Drive stuck on formatting

TrueNAS General
1

I ran into the issue with “data integrity feature not supported.” So I have been attempting to format a drive with sg_format. Everything was going fine, but now the drive shows the below:

root@truenas[~]# sg_format -v /dev/sdc
HGST HUS728T8TAL5204 NE00 peripheral_type: disk [0x0]
PROTECT=1
<< supports protection information>>
Unit serial number: VDGP9M4D
LU name: 5000cca0bb26bf94
mode sense(10) cdb: [5a 00 01 00 00 00 00 00 fc 00]
mode sense(10):
Descriptor format, current; Sense key: Not Ready
Additional sense: Logical unit not ready, format in progress
Descriptor type: Sense key specific: Progress indication: 4.22%
Descriptor type: Field replaceable unit code: 0x0
Descriptor type: Vendor specific [0x80]
f5 04
MODE SENSE (10) command: Device not ready, type: sense key

Anyone know how to fix this?

2

I will take a stab in the dark. I recommend booting up Partition Magic (free) and remove the partitions, apply, and if you need to, create new partition and format. Just make sure you are working on the correct drive. Use the serial number or better yet, disconnect all but the drive you want to work on.

3

I’ll throw some stuff out too.
The “Descriptor format, current; Sense key: Not Ready” suggests the drive needs an encryption key
It could also be a sector size issue with 528b sectors.
Try formatting with current sector size first, then re-format with 512b sector size. It is reported that the drive firmware refuses to change sector size unless it sees the drive as “empty”.

Also here is an old post that may help

4

A few hours later, it finally allow me to complete a reformat.

5

Did you change anything? I’ve been trying to for the last day or so and I’m still getting similar errors.

6

I ended up taking the drive out and putting it back in. That allowed me to start the format again and complete it this time.

7

Yeah, sometimes a drive can end up in an undefined state after a botched format. Completely removing power from the drive can clear it up.

Might be enough to simply cut power with the powerswitch on the PSU for a couple of minutes, whereas simply powering the system down is not enough.

8

@Bane
Hi, I have the same He8 drives but from NetApp as you and have found this thread in my attempt to reformat them, not sure if you’ve found a solution, I was finally able to get sg_format to work, detailed here:

The trick is we have to unlock the drives with sedutil-cli using the PSID code on the printed drive label next to the QR code