This parameter is a bit significant value that selects the following options:
Bits 31-3: not used
Bit 2: Process the Active Error Log.
This bit is only valid when the User Partition is selected. If this bit is equal to 1, the Format Client Defect List will be written with contents of the Active Error Log and the option to process the Client Defect List will be enabled. If there is no Active Error Log or there are no R/W-related entries in the Active Error Log, then this bit will be ignored.
Bit 1: Process Primary Defect Lists.
This bit is only valid when the User Partition is selected. If this bit is equal to 1, the Primary Defect Lists will be used when creating the defect list to be used by the format operation.
Bit 0: Process Grown Defect Lists.
This bit is only valid when the User Partition is selected. If this bit is equal to 1, the the Grown Defect Lists will be used when creating the defect list to be used by the format operation.
Type: Unsigned 32-bit value
Range: 0 or 0xFFFFFFFF
Default: 0x00000003 (Process Grown Defect Lists,
Process Primary Defect Lists,
Do not process the Active Error Log)
3 - Maximum Write Retry Count.
If this parameter is entered, the maximum write retry count will be set to the specified value. This parameter is only valid when the User Partition is being formatted (Parameter 0 is equal to 0). If this parameter is not entered, the maximum write retry count will not be changed.
Type: Unsigned 16-bit value
Range: 0 or 0xFFFF
Default: None.
4 - Maximum Read Retry Count.
If this paremeter is entered, the maximum read retry count will be set to the specified value. This parameter is only valid when the User Partition is being formatted (Parameter 0 is equal to 0). If this parameter is not entered, the maximum read retry count will not be changed.
Type: Unsigned 16-bit value
Range: 0 or 0xFFFF
Default: None.
5 - Maximum ECC T-Level.
If this paremeter is entered, the maximum ECC T-Level will be set to the specified value. This parameter is only valid when the User Partition is being formatted (Parameter 0 is equal to 0). If this parameter is not entered, the ECC T-Level will not be changed.
Type: Unsigned 16-bit value
Range: 0 or 0xFFFF
Default: None.
6 - Track Rewrite During Certify Retry Threshold.
If this parameter is entered, it specifies the maximum number of rewrite retries to be performed during the user partition certification pass.
Type: Unsigned 16-bit value
Range: 0 or 0xFFFF
Default: None. If this parameter is not entered, the default value recommended by the R/W Firmware will be used.
7 - Valid Command Key.
For a User Partition format, this parameter must be equal to 22 Hex. If this parameter is not equal to 22 Hex, the command will not be executed.
For a System Partition format, this parameter must be equal to DD Hex. If this parameter is not equal to DD Hex, the command will not be executed.
Type: Unsigned 8-bit value
Range: 0x22 or 0xDD
Default: None
8 - Data Pattern For Format.
This parameter specifies the data pattern to be used when formatting the specified partition. If this parameter is not entered, the specified partition will be formatted with a 0x00000000 data pattern.
Type: Unsigned 32-bit value
Range: 0 or 0xFFFFFFFF
Default: 0x00000000.
Examples:
Example #1:
Perform a "quick format" (process defect lists, clear format corrupt, do not write or certify the drive)
F3 T>m0,6,,,,,,22
Example #2:
Perform a "quick format" (don't process defect lists i.e. unslip and unalt, do not write or certify the drive)
F3 T>m0,6,0,,,,,22
Example #3:
Perform a format with the default data pattern 0x00000000 and certify with event reporting enabled:
F3 T>m0,8,,,,,,22
Example #4:
Perform a format and certify with event reporting enabled, set max write retries to 16, set max read retry count to 8, max ECC T-Level to 0, and track rewrite during certify retry threshold to 20:
F3 T>m0,8,,10,8,0,14,22
Example #5:
Perform a format with user input data pattern 0xFFFFFFFF and certify with event reporting enabled: