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Adding a Tape Drive

To install a tape drive on an IRIX system, follow the hardware installation instructions that are furnished with your tape drive. Make sure you carefully follow any instructions regarding drive terminators.

If you are adding a tape drive to a system that does not have one, the software configuration is taken care of automatically when the system boots. When the system boots, if hinv indicates that a tape drive is installed but that there is no link to it through the /dev/tape file, the MAKEDEV program is automatically invoked to add the proper device nodes.

If you are installing a tape drive after your initial system installation, perform the following steps:

  1. Install the hardware.

  2. Log in as the superuser and enter these commands:

    cd /dev

    ./MAKEDEV tape

The MAKEDEV program creates the appropriate device nodes.

If you have removed a tape drive and are installing one of a different type, follow these steps:

  1. Install the hardware.

  2. Log in as the superuser and enter these commands:

    cd /dev

    rm *tape

    ./MAKEDEV tape tapelinks

The MAKEDEV program creates the appropriate device nodes and links the correct node for the drive to /dev/tape.

MAKEDEV Commands for Tape Drives

The MAKEDEV program supports these options for tape drives:

tape

Creates all the tps and xmt tape devices, then makes links to tape, nrtape, tapens, and nrtapens for the first tape drive found, if one exists. It first checks for xmt, then for SCSI in reverse target ID order.

qictape

Creates special files for 1/4-inch cartridge tape drives connected to an ISI QIC-O2 tape controller.

magtape

Creates special files for 1/2-inch tape drives connected to a Xylogics Model 772 tape controller.

links

Creates both disk and tape special files.

tps

Creates special files for SCSI tape drives. See tps(7M) for details.

tapelinks

Makes links only to tape, nrtape, tapens, and nrtapens. Examine the target tapelinks in the script /dev/MAKEDEV for more information.

Tape Capacities

Table 4-1 and Table 4-2 list the maximum tape capacities in megabytes (MB) for the tape formats IRIX supports. Note that these are maximum, not average, capacities.

Cartridge Tape and DAT Capacities
FormatCapacity (max.)
QIC2460 MB (only reads/writes QIC24)
QIC150150 MB with 600XTD and 6150 tapes (reads QIC24, writes QIC120 and QIC150), 120 MB with 600A tapes (writes in QIC120 format), and 250 MB with 6250 tapes
DAT1300 MB with 60-meter cartridge, 2,000 MB with 90-meter cartridge; uses the DDS (not DataDAT) format
8mm2,093 MB with 112-meter (120 min.) P6 (US) cartridge,
2,279 MB with 122-meter (90 min.) P5 (European) cartridge

Note: Almost all DAT drives use DDS format. Eight-millimeter tapes are also available in P6 lengths of 15, 30, 60, and 90 minutes for the United States, and lengths of 15, 30, and 60 minutes for Europe; the P6 cartridge is for NTSC, and the P5 is for PAL. The drive must be jumpered to match the cartridge type. Refer to "DAT Audio and Video Storage" for information on determining the amount of audio and video that can be stored on DAT media.

Table 4-2 shows maximum capacities for 9-track tapes. Note that 9-track tape capacities vary more than other types because of block-size and tape-length issues.

9-Track Tape Capacities
BPIBLKSZ200-ft Length
6'' Reel Size
600-ft Length
7'' Reel Size
2,400-ft Length
10.5'' Reel Size
3,600-ft Length
10.5'' Reel Size
800512131015
  81921.85.521
  64K2623
      
1,6005121.341522
  8,1923.51141
 64K41245
      
6,2505123.2103756
  8,1921237145
 64K1544175

Note: The 3,600-foot tapes use thin tape (1.3 mm). BLKSZ indicates block size in bytes.

Making Tape Drive Links

For more information on making tape drive links, see the ln(1) and mknod(1M) reference pages.

If you suspect that the tape device has not been properly created or that the links between the low-level device name (for example, /dev/mt/tps0d3) and the symbolic name (for example, /dev/tape) are not correct, then you may want to log in as root and run the MAKEDEV script with the following command sequence:

cd /dev  
rm *tape*  
./MAKEDEV [links or device-type] 

Device types can be

Normally, the ./MAKEDEV tapelinks command is all you need to create links for the following default device names: nrtape, nrtapens, tape, tapens.


MAKEDEV Commands for Tape Drives
Tape Capacities
Making Tape Drive Links

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