INIT command—FBA

You use the INIT command to initialize volumes. For FBA devices, there are two levels of initialization.

1. 
   Minimal initialization or minimal INIT refers to using the INIT command to write the volume label and FBAVTOC on volumes for use by VSE operating systems.

   For FBA devices, minimal INIT is recommended for:

   • A new DASD unit
   • Replaced or upgraded HDA
   • A DASD unit that has been physically relocated
2. Maximal initialization or maximal INIT refers to using the INIT command to check the block surface, and then perform the minimal INIT. The maximal INIT is valid only for 3370, and 9335 FBA devices.

Do not use the INIT command to perform a minimal INIT on volumes that are to be formatted for use in a VM environment. Use the CPVOLUME command instead.

For a general description of these levels of initialization, see Figure 1 and Formatting devices.

For INIT support of minidisks see:

• CMS version minidisk support
• Getting started with the CMS version