PREV UP NEXT The Ftape Installation and Usage Guide - ftape-402 compatibility


8.4.1: Tape block addressing

When using ftape-3.04d and later versions up to ftape-4.02 (inclusively) seeking always stays within the same volume, and the block address is relative to the start of the current volume. This is incompatible with the way SCSI drives implement this command where the block address is relative to the beginning of the tape. This has been fixed in ftape-4.03.

The following tape ioctls have changed between ftape-4.02 and ftape-4.05 as a result of the changed tape block address handling:

MTFSR
MTBSR
MTSEEK
MTTELL
MTIOCPOS
MTIOCGET

Note that each file mark counts as a single tape block. So sending a MTFSR with count 1 when positioned right before a file mark will position right at the start of the following volume.


ftape logo Use these buttons to jump to the top menu

TOP (previous node) TOP (parent node) TOP (next node) TOP (this node)