NAME

scsictl − control a SCSI device

SYNOPSIS

scsictl [-akq] [-m mode[= value]] ... [-c command] ... device

DESCRIPTION

scsictl provides a mechanism for controlling a SCSI device.  It can be used to query mode parameters, set configurable mode parameters, and/or to perform SCSI commands.  The operations are performed in the same order as they appear on the command line. 

Mode parameters that take only a binary value may be specified as either on or off, or as their numeric equivalents (1 or 0, respectively). 

device specifies the character special file to use. 

Options

The following options are recognized:

-a Read the status of all mode parameters available. 

-k Cause scsictl to continue processing arguments even after an error is detected.  The default behavior is to exit immediately when an error is detected. 

Command line syntax is always verified for correctness, regardless of the -k option.  Improper command line syntax causes scsictl to exit without performing any operations on the device. 

-q Causes scsictl to suppress the labels that are normally printed when mode parameters are displayed.  Mode parameter values are printed, blank separated, in the same order as they appear on the command line. 

-m mode Read the status of the specified mode parameter.  Available modes are:

immediate_report
For devices that support immediate reporting, this mode controls how the device responds to write requests. If immediate report is enabled (on) write requests may be acknowledged before the data is physically transferred to the media.  Disabling immediate report forces the device to await completion of any write request before reporting its status. 

ir Abbreviated form of (synonym for) immediate_report. 

-m mode=value
Set the mode parameter mode to value. The available mode parameters are listed above.

-c command
Cause the device to perform the specified command. Available commands are:

sync_cache For devices that have an internal write cache, this command causes the device to flush its cache to the physical medium. 

erase For magneto-optical devices that support write without erase, this command can be used to pre-erase the whole surface (section 2) to increase data throughput on subsequent write operations.  This command maintains exclusive access to the surface during the pre-erasure. 

Mode parameters and commands need only be specified up to a unique prefix.  When abbreviating a mode parameter or command, at least the first three characters must be supplied. 

DIAGNOSTICS

Diagnostic messages are generally self-explanatory.  If no options are supplied, a usage message is generated listing all available mode parameters and commands. 

WARNINGS

Not all devices support all mode parameters and commands listed above.  Changing a mode parameter may have no effect on such a device. 

Issuing a command that is not supported by a device may cause an error message to be generated. 

DEPENDENCIES

Series 800

scsictl is not supported on sequential-access devices using the tape driver. 

When the system is rebooted, the Series 800 system always resets the value of the immediate report mode parameter to off.  If ioctl() or scsictl is used to change the setting of immediate reporting on a SCSI device, the new value becomes the default setting upon subsequent configuration (e.g., opens) of this device and retains its value across system or device powerfail recovery.  However, on the next system reboot, the immediate-report mode parameter is again reset to off. 

The immediate_report mode applies to the entire device; the section number of the device argument is ignored. 

To aid recovery, immediate reporting is not used for writes of file system data structures that are maintained by the operating system, writes to regular files that the user has made synchronous with O_SYNC or O_SYNCIO, and writes to a hard disk (but not a magneto-optical device) through the character-device interface. 

SEE ALSO

diskinfo(1M), open(2), fcntl(2). 

Hewlett-Packard Company  —  HP-UX Release 9.0: August 1992