The fast format does not do this full drive read and verification. This procedure takes a very long time, more than a day in some cases, but it does have the advantage of full defect management with all sectors being readable at the conclusion. SAS interface drives, only, can all do a long format unit. formatUnit 4096 -fastFormat 1 -confirm I. This command is found in SeaChest_Format and SeaChest_Erase.
In addition, for SAS interface drives, only, the same result is possible using the -formatUnit command with the -fastFormat modifier equal to 1. SAS and SATA interface drives accomplish a FastFormat this with the -setSectorSize command found in SeaChest_Format or SeaChest_Lite.
#SEAGATE SEATOOLS FIX ALL FAST FAILED MANUAL#
Please refer to the SATA product manual for verification of this feature. Unfortunately, SATA interface drives do not report this capability. Just run the -i or -deviceInfo command and check under the Features Supported section.
SAS interface drives will report support for FastFormat if it is available in the drive. This feature is found on SAS and SATA interface Seagate drive families designed and manufactured later than 2016. The larger the drive, the longer it takes. The disk activity LED may show activity during the conversion. Thanks so much for your comments! Here is the new section: About FastFormatĪ FastFormat (quickly changing the logical sector size) may take a few minutes for the process to complete. If not, please to let me know what needs to be addressed. I hope I covered the topic well enough to answer your questions. I created few paragraphs describing FastFormat which I will be adding to the user guides. Sorry for the delay in replying to your question.