a] IDE Hard disk names starts with ad – /dev/ad0 first IDE hard disk, /dev/ad1 second hard disk and so on

b] SCSI Hard disk names starts with da – /dev/da*

c] IDE CDROM/RW/DVD names starts with acd – /dev/acd*

d] SCSI CDROM/RW/DVD names starts with cd – /dev/cd*

List all detected hard disk / cdroms

Type the following grep command, enter:
# egrep 'da[0-9]|cd[0-9]' /var/run/dmesg.boot
OR
# egrep 'ad[0-9]|cd[0-9]' /var/run/dmesg.boot
Sample outpust:

acd0: DVDROM  at ata0-slave UDMA33
ad4: 239372MB  at ata2-master SATA150
ad6: 239372MB  at ata3-master SATA150
Trying to mount root from ufs:/dev/ad4s1a

From above output it is clear that I’ve the following storage installed on my FreeBSD server:

1. ad4 : My First hard disk connected to ATA channel 2
2. ad6: My Second hard disk connected to ATA channel 3
3. acd0 : My DVD ROM

atacontrol command

The atacontrol utility is a control program that provides the user access and control to the FreeBSD ata (IDE / SATA hard disk) subsystem.

WARNING! These examples may crash your computer and loss of data if executed improperly. Please exercise caution when using atacontrol command!

The list option can list all hard disk, enter:
# atacontrol list
Output:

ATA channel 0:
    Master:      no device present
    Slave:  acd0  ATA/ATAPI revision 7
ATA channel 1:
    Master:      no device present
    Slave:       no device present
ATA channel 2:
    Master:  ad4  Serial ATA II
    Slave:       no device present
ATA channel 3:
    Master:  ad6  Serial ATA II
    Slave:       no device present

Say hello to camcontrol command

The CAM subsystem provides a uniform and modular system for the implementation of drivers to control various SCSI and ATA devices, and to utilize different SCSI and ATA host adapters through host adapter drivers. Use the camcontrol utility to access the CAM subsystem.

List all physical devices

Type the following command:
# camcontrol devlist
Sample outputs:

How do I list current partition information?

Use the following command:
# gpart show
Sample outputs:

=>      34  31277165  ada3  GPT  (14G)
        34      1024     1  bios-boot  (512k)
      1058         6        - free -  (3.0k)
      1064  31275184     2  freebsd-zfs  (14G)
  31276248       951        - free -  (475k)
 
=>         34  11721045101  ada0  GPT  (5.5T)
           34           94        - free -  (47k)
          128      4194304     1  freebsd-swap  (2.0G)
      4194432  11716850696     2  freebsd-zfs  (5.5T)
  11721045128            7        - free -  (3.5k)
 
=>         34  11721045101  ada1  GPT  (5.5T)
           34           94        - free -  (47k)
          128      4194304     1  freebsd-swap  (2.0G)
      4194432  11716850696     2  freebsd-zfs  (5.5T)
  11721045128            7        - free -  (3.5k)
 
=>         34  11721045101  ada5  GPT  (5.5T)
           34           94        - free -  (47k)
          128      4194304     1  freebsd-swap  (2.0G)
      4194432  11716850696     2  freebsd-zfs  (5.5T)
  11721045128            7        - free -  (3.5k)
 
=>         34  11721045101  ada6  GPT  (5.5T)
           34           94        - free -  (47k)
          128      4194304     1  freebsd-swap  (2.0G)
      4194432  11716850696     2  freebsd-zfs  (5.5T)
  11721045128            7        - free -  (3.5k)
 
=>       34  234441581  ada4  GPT  (111G)
         34         94        - free -  (47k)
        128  234441480     1  freebsd-zfs  (111G)
  234441608          7        - free -  (3.5k)
 
=>       34  125045357  ada2  GPT  (59G)
         34         94        - free -  (47k)
        128  125045256     1  freebsd-zfs  (59G)
  125045384          7        - free -  (3.5k)

Using GEOM to probes disks

Type the following command (source):

## this run script using sh ##
 
sh -c '. /usr/share/bsdconfig/device.subr;f_device_menu "" "" "" DISK'

Sample outputs: