[Info-vax] rx2600 hotplug

[smithfarm]

> The DCL looks alright to me. I do the same with disks bought on ebay.
> Perhaps one difference, INIT/SYSTEM but that doesn't affect the test.
> How old are these disks anyway? I never liked Maxtor disks, prefer
> Seagate or IBM/Hitachi instead. So if the price is right ther mey be a
> reason for that.

The only objective information I have is that SHOW DEVICE/FULL says the 
disks are MAXTOR ATLAS10K4_146SCA.

They are U320 disks.

Now, the subjective information from the seller (which I have no reason 
to disbelieve) is that the disks ran for 2 years and 3 months in a disk 
shelf in the seller's rack. They were connected to a server that was 
powered up once every three days to run a backup.

He also said the drives were made after Seagate acquired Maxtor, and 
that the Maxtor drives made after the acquisition are better than those 
made before.

Who knows. I did notice that when I hotplug these Maxtors, after they 
spin up they produce some strange sounding noises. By contrast, when I 
hotplug an HP drive, after spin-up it chirps a couple times, pleasantly.

All 11 drives passed the initial test. Now I've got them at home and I'm 
subjecting them to:

$ INITIALIZE/ERASE=INIT/STRUCTURE=5

as suggested by FrankS (thanks).

The seller's position regarding bad blocks/sectors is that there can be 
up to 6 of them and the drive is still considered "good".

Now, I'm wondering if INITIALIZE/ERASE=INIT will give me a listing of 
bad blocks found (if any).

If not, what other command could I use to get a bad block count?

Nathan