware or  software
           map.  The  bad blocks are listed, one per line, in the
           specified file.

     -p    Causes addbadsec to print the  current  software  map.
           The  output shows the defective block and the assigned
           alternate. This option cannot be  used  to  print  the
           hardware map.

OPERANDS

     The following operand is supported:

     raw_device
           The address of the disk drive (see FILES).

FILES

     The raw device should be /dev/rdsk/c?[t?]d?p0. See disks(1M)
     for  an  explanation  of  SCSI and IDE device naming conven-
     tions.

ATTRIBUTES

     See attributes(5) for descriptions of the  following  attri-
     butes:

     ____________________________________________________________
    |       ATTRIBUTE TYPE        |       ATTRIBUTE VALUE       |
    |_____________________________|_____________________________|
    | Architecture                | x86                         |
    |_____________________________|_____________________________|
    | Availability                | SUNWcsu                     |
    |_____________________________|_____________________________|

SEE ALSO

     disks(1M), diskscan(1M), fdisk(1M), fmthard(1M), format(1M),
     attributes(5)

NOTES

     The  format(1M)  utility  is  available  to  format,  label,
     analyze,  and  repair  SCSI  disks. This utility is included
     with the addbadsec, diskscan(1M), fdisk(1M), and fmthard(1M)
     commands  available  for x86. To format an IDE disk, use the
     DOS "format" utility; however, to label, analyze, or  repair
     IDE  disks  on x86 systems, use the Solaris format(1M) util-
     ity.