sg_sat_datetime - Man Page

sg_sat_datetime [--dma] [--elapsed] [--format] [--help] [--hex] [--milliseconds=MS] [--readonly] [--seconds=SECS] [--srep] [--verbose] [--version] DEVICE

Sends a SET DATE & TIME EXT or READ LOG [DMA] EXT command to the ATA DEVICE to set the date and time or read it from the Device Statistics log address(04h), General Statistics page (01h). These commands are found in the ATA Command Set (ACS-5) standard.  ATA commands are sent using ATA PASS-THROUGH SCSI commands.

If either the --milliseconds=MS or --seconds=SECS option is given (and both can't be given) then the SET DATE & TIME command is sent. Otherwise, the READ LOG EXT command, or if the --dma option is used, the READ LOG DMA EXT command is sent to the device.

The date and time is sent and received from the DEVICE generally as the number of milliseconds since the epoch of 1970-01-01 00:00:00 UTC and is held in a 48 bit unsigned integer. That same epoch is used by Unix machines, but they usually hold the number of seconds since that epoch. The Unix date command and especially its "+%s" format is useful in converting to and from timestamps and more humanly readable forms. See the Examples section below. If the date and time is not set after power-on reset, the value is the same as the device power-on hours in milliseconds.

Arguments to long options are mandatory for short options as well.

-d,  --dma

use READ LOG DMA EXT to read the date and time value from the device.  Ignored if setting the date and time.

-e,  --elapsed

assume the date and time from READ LOG [DMA] EXT is an elapsed time from an event such as a power cycle or hard reset and format the output as '<n> days hh:mm:ss.xxx' where hh is hours (00 to 23 inclusive); mm is minutes (00 to 59 inclusive); ss is seconds (00 to 59 inclusive) and xxx is milliseconds (000 to 999 inclusive). If the number of days is 0 then '0 days' is not output unless this option is given two or more times.
This option is especially useful if the date and time has not been set. Per ACS-5, when not set, the date and time is initialized to the power-on hours of the device in milliseconds.

-f,  --format

output the date and time formatted using the default locale.

-h,  --help

output the usage message then exit.

-H,  --hex

output the date and time in ASCII hexadecimal.

-m,  --milliseconds=MS

where MS is the number of milliseconds since 1970-01-01 00:00:00 UTC to set in the DEVICE with the ATA SET DATE & TIME EXT command.

-R,  --readonly

open the DEVICE read-only. The default action is to open the DEVICE read-write.

-s,  --seconds=SECS

where SECS is the number of seconds since 1970-01-01 00:00:00 UTC to set in the DEVICE with the ATA SET DATE & TIME command. SECS is multiplied by 1000 before being used in the ATA SET DATE & TIME command.

-S,  --srep

report the number of seconds since 1970-01-01 00:00:00 UTC. This is done by dividing the value returned by the ATA READ LOG [DMA] EXT command by 1000.

-v,  --verbose

increase the level of verbosity, (i.e. debug output).

-V,  --version

print the version string and then exit.

The exit status of sg_sat_datetime is 0 when it is successful. Otherwise, see the sg3_utils(8) man page.

The DEVICE should immediately start accumulating time after the date and time is set.  ie. If you set and then retrieve the date and time, the returned values will likely have increased.

The ACS-5 standard makes no provision for a power-safe date and time storage. Unless the device has vendor-specific power-safe capability, after a power-on reset, per ACS-5, the date and time should be the power-on hours of the device returned in milliseconds (or seconds if --srep option is used).

On Unix machines (e.g. Linux, FreeBSD, and Solaris) the date command is useful when working with timestamps.

To fetch the timestamp from a DEVICE and display it in a humanly readable form the following could be used:

  # sg_sat_datetime -S /dev/sg2
1681156506

  # date --date=@1681156506
Mon Apr 10 02:55:06 PM CDT 2023

  # date -R --date="@1681156506"
Mon, 10 Apr 2023 14:55:06 -0500

The latter two date commands show different forms of the same date (i.e. 1681156506 seconds since 1970-01-01 00:00:00 UTC). The sg_sat_datetime and date commands can be combined using backquotes:

  # date -R --date=@`sg_sat_datetime -S /dev/sg2`
Mon, 10 Apr 2023 14:55:06 -0500

Alternatively, the --format option can be used to format the date and time using the default locale.
  # sg_sat_datetime --format /dev/sg2
Mon Apr 10 15:02:54 2023

To set the date and time on the DEVICE to now (approximately) the following could be used:

  # date +%s
1681157099

  # sg_sat_datetime --seconds=1681157099 /dev/sg0

Those two command lines could be combined into one by using backquotes:

  # sg_sat_datetime --seconds=`date +%s` /dev/sg0

Written by Jeremy Bauer and Daniel Woeste with extensive use of sg_timestamp and sg_sat_read_gplog by Douglas Gilbert.

Report bugs to <dgilbert at interlog dot com>.

Copyright © 2023 Jeremy Bauer and Daniel Woeste of Western Digital Corporation
This software is distributed under a FreeBSD license. There is NO warranty; not even for MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.

sdparm(sdparm), sg_logs(sg3_utils), sg_timestamp(sg3_utils), sg_sat_read_gplog(sg3_utils)