HP-UX Reference (11i v2 07/12) - 7 Device (Special) Files, 9 General Information, Index (vol 10)
m
mt(7) mt(7)
NAME
mt - magnetic tape interface and controls for stape and tape2
DESCRIPTION
This entry describes the behavior of HP magnetic tape interfaces and controls, including reel-to-reel, DDS,
QIC, 8mm, and 3480 tape drives. The files
/dev/rmt/* refer to specific raw tape drives, and the
behavior of each given unit is specified in the major and minor numbers of the device special file.
Naming Conventions
There are two naming conventions for device special files. The standard (preferred) convention is used on
systems that support long file names. An alternate convention is provided for systems limited to short file
names. The following standard convention is recommended because it allows for all possible configuration
options in the device name and is used by
mksf and insf commands:
/dev/rmt/c #t#d#[o
][z][e][p][s[#]][w]density[C[#]][
n][b]
The following alternate naming convention is provided to support systems in which the
/dev/rmt direc-
tory requires short file names. These device special file names are less descriptive, but guarantee unique
device naming and are used by
mksf and insf commands where required.
/dev/rmt/c #t#d#[f#|i#][n][b]
For each tape device present, eight device files are automatically created when the system is initialized.
Four of these device files utilize either the standard (long file name) or alternate (short file name) naming
conventions. When the standard naming convention is being utilized, these four files contain the density
specification
BEST. When the alternate naming convention is being utilized, these four files contain the
density specification f0. There are four such files because each of the four different permutations of the
n
and b options (see below) is available.
The remaining four files automatically created when the system is initialized utilize the pre-HP-UX 10.0
device file naming convention. This includes an arbitrary number to distinguish this tape device from oth-
ers in the system, followed by the letter m. There are four such files because each of the four different per-
mutations of the n and b options (see below) is available. These files are created as a usability feature for
pre-HP-UX 10.0 users who do not wish to acquire familiarity with the standard or alternate naming con-
ventions.
Each of the automatically created four device files which utilize the standard or alternate naming conven-
tions is linked to a device file which utilizes the pre-HP-UX 10.0 naming convention. Thus, the device files
which utilize the pre-HP-UX 10.0 naming convention provide the same functionality as the device files
which contain the density specification BEST (standard naming convention) or f0 (alternate naming con-
vention).
Options
The options described here are common to all tape drivers. The c#t#d
# notation in the device special file
name derives from
ioscan output and is described on the manpages for ioscan(1M) and intro(7). Options
unique to
stape and tape2 are described later in this manpage, in the DEPENDENCIES section.
c# Instance number assigned by the operating system to the interface card.
t# Target address on a remote bus (for example, SCSI address)
d# Device unit number at the target address (for example, SCSI LUN).
w Writes wait for physical completion of the operation before returning status. The default
behavior (buffered mode or immediate reporting mode) requires the tape device to buffer the
data and return immediately with successful status.
density Density or format used in writing data to tape. This field is designated by the following values:
BEST Highest-capacity density or format will be used, including data compression, if the
device supports compression.
NOMOD Maintains the density used for data previously written to the tape. Behavior using
this option is dependent on the type of device. This option is only supported on DDS
and 8MM drives.
DDS Selects one of the known DDS formats; can be used to specify DDS1 or DDS2,as
required.
92 Hewlett-Packard Company − 1 − HP-UX 11i Version 2: December 2007 Update