Tape Drives

[Dave Hartman]

Hi,
Can anyone tell me or direct me to a good URL that explains exaclty what the files in /dev/rmt/* do.

example:
0hc@ 0mb 0mnb c0t0d0BESTb c0t0d0BESTnb
0m 0mn c0t0d0BEST c0t0d0BESTn tape2_config

what's the difference using in using "cpio -icRt
I'm still a newbie.
Thanks in advance.

[Andy Monks · Accepted solution]

You can do :-

lssf /dev/rmt/*

That pretty much will cover it.

'n' == no rewind (so don't rewind the tape once you've finished with it
'b' == use 'berkeley' mode (at&t is the defaul)
'BEST' == use the best density the tape drive can do

[Patrick Wessel]

Take a look in "Configuring HP-UX For Peripherals"
Chapter 6. Configuring Tape Drives:

http://docs.hp.com:80/dynaweb/hpux11/hpuxen1a/perien1a/@Generic__BookTextView/15520

or

http://docs.hp.com/dynaweb/hpux11/hpuxen1a/perien1a/@Generic__BookView

[Dave Wherry]

Without giving a lot of detail, a brief description for each can be found in sam. Go into Peripheral Devices and the Tape Drives. Highlight one of your drives, go to Actions and Show Device Files. It tells you it's AT&T or Berkeley. Density and rewind.
Specifically about the example you gave, 0m will do the cpio and then rewind the tape. The 0mn will not rewind at the end. You could do another cpio and append that to the tape after the first cpio.
Those device names are a little cryptic and confusing at first.

[Dave Hartman]

Thanks a lot.

This FORUM is the best thing for newbies like me.

Thanks again.