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34 .Nd magnetic tape manipulating program
47 utility is used to command a magnetic tape drive for operations
48 other than reading or writing data.
56 environment variable described below.
58 The available commands are listed below.
60 characters as are required to uniquely identify a command
63 The following commands optionally take a
66 .Bl -tag -width ".Cm erase"
70 end-of-file (EOF) marks at the current position.
71 This returns when the file mark has been written to the media.
75 end-of-file (EOF) marks at the current position.
76 This returns as soon as the command has been validated by the tape drive.
80 setmarks at the current position (DDS drives only).
92 setmarks (DDS drives only).
104 setmarks (DDS drives only).
106 Erase the tape using a long (often very long) method.
109 of 0, it will erase the tape using a quick method.
110 Operation is not guaranteed if the tape is not at its beginning.
111 The tape will be at its beginning upon completion.
114 The following commands ignore
116 .Bl -tag -width ".Cm geteotmodel"
118 Read the hardware block position.
120 number reported is specific for that hardware only.
121 With drive data compression especially,
122 this position may have more to do with the amount of data
123 sent to the drive than the amount of data written to tape.
124 Some drives do not support this.
126 Read the SCSI logical block position.
127 This typically is greater than the hardware position
128 by the number of end-of-file marks.
129 Some drives do not support this.
132 .It Cm offline , rewoffl
133 Rewind the tape and place the drive off line.
134 Some drives are never off line.
136 Load the tape into the drive.
139 This winds the tape from the current position to the end
140 and then to the beginning.
141 This sometimes improves subsequent reading and writing,
142 particularly for streaming drives.
143 Some drives do not support this.
145 Output status information about the drive.
146 For SCSI magnetic tape devices,
147 the current operating modes of density, blocksize, and whether compression
148 is enabled is reported.
149 The current state of the driver (what it thinks that
150 it is doing with the device) is reported.
151 If the driver knows the relative
152 position from BOT (in terms of filemarks and records), it outputs that.
154 that this information is not definitive (only BOT, End of Recorded Media, and
155 hardware or SCSI logical block position (if the drive supports such) are
156 considered definitive tape positions).
158 Also note that this is the old status command, and will be eliminated in
159 favor of the new status command (see below) in a future release.
161 Output (and clear) error status information about this device.
163 operation (e.g., a read or a write) and every control operation (e.g,, a
164 rewind), the driver stores up the last command executed and it is associated
165 status and any residual counts (if any).
166 This command retrieves and outputs this
168 If possible, this also clears any latched error information.
170 Output the current EOT filemark model.
172 many filemarks will be written at close if a tape was being written.
174 Wind the tape to the end of the recorded data,
175 typically after an EOF mark where another file may be written.
177 Report the block limits of the tape drive, including the minimum and
178 maximum block size, and the block granularity if any.
181 The following commands may require an
183 .Bl -tag -width ".Cm seteotmodel"
185 Set the hardware block position.
188 is a hardware block number to which to position the tape.
189 Some drives do not support this.
191 Set the SCSI logical block position.
194 is a SCSI logical block number to which to position the tape.
195 Some drives do not support this.
197 Set the block size for the drive.
200 is the number of bytes per block,
201 except 0 commands the drive to use variable-length blocks.
203 Set the EOT filemark model to
205 and output the old and new models.
206 Typically this will be 2
207 filemarks, but some devices (typically QIC cartridge drives) can
208 only write 1 filemark.
209 You may only choose a value of
214 Output status information about the drive.
215 For SCSI magnetic tape devices,
216 the current operating modes of density, blocksize, and whether compression
217 is enabled is reported.
218 The current state of the driver (what it thinks that
219 it is doing with the device) is reported.
221 If the driver knows the relative
222 position from BOT (in terms of filemarks and records), it outputs that.
223 If the tape drive supports the long form report of the
225 READ POSITION command, the Reported File Number and Reported Record Number
226 will be numbers other than -1, and there may be Flags reported as well.
228 The BOP flag means that the logical position of the drive is at the
229 beginning of the partition.
231 The EOP flag means that the logical position of the drive is between Early
232 Warning and End of Partition.
234 The BPEW flag means that the logical position of the drive is in a
235 Programmable Early Warning Zone or on the EOP side of Early Warning.
237 Note that the Reported Record Number is the tape block or object number
238 relative to the beginning of the partition.
239 The Calculated Record Number is the tape block or object number relative
240 to the previous file mark.
243 that the Calculated File and Record Numbers are not definitive.
244 The Reported File and Record Numbers are definitive, if they are numbers
248 Print additional status information, such as the maximum supported I/O
251 Print all available status data to stdout in XML format.
254 Report density support information for the tape drive and any media that is
256 Most drives will report at least basic density information similar to that
260 Newer tape drives that conform to the T-10 SSC and newer tape
261 specifications may report more detailed information about the types of
262 tapes they support and the tape currently in the drive.
265 Print all available density data to stdout in XML format.
266 Because density information is currently included in the general status XML
269 status command, this will be the same XML output via
277 Display or set parameters.
283 must be specified to indicate which operation to perform.
286 for more detailed information on the parameters.
289 List parameters, values and descriptions.
290 By default all parameters will be displayed.
291 To display a specific parameter, specify the parameter with
294 Specify the parameter name to list (with
299 Enable quiet mode for parameter listing.
300 This will suppress printing of parameter descriptions.
302 Specify the parameter value to set.
303 The general type of this argument (integer, unsigned integer, string) is
304 determined by the type of the variable indicated by the
307 More detailed argument checking is done by the
311 Print out all parameter information in XML format.
314 Display or set drive protection parameters.
315 This is used to control checking and reporting a per-block checksum for
316 tape drives that support it.
317 Some drives may only support some parameters.
320 Set the Recover Buffered Data Protected bit.
321 If set, this indicates that checksums are transferred with the logical
322 blocks transferred by the RECOVERED BUFFERED DATA
326 Disable all protection information settings.
328 Enable all protection information settings.
329 The default protection method used is Reed-Solomon CRC (protection method
330 1), as specified in ECMA-319.
331 The default protection information length used with Reed-Solomon CRC is
333 To enable all settings except one more setting, specify the
335 argument and then explicitly disable settings that you do not wish to
337 For example, specifying
340 will enable all settings except for LBP_W.
342 List available protection parameters and their current settings.
344 Set the length of the protection information in bytes.
345 For Reed-Solomon CRC, the protection information length should be 4 bytes.
347 Specify the numeric value for the protection method.
348 The numeric value for Reed-Solomon CRC is 1.
350 Set the LBP_R parameter.
351 When set, this indicates that each block read from the tape drive will
352 have a checksum at the end.
354 Enable verbose mode for parameter listing.
355 This will include descriptions of each parameter.
357 Set the LBP_W parameter.
358 When set, this indicates that each block written to the tape drive will have
359 a checksum at the end.
360 The drive will verify the checksum before writing the block to tape.
363 Set the tape drive's logical position.
370 must be specified to indicate the type of position.
371 If the partition number is specified, the drive will first relocate to the
372 given partition (if it exists) and then to the position indicated within
374 If the partition number is not specified, the drive will relocate to the
375 given position within the current partition.
377 .It Fl b Ar block_addr
378 Relocate to the given tape block or logical object identifier.
379 Note that the block number is the Reported Record Number that is relative
380 to the beginning of the partition (or beginning of tape).
382 Relocate to the end of data.
384 Relocate to the given file number.
385 .It Fl p Ar partition
386 Specify the partition to change to.
388 Relocate to the given set mark.
391 Set the drive's compression mode.
392 The non-numeric values of
396 .Bl -tag -width 9n -compact
398 Turn compression off.
408 IBM Improved Data Recording Capability compression (0x10).
410 DCLZ compression algorithm (0x20).
413 In addition to the above recognized compression keywords, the user can
414 supply a numeric compression algorithm for the drive to use.
416 cases, simply turning the compression
418 will have the desired effect of enabling the default compression algorithm
419 supported by the drive.
420 If this is not the case (see the
422 display to see which compression algorithm is currently in use), the user
423 can manually specify one of the supported compression keywords (above), or
424 supply a numeric compression value from the drive's specifications.
426 Note that for some older tape drives (for example the Exabyte 8200 and 8500
427 series drives) it is necessary to switch to a different density to tell the
428 drive to record data in its compressed format.
429 If the user attempts to turn compression on while the uncompressed density
430 is selected, the drive will return an error.
431 This is generally not an issue for modern tape drives.
433 Set the density for the drive.
434 For the density codes, see below.
435 The density value could be given either numerically, or as a string,
439 If the string is abbreviated, it will be resolved in the order
440 shown in the table, and the first matching entry will be used.
442 given string and the resulting canonical density name do not match
443 exactly, an informational message is output about what the given
444 string has been taken for.
447 The initial version of the density table below was taken from the
448 .Sq Historical sequential access density codes
449 table (A-1) in Revision 11 of the SCSI-3 Stream Device Commands (SSC)
450 working draft, dated November 11, 1997.
451 Subsequent additions have come from a number of sources.
453 The density codes are:
454 .Bd -literal -offset 2n
455 0x0 default for device
456 0xE reserved for ECMA
458 Value Width Tracks Density Code Type Reference Note
460 0x01 12.7 (0.5) 9 32 (800) NRZI R X3.22-1983 2
461 0x02 12.7 (0.5) 9 63 (1,600) PE R X3.39-1986 2
462 0x03 12.7 (0.5) 9 246 (6,250) GCR R X3.54-1986 2
463 0x05 6.3 (0.25) 4/9 315 (8,000) GCR C X3.136-1986 1,3
464 0x06 12.7 (0.5) 9 126 (3,200) PE R X3.157-1987 2
465 0x07 6.3 (0.25) 4 252 (6,400) IMFM C X3.116-1986 1
466 0x08 3.81 (0.15) 4 315 (8,000) GCR CS X3.158-1987 1
467 0x09 12.7 (0.5) 18 1,491 (37,871) GCR C X3.180 2
468 0x0A 12.7 (0.5) 22 262 (6,667) MFM C X3B5/86-199 1
469 0x0B 6.3 (0.25) 4 63 (1,600) PE C X3.56-1986 1
470 0x0C 12.7 (0.5) 24 500 (12,690) GCR C HI-TC1 1,6
471 0x0D 12.7 (0.5) 24 999 (25,380) GCR C HI-TC2 1,6
472 0x0F 6.3 (0.25) 15 394 (10,000) GCR C QIC-120 1,6
473 0x10 6.3 (0.25) 18 394 (10,000) GCR C QIC-150 1,6
474 0x11 6.3 (0.25) 26 630 (16,000) GCR C QIC-320 1,6
475 0x12 6.3 (0.25) 30 2,034 (51,667) RLL C QIC-1350 1,6
476 0x13 3.81 (0.15) 1 2,400 (61,000) DDS CS X3B5/88-185A 5
477 0x14 8.0 (0.315) 1 1,703 (43,245) RLL CS X3.202-1991 5,11
478 0x15 8.0 (0.315) 1 1,789 (45,434) RLL CS ECMA TC17 5,12
479 0x16 12.7 (0.5) 48 394 (10,000) MFM C X3.193-1990 1
480 0x17 12.7 (0.5) 48 1,673 (42,500) MFM C X3B5/91-174 1
481 0x18 12.7 (0.5) 112 1,673 (42,500) MFM C X3B5/92-50 1
482 0x19 12.7 (0.5) 128 2,460 (62,500) RLL C DLTapeIII 6,7
483 0x1A 12.7 (0.5) 128 3,214 (81,633) RLL C DLTapeIV(20) 6,7
484 0x1B 12.7 (0.5) 208 3,383 (85,937) RLL C DLTapeIV(35) 6,7
485 0x1C 6.3 (0.25) 34 1,654 (42,000) MFM C QIC-385M 1,6
486 0x1D 6.3 (0.25) 32 1,512 (38,400) GCR C QIC-410M 1,6
487 0x1E 6.3 (0.25) 30 1,385 (36,000) GCR C QIC-1000C 1,6
488 0x1F 6.3 (0.25) 30 2,666 (67,733) RLL C QIC-2100C 1,6
489 0x20 6.3 (0.25) 144 2,666 (67,733) RLL C QIC-6GB(M) 1,6
490 0x21 6.3 (0.25) 144 2,666 (67,733) RLL C QIC-20GB(C) 1,6
491 0x22 6.3 (0.25) 42 1,600 (40,640) GCR C QIC-2GB(C) ?
492 0x23 6.3 (0.25) 38 2,666 (67,733) RLL C QIC-875M ?
493 0x24 3.81 (0.15) 1 2,400 (61,000) CS DDS-2 5
494 0x25 3.81 (0.15) 1 3,816 (97,000) CS DDS-3 5
495 0x26 3.81 (0.15) 1 3,816 (97,000) CS DDS-4 5
496 0x27 8.0 (0.315) 1 3,056 (77,611) RLL CS Mammoth 5
497 0x28 12.7 (0.5) 36 1,491 (37,871) GCR C X3.224 1
500 0x2B 12.7 (0.5) 3 ? ? ? C X3.267 5
501 0x40 12.7 (0.5) 384 4,800 (123,952) C LTO-1
502 0x41 12.7 (0.5) 208 3,868 (98,250) RLL C DLTapeIV(40) 6,7
503 0x42 12.7 (0.5) 512 7,398 (187,909) C LTO-2
504 0x44 12.7 (0.5) 704 9,638 (244,805) C LTO-3
505 0x46 12.7 (0.5) 896 12,725 (323,215) C LTO-4
506 0x47 3.81 (0.25) ? 6,417 (163,000) CS DAT-72
507 0x48 12.7 (0.5) 448 5,236 (133,000) PRML C SDLTapeI(110) 6,8,13
508 0x49 12.7 (0.5) 448 7,598 (193,000) PRML C SDLTapeI(160) 6,8
509 0x4A 12.7 (0.5) 768 ? PRML C T10000A 10
510 0x4B 12.7 (0.5) 1152 ? PRML C T10000B 10
511 0x4C 12.7 (0.5) 3584 ? PRML C T10000C 10
512 0x4D 12.7 (0.5) 4608 ? PRML C T10000D 10
513 0x51 12.7 (0.5) 512 11,800 (299,720) C 3592A1 (unencrypted)
514 0x52 12.7 (0.5) 896 11,800 (299,720) C 3592A2 (unencrypted)
515 0x53 12.7 (0.5) 1152 13,452 (341,681) C 3592A3 (unencrypted)
516 0x54 12.7 (0.5) 2560 19,686 (500,024) C 3592A4 (unencrypted)
517 0x55 12.7 (0.5) 5120 20,670 (525,018) C 3592A5 (unencrypted)
518 0x56 12.7 (0.5) 7680 20,670 (525,018) C 3592B5 (unencrypted)
519 0x57 12.7 (0.5) 8704 21,850 (554,990) C 3592A6 (unencrypted)
520 0x58 12.7 (0.5) 1280 15,142 (384,607) C LTO-5
521 0x59 12.7 (0.5)18944 21,850 (554,990) C 3592A7 (unencrypted)
522 0x5A 12.7 (0.5) 2176 15,142 (384,607) C LTO-6
523 0x5C 12.7 (0.5) 3584 19,107 (485,318) C LTO-7
524 0x5D 12.7 (0.5) 5376 19,107 (485,318) C LTO-M8 14
525 0x5E 12.7 (0.5) 6656 20,669 (524,993) C LTO-8
526 0x60 12.7 (0.5) 8960 23,031 (584,987) C LTO-9
527 0x71 12.7 (0.5) 512 11,800 (299,720) C 3592A1 (encrypted)
528 0x72 12.7 (0.5) 896 11,800 (299,720) C 3592A2 (encrypted)
529 0x73 12.7 (0.5) 1152 13,452 (341,681) C 3592A3 (encrypted)
530 0x74 12.7 (0.5) 2560 19,686 (500,024) C 3592A4 (encrypted)
531 0x75 12.7 (0.5) 5120 20,670 (525,018) C 3592A5 (encrypted)
532 0x76 12.7 (0.5) 7680 20,670 (525,018) C 3592B5 (encrypted)
533 0x77 12.7 (0.5) 8704 21,850 (554,990) C 3592A6 (encrypted)
534 0x79 12.7 (0.5)18944 21,850 (554,990) C 3592A7 (encrypted)
535 0x8c 8.0 (0.315) 1 1,789 (45,434) RLL CS EXB-8500c 5,9
536 0x90 8.0 (0.315) 1 1,703 (43,245) RLL CS EXB-8200c 5,9
538 .Bd -literal -offset 2n
539 Code Description Type Description
540 ---- -------------------------------------- ---- -----------
541 NRZI Non return to zero, change on ones R Reel-to-reel
542 GCR Group code recording C Cartridge
543 PE Phase encoded CS Cassette
544 IMFM Inverted modified frequency modulation
545 MFM Modified frequency modulation
547 RLL Run length limited
548 PRML Partial Response Maximum Likelihood
550 .Bd -literal -offset 2n
553 2. Parallel recorded.
554 3. Old format known as QIC-11.
556 6. This is not an American National Standard. The reference is based
557 on an industry standard definition of the media format.
558 7. DLT recording: serially recorded track pairs (DLTapeIII and
559 DLTapeIV(20)), or track quads (DLTapeIV(35) and DLTapeIV(40)).
560 8. Super DLT (SDLT) recording: 56 serially recorded logical tracks
561 with 8 physical tracks each.
562 9. Vendor-specific Exabyte density code for compressed format.
563 10. bpi/bpmm values for the Oracle/StorageTek T10000 tape drives are
564 not listed in the manual. Someone with access to a drive can
565 supply the necessary values by running 'mt getdensity'.
566 11. This is Exabyte 8200 uncompressed format. The compressed format
567 density code is 0x90.
568 12. This is Exabyte 8500 uncompressed format. The compressed format
569 density code is 0x8c.
570 13. This density code (0x48) was also used for DAT-160.
571 14. Officially known as LTO-8 Type M, abbreviated M8. This is a pristine
572 LTO-7 cartridge initialized with a higher density format by an LTO-8
573 drive. It cannot be read by an LTO-7 drive. Uncompressed capacity
574 is 9TB, compared to 6TB for LTO-7 and 12TB for LTO-8.
576 .Bd -literal -offset 2n
577 NOTE ON QIC STREAMERS
579 The following is a table of Data Cartridge types as used in the 1/4 inch
580 tape drives such as the Archive Viper 150, Wangtek 5525ES, and Tandberg
583 Value Reference Format Cartridge Type Capacity Tracks Length
584 ----- --------- ------ -------------- -------- ------ ------
586 0x05 QIC-11 DC300 15MB 4 300ft
587 0x05 QIC-11 DC300XL/P 20MB 4 450ft
588 0x05 QIC-11 DC600 27MB 4 600ft
589 0x05 X3.136-1986 QIC-24 DC615A 15MB 9 150ft
590 0x05 X3.136-1986 QIC-24 DC300XL/P 45MB 9 450ft
591 0x05 X3.136-1986 QIC-24 DC600A 60MB 9 600ft
592 0x0F QIC-120 QIC-120 DC600A/DC6150 120MB 15 620ft
593 0x10 QIC-150 QIC-150 DC600XTD/DC6150 150MB 18 620ft
594 0x10 QIC-150 QIC-150 DC6250 250MB 18 1,020ft
595 0x11 QIC-320 QIC-525 DC6320 320MB 26 620ft
596 0x11 QIC-320 QIC-525 DC6525 525MB 26 1,020ft
597 0x1E QIC-1000C QIC-1000 DC9100/DL9135 1.0GB 30 760ft
598 0x1E QIC-1000C QIC-1000 DC9150 1.2GB 30 950ft
599 0x22 QIC-2GB(C) QIC-2GB DC9200 2.0GB 42 950ft
600 0x22 QIC-2GB(C) QIC-2GB DC9250 2.5GB 42 1,200ft
605 QIC-24, QIC-120, QIC-150 use fixed blocksize of 512 bytes, QIC-525, QIC-1000
606 and QIC-2GB can use blocksize of 1,024 bytes.
607 DDS (DAT) drives generally use variable blocks.
609 QIC-02 and QIC-36 are interface standards for tape drives.
610 The QIC-02 and QIC-36 streamers such as the Wangtek 5250EQ are otherwise
611 identical to their SCSI versions (i.e.: Wangtek 5250ES).
613 It seems that the 150MB and larger streamers cannot write QIC-24 9 track
614 formats, only read them.
616 DC600A cartridges marked "10,000ftpi" can only be used as QIC-11, QIC-24,
618 DC600A cartridges marked 12,500ftpi can be used as both QIC-120 and QIC-150
621 Some manufacturers do not use "DC" on their cartridges.
622 Verbatim uses DL, Maxell uses MC, Sony uses QD, Quill uses DQ.
624 3M/Imation & Fuji use DC.
625 Thus a DL6250, MC-6250, QD6250, DQ6250 are all identical media to a DC6250.
627 QIC tape media is not "connected" to the take up reels and will de-spool
628 if the tape drive has dust covering the light sensor that looks for the end
629 of tape holes in the media.
631 .Bl -tag -width ".Ev TAPE"
633 This is the pathname of the tape drive.
634 The default (if the variable is unset, but not if it is null) is
636 It may be overridden with the
641 .Bl -tag -width ".Pa /dev/*sa[0-9]*" -compact
642 .It Pa /dev/*sa[0-9]*
643 SCSI magnetic tape interface
646 The exit status will be 0 when the drive operations were successful,
647 2 when the drive operations were unsuccessful, and 1 for other
648 problems like an unrecognized command or a missing drive device.
650 Some undocumented commands support old software.
663 Extensions regarding the
669 command, and have been merged into the
676 command that used to be a synonym for
678 has been abandoned in
680 since it was often confused with
682 which is fairly dangerous.
684 The utility cannot be interrupted or killed during a long erase
685 (which can be longer than an hour), and it is easy to forget
686 that the default erase is long.
688 Hardware block numbers do not always correspond to blocks on the tape
689 when the drive uses internal compression.
691 Erasure is not guaranteed if the tape is not at its beginning.
693 Tape-related documentation is poor, here and elsewhere.