IBM RS/6000 Server User Manual


 
Display/Alter Sector Service Aid
This service aid allows the user to display and alter information on a disk sector.
Care must be used when using this service aid because inappropriate modification to
some disk sectors may result in total loss of all data on the disk. Sectors are
addressed by their decimal sector number. Data is displayed both in hex and in
ASCII. To prevent corrupted data from being incorrectly corrected, the service aid will
not display information that cannot be read correctly.
Optical Disk Service Aids
The Optical Disk Service Aids consist of Initialize, Format and Certify, and Spare
Sector Availability service aids.
Initialize
This service aid is used to format the optical disk without certifying it. This option
does not reassign the defective sectors; however, it is a quick way of formatting
after cleaning the disk.
Format and Certify
This service aid is used to format the optical disk and certify it. The certification
process is drive specific and performs the surface analysis of all user data and
spare sectors. The defective sectors are reassigned.
Spare Sector Availability
This service aid checks the number of spare sectors available on the optical disk.
The spare sectors are used to reassign when defective sectors are encountered
during normal usage or during a format and certify operation. Low availability of
spare sectors indicates that the disk needs to be backed up and replaced. For-
matting the disk will not improve the availability of spare sectors.
Diskette Media Service Aid
This service aid provides a way to verify the data written on a diskette. When this
service aid is selected, a menu asks you to select the type of diskette being verified.
The program then reads all of the ID and data fields on the diskette and displays the
total number of bad sectors found.
Chapter 7. Using the Service Aids 7-13