Using hdparm to enable diabled features of a hard drive
JD
jd1008 at gmail.com
Mon Oct 18 00:04:25 UTC 2010
On 10/17/2010 02:49 PM, Bill Davidsen wrote:
> JD wrote:
>> When I issued
>> sudo hdparm -I /dev/hdb I got, among other info,
>> a list of commands/features, most of which are enabled,
>> except for a few. To wit:
>>
>> Commands/features:
>> Enabled Supported:
>> * SMART feature set
>> Security Mode feature set<<<<<<<
>> * Power Management feature set
>> * Write cache
>> * Look-ahead
>> * Host Protected Area feature set
>> * WRITE_BUFFER command
>> * READ_BUFFER command
>> * DOWNLOAD_MICROCODE
>> SET_MAX security extension<<<<<<<<<<<<
>> * Automatic Acoustic Management feature set
>> * 48-bit Address feature set
>> * Device Configuration Overlay feature set
>> * Mandatory FLUSH_CACHE
>> * FLUSH_CACHE_EXT
>> * SMART error logging
>> * SMART self-test
>> * General Purpose Logging feature set
>> * WRITE_{DMA|MULTIPLE}_FUA_EXT
>> * 64-bit World wide name
>> Write-Read-Verify feature set<<<<<<<<<<
>> * WRITE_UNCORRECTABLE_EXT command
>> * {READ,WRITE}_DMA_EXT_GPL commands
>> * Segmented DOWNLOAD_MICROCODE
>> * Gen1 signaling speed (1.5Gb/s)
>> * Gen2 signaling speed (3.0Gb/s)
>> * Native Command Queueing (NCQ)
>> * Phy event counters
>> Device-initiated interface power management<<<<<<<<
>> * Software settings preservation
>> * SMART Command Transport (SCT) feature set
>> * SCT Long Sector Access (AC1)
>> * SCT LBA Segment Access (AC2)
>> * SCT Error Recovery Control (AC3)
>> * SCT Features Control (AC4)
>> * SCT Data Tables (AC5)
>> unknown 206[12] (vendor specific)
>>
>> So, my questions are:
>>
>> a. how can I use hdparm to enable write/read verify? That's what I am
>> interested in.
>> Man page does not mention this.
> I don't think hdparm is the tool to install new firmware with more features.
> There are FOSS programs to install new versions, and usually the vendor has an
> install for Windows to upgrade.
>
Well, write/read verify is reported by hdparm
as an available feature of the drive's firmware,
but it is disabled by default.
The lines above narked by <<<<<< on the right side
are the firmware features available, but disabled.
That's why I am trying to see if hdparm can turn
it on - but man page says nothing about how to enable it.
>> b. What is the effect of enabling "SET_MAX security extension", i.e.:
>> hdparm --security-mode m /dev/hdb
>> What does it buy me?
>>
>>
>
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