Up: SGI hardware Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
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Subject: -32- How do I install external SCSI disks on my SGI?
Date: 21 Dec 1995 00:00:01 EST
In brief, use 'fx' to format and label (partition) the drive, use
'mkfs' to create the empty filesystem, create the mount points and put
the proper entries into /etc/fstab. The IRIX Site Administrator's
Guide describes this in detail.
Most disks come already formatted. Don't format a disk which is
already formatted; it wastes time and may cause problems. Some disks
come with an SGI filesystem already installed, so you may not even
need to label the disk or 'mkfs'.
Dave Olson of SGI <olson@sgi.com> adds: "The 5.3 disk tool (for scsi
disks only) can create the header for you also, as well as set up the
partitions as on option disk (and only that). Unfortunately, the
initialize button does a -c FORMAT, not -c INITIALIZE to fx, so it
takes longer than it should, and violates my oft-stated "don't ever
format a scsi disk unless you absolutely have to do so" dictum. It's
fixed for 6.1 and beyond.
Quantum's Grand Prix drives need extra fiddling; see
http://www.quantum.com/support/faq/faq.htm#scsi9.
Up: SGI hardware Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
Next: -33- Can I use a non-SGI hard drive in my SGI workstation?
Previous: -31- How many SCSI devices can I have on an Indigo?