DLT drives

[u856100]

Gents/Ladies,

Is there someway to check the density write setting when creating a DLT tape.

I am using an old and new DLT drive (4000 and 8000), and want to make sure the correct density is being used when the tape writes on the HP drive. Despite the density led on the dives facia indicating the density setting, sometimes the density writes at max density (40) when I am trying to get 20.

(I am using the default /dev/rmt/0m driver)

cheers

John

[Stefan Farrelly · Accepted solution]

Yes, there is. You need to create a special device file using;

mksf -H -b /dev/rmt/

See man on mksf and go the section on the stape driver to see all the density options. There are quite a few for DLT drives. Try different ones until you get the desired effect.

[u856100]

Superb,

thanks very much for your help Stefan

John

[Bill Hassell]

To expand on Stefan's answer, density is controlled by bits in the minor number and different device files have different options. After using mksf to create uncompressed device files, use the lssf command to verify the settings as in:

lssf /dev/rmt/*

The term "best density" indicates that compression is turned on when using this device file.