LPIC-1 System Architecture Practice Question
Exhibit
01:00.0 SCSI storage controller: LSI Logic / Symbios Logic SAS1068E PCI-Express Fusion-MPT SAS (rev 08)
Subsystem: LSI Logic / Symbios Logic SAS1068E PCI-Express Fusion-MPT SAS
Flags: bus master, fast devsel, latency 0, IRQ 24
I/O ports at ec00 [size=256]
Memory at f7ffc000 (64-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=16K]
Memory at f7ff8000 (64-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=16K]
Expansion ROM at f7f00000 [disabled] [size=256K]
Capabilities: [50] MSI: Enable- Count=1/1 Maskable- 64bit+
Capabilities: [68] Express Endpoint, MSI 00
Capabilities: [98] Power Management version 3
Capabilities: [a0] MSI-X: Enable- Count=15 Masked-
Kernel driver in use: mpt3sas
Kernel modules: mpt3sasRefer to the exhibit. The system has multiple SAS drives attached to this controller, but one of them is not detected during boot. Which command is most likely to provide information about the device detection order?
⚠ Common exam trap
The trap here is that candidates often pick `lsscsi` or `cat /proc/scsi/scsi` because they show SCSI devices, but they fail to realize those commands only show the final state, not the boot-time detection order or failure messages that `dmesg` provides.
Answer choices
Why each option matters
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
dmesg | grep -i scsi
The `dmesg` command displays kernel ring buffer messages, which include hardware detection and initialization logs during boot. By piping to `grep -i scsi`, you filter for SCSI-related messages, revealing the order in which devices were discovered and any errors for undetected drives. This is the most direct way to see why a specific SAS drive failed to appear.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
cat /proc/scsi/scsi
Why it's wrong here
/proc/scsi/scsi shows attached devices but not detection order.
- ✗
lsblk
Why it's wrong here
lsblk lists block devices but does not show detection order.
- ✓
dmesg | grep -i scsi
Why this is correct
dmesg displays kernel messages with timestamps, revealing the order of SCSI device detection.
- ✗
lsscsi
Why it's wrong here
lsscsi lists SCSI devices but not the order in which they were detected.
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