Linux Find SCSI Hard Disk Model, Serial Number, Size, and Total Sectors Information

by Vivek Gite · 1 comment

Simply use utility called sdparm to fetch SCSI / SATA device information. Inquiry data including Vital Product Data (VPD) pages can also be displayed. Commands associated with starting and stopping the medium; loading and unloading the medium; and other housekeeping functions may also be performed by this utility.

In short you can get or set SCSI hard disk parameters. If you are using ATA ( IDE ) hard disk use hdparm utility.

Install sdparm utility

Type the following command at shell prompt:
# apt-get install sdparm
Red Hat / CentOS user can grab sdparm rpm package here.

sdparm examples

To list common mode parameters of a disk, enter:
# sdparm /dev/sda
To list the designators within the device identification VPD page of a disk:
# sdparm --inquiry /dev/sdb
To see all parameters for the caching mode page:
# sdparm --page=ca /dev/sdc
To set the "Writeback Cache Enable" bit in the current values page:
# sdparm --set=WCE /dev/sda

Further readings:

  • sdparm man page

Featured Articles:

Want to read Linux tips and tricks, but don't have time to check our blog everyday? Subscribe to our daily email newsletter to make sure you don't miss a single tip/tricks. Subscribe to our weekly newsletter here!

{ 1 comment… read it below or add one }

1 Erik 06.05.08 at 10:22 pm

Unfortunately sdparm doesn’t work with cciss disks :-(

Leave a Comment

You can use these HTML tags and attributes: <a href="" title=""> <abbr title=""> <acronym title=""> <b> <blockquote cite=""> <cite> <code> <del datetime=""> <em> <i> <q cite=""> <strike> <strong>

Previous post:

Next post: