HP DDS/DAT drives UNIX, Linux and OpenVMS configuration guide (DW049-90915, November 2009)

IBM (AIX) servers and workstations28
HP DDS-format drives will work with tar, cpio, backup, restore and dd. For systems other than the 43P,
the drive is also boot-capable, provided a boot tape is generated using
mkszfile and mksysb.
Once device files have been created, you should confirm that your new tape drive is working properly.
Chapter 8, “Verifying the installation” provides instructions on backing up and restoring a sample file to
test your installation.
Device filenames under AIX
Use device filenames as listed below for the combination of Rewind on Close, Retension on Open,
and Compression that you want:
The
n in the filename is the instance number assigned to the drive by the operating system, where 0
is the first device, 1 is the second and so on.
Filename Rewind on Close Retension on Open Compression
/dev/rmtn
Yes No enabled
/dev/rmtn.1
No No enabled
/dev/rmtn.2
Yes Yes enabled
/dev/rmtn.3
No Yes enabled
/dev/rmtn.4
Yes No disabled
/dev/rmtn.5
No No disabled
/dev/rmtn.6
Yes Yes disabled
/dev/rmtn.7
No Yes disabled
Rewind on Close Normally, the drive repositions the tape to BOT (Beginning of Tape) when
the device file is closed. Using the no rewind option is useful when creating
and reading tapes that contain multiple files.
Retension on Open Retensioning consists of winding to EOT (End of Tape) and then rewinding
to BOT, in order to reduce errors. If this option is selected, the tape is
positioned at BOT as part of the open process.
Compression Compression can be disabled or enabled.