System Administration
Page 5-9
AM-6000 Computer Owner's Manual, Rev. 00
The next two sections discuss two very useful diagnostic programs, REDALL and DSKANA. You can
find more information on disk diagnostic programs in the System Operator's Guide and the AMOS
User's Guide.
The REDALL Command
REDALL reads every block of data—or the number of blocks you choose—on the disk you specify, and
reports any hard errors. It does not alter the data on your disk.
REDALL works on both hard disks and diskettes. It is a good idea to run REDALL for each disk on
your computer occasionally, possibly once a week. That way, if any disk problems develop, you can be
sure of detecting them quickly.
To use REDALL, perform these steps:
1. To read all the blocks on a disk, enter REDALL followed by the device name of the disk you
want to read. For example:
REDALL DSK2:
RETURN
2. If you don't want REDALL to read all blocks on the disk, follow the disk specification with the
decimal number of blocks you want read:
REDALL DSK2:100
RETURN
The command above tells REDALL to read the first 100 blocks on DSK2:.
3. REDALL now tells you the number of blocks it is reading. For example:
REDALL DSK2:
RETURN
Reading 13800 blocks
EXIT
4. REDALL ends when it finishes reading the blocks. If any errors occur, REDALL displays the
appropriate error message on your screen.
The DSKANA Command
The DSKANA command is an important part of your disk maintenance routine. DSKANA analyzes the
data on a specified disk and reports lost and mis-linked disk blocks, inconsistent block counts, and other
file errors.
Each file on the disk is stored in one or more disk blocks. AMOS keeps track of which disk blocks are
currently used in files and which are not, by means of a special structure called a "bitmap." Each disk
has its own bitmap.
DSKANA compares the information in the bitmap with the actual data on the disk to make sure the
bitmap is accurate. For example, if DSKANA finds a disk block that is part of a file, but the bitmap
shows the block not in use, DSKANA reports an error. When DSKANA finishes analyzing the disk, it
rewrites the bitmap unless you tell it not to.
