Provided by: sg3-utils_1.48-2ubuntu1_amd64 
NAME
sg_readcap - send SCSI READ CAPACITY command
SYNOPSIS
sg_readcap [--10] [--16] [--brief] [--help] [--hex] [--inhex=FN] [--json[=JO]] [--js-file=JFN]
[--lba=LBA] [--long] [--pmi] [--raw] [--readonly] [--verbose] [--version] [--zbc] DEVICE
sg_readcap [-16] [-b] [-h] [-H] [-lba=LBA] [-pmi] [-r] [-R] [-v] [-V] [-z] DEVICE
DESCRIPTION
The normal action of the SCSI READ CAPACITY command is to fetch the number of blocks (and block size)
from the DEVICE.
The SCSI READ CAPACITY command (both 10 and 16 byte cdbs) actually yield the block address of the last
block and the block size. The number of blocks is thus one plus the block address of the last block (as
blocks are counted origin zero (i.e. starting at block zero)). This is the source of many "off by one"
errors.
The READ CAPACITY(16) response provides additional information not found in the READ CAPACITY(10)
response. This includes protection and logical block provisioning information, plus the number of logical
blocks per physical block. So even though the media size may not exceed what READ CAPACITY(10) can show,
it may still be useful to examine the response to READ CAPACITY(16). Sadly there are horrible SCSI
command set implementations in the wild that crash when the READ CAPACITY(16) command is sent to them.
Device capacity is the product of the number of blocks by the block size. This utility outputs this
figure in bytes, MiB (1048576 bytes per MiB), GB (1000000000 bytes per GB) and, if large enough, TB (1000
GB).
If sg_readcap is called without the --long option then the 10 byte cdb version (i.e. READ CAPACITY (10))
is sent to the DEVICE. If the number of blocks in the response is reported as 0xffffffff (i.e. (2**32 -
1) ) and the --hex option has not been given, then READ CAPACITY (16) is called and its response is
output.
This utility supports two command line syntaxes, the preferred one is shown first in the synopsis and
explained in this section. A later section on the old command line syntax outlines the second group of
options.
OPTIONS
Arguments to long options are mandatory for short options as well. The options are arranged in
alphabetical order based on the long option name.
--10 Use the 10 byte cdb variant of the READ CAPACITY command. This is currently the default action of
this utility. That default may change to the 16 byte variant, especially if T10 deprecates the 10
byte variant.
--16 Use the 16 byte cdb variant of the READ CAPACITY command. See the '--long' option. -b, --brief
outputs two hex numbers (prefixed with '0x' and space separated) to stdout. The first number is
the maximum number of blocks on the device (which is one plus the lba of the last accessible
block). The second number is the size in bytes of each block. If the operation fails then "0x0
0x0" is written to stdout.
-h, --help
print out the usage message then exit.
-H, --hex
output the response to the READ CAPACITY command (either the 10 or 16 byte cdb variant) in ASCII
hexadecimal on stdout. Each line starts with a hexadecimal address or index, starting at 0. If
this option is given twice, and ASCII rendering of the 16 bytes on each line is appended to the
right hand side of each line.
If this option is given three times then 16 bytes of ASCII hexadecimal are output in each line
with no leading address nor ASCII rendering to the right. This output is suitable for importing
into a later invocation of this utility with the file containing the hex given to the --inhex=FN
option. When given four (or more times) this option adds a comment line (starting with '#')
describing the command that caused the output.
-i, --inhex=FN
where FN is a file name whose contents are assumed to be ASCII hexadecimal. If DEVICE is also
given then DEVICE is ignored, a warning is issued and the utility continues, decoding the file
named FN. See the "HEX, BINARY AND JSON FORMATS" section in the sg3_utils manpage for more
information. If the --raw option is also given then the contents of FN are treated as binary.
-j[=JO], --json[=JO]
output is in JSON format instead of plain text form. Note that arguments to the short and long
form are themselves optional and if present start with "=" and no whitespace is permitted around
that "=".
See sg3_utils_json manpage or use '?' for JO to get a summary.
-J, --js-file=JFN
output is in JSON format and it is sent to a file named JFN. If that file exists then it is
truncated. By default, the JSON output is sent to stdout.
When this option is given, the --json[=JO] option is implied and need not be given. The
--json[=JO] option may still be needed to set the JO parameter to non-default values.
-L, --lba=LBA
used in conjunction with --pmi option. This variant of READ CAPACITY will yield the last block
address after LBA prior to a delay. For a disk, given a LBA it yields the highest numbered block
on the same cylinder (i.e. before the heads need to move). LBA is assumed to be decimal unless
prefixed by "0x" or it has a trailing "h". Defaults to 0. This option was made obsolete in SBC-3
revision 26.
-l, --long
Use the 16 byte cdb variant of the READ CAPACITY command. The default action is to use the 10 byte
cdb variant which limits the maximum block address to (2**32 - 2). When a 10 byte cdb READ
CAPACITY command is used on a device whose size is too large then a last block address of
0xffffffff is returned (if the device complies with SBC-2 or later).
-O, --old
Switch to older style options. Please use as first option.
-p, --pmi
partial medium indicator: for finding the next block address prior to some delay (e.g. head
movement). In the absence of this option, the total number of blocks and the block size of the
device are output. Used in conjunction with the --lba=LBA option. This option was made obsolete
in SBC-3 revision 26.
-r, --raw
output response in binary to stdout.
-R, --readonly
open the DEVICE read-only (e.g. in Unix with the O_RDONLY flag). The default for READ
CAPACITY(16) is to open it read-write. The default for READ CAPACITY(10) is to open it read-only
so this option does not change anything for this case.
-v, --verbose
increase level of verbosity. Can be used multiple times.
-V, --version
outputs version string then exits.
-z, --zbc
additionally prints out the extra ZBC field (RC_BASIS) in the READ CAPACITY response. Using the
option implicitly sets the --16 option.
NOTES
The response to READ CAPACITY(16) contains a LBPRZ bit in the SBC-3 standard (ANSI INCITS 514-2014).
There was also a LBPRZ bit with the same meaning in the Logical block provisioning VPD page (0xb2). Then
somewhat confusingly T10 expanded the LBPRZ bit to a 3 bit field in SBC-4 draft revision 7, but only in
the LB provisioning VPD page. The reason for the expansion was to report a new "provisioning
initialization pattern" state (when an unmapped logical block is read). The new state has been assigned
LBPRZ=2 in the VPD page and it re-uses LBPRZ=0 in the READ CAPACITY(16) response. LBPRZ=1 retains the
same meaning for both variants, namely that a block of zeroes will be returned when an unmapped logical
block is read.
EXIT STATUS
The exit status of sg_readcap is 0 when it is successful. Otherwise see the sg3_utils(8) man page.
OLDER COMMAND LINE OPTIONS
The options in this section were the only ones available prior to sg3_utils version 1.23 . Since then
this utility defaults to the newer command line options which can be overridden by using --old (or -O) as
the first option. See the ENVIRONMENT VARIABLES section for another way to force the use of these older
command line options.
-16 Use the 16 byte cdb variant of the READ CAPACITY command. Equivalent to --long in the main
description.
-b utility outputs two hex numbers (prefixed with '0x' and space separated) to stdout. The first
number is the maximum number of blocks on the device (which is one plus the lba of the last
accessible block). The second number is the size of each block. If the operation fails then "0x0
0x0" is written to stdout. Equivalent to --brief in the main description.
-h output the usage message then exit. Giving the -? option also outputs the usage message then
exits.
-H output the response to the READ CAPACITY command (either the 10 or 16 byte cdb variant) in ASCII
hexadecimal on stdout.
-lba=LBA
used in conjunction with -pmi option. This variant of READ CAPACITY will yield the last block
address after LBA prior to a delay. Equivalent to --lba=LBA in the main description.
-N, --new
Switch to the newer style options.
-pmi partial medium indicator: for finding the next block address prior to some delay (e.g. head
movement). In the absence of this switch, the total number of blocks and the block size of the
device are output. Equivalent to --pmi in the main description.
-r output response in binary (to stdout).
-R Equivalent to --readonly in the main description.
-v verbose: print out cdb of issued commands prior to execution. '-vv' and '-vvv' are also accepted
yielding greater verbosity.
-V outputs version string then exits.
-z Equivalent to --zbc in the main description.
ENVIRONMENT VARIABLES
Since sg3_utils version 1.23 the environment variable SG3_UTILS_OLD_OPTS can be given. When it is present
this utility will expect the older command line options. So the presence of this environment variable is
equivalent to using --old (or -O) as the first command line option.
AUTHORS
Written by Douglas Gilbert
COPYRIGHT
Copyright © 1999-2023 Douglas Gilbert
This software is distributed under the GPL version 2. There is NO warranty; not even for MERCHANTABILITY
or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.
SEE ALSO
sg_inq(sg3_utils)
sg3_utils-1.48 June 2023 SG_READCAP(8)