Adaptec 29320A-R User Guide - Page 59

Adaptec Ultra320 SCSI Cards User's Guide Verifying or Formatting a Disk SCSISelect includes a utility that enables you to format and verify disks: s Verify Disk Media-Allows you to scan the media of a hard disk drive for defects. If the utility finds bad blocks on the media, it prompts you to reassign them so they are no longer used. s Format Disk-Allows you to perform a low-level format on a hard disk drive. A disk must be low-level formatted before you can use the operating system's partitioning and high-level formatting utilities. Most SCSI disk devices are preformatted at the factory and do not need to be formatted again. If a drive is not preformatted, you can use SCSISelect to perform a low-level format on the drive.This operation is compatible with most SCSI disk drives. ! Caution: A low-level format destroys all data on the drive. Be sure to back up your data before performing this operation. You cannot abort a low-level format once it is started. ! Caution: When a low-level format command is sent to the hard disk drive, the drive will start its format. The SCSI card will wait for the format to complete and may appear to be hung. You must not interfere or try to stop the lowlevel format as this can destroy the hard disk drive and render it unusable. A low-level format can take from several minutes to several hours to complete, depending on the size and speed of the hard disk drive. When the drive has completed its low-level format, it will send a command to the SCSI card and allow the user to exit the utility. 3-18