mt(1)mt(1)Namemt - magnetic tape manipulating program
Syntaxmt [-f tapename] command [count]
Description
The command permits the operation of a magnetic tape drive.
Options
The -f flag option uses the specified tape device (next argument) in
place of either that tape device defined by your TAPE environment vari‐
able (.login or .profile) or /dev/nrmt0h.
Some operations may be performed multiple times by specifying count.
By default, performs the requested operation once.
The command argument defines the operation to be performed. Only as
many characters as are required to uniquely identify a command need be
specified.
The following is a list of commands:
bsf Backspace count files.
bsr Backspace count records.
cache Allows to use the cache buffer on a tape drive that
has the cache buffer feature.
clhrdsf Clear hardware/software problem. Works with tape
drives which use the TMSCP tape controller inter‐
face This command is restricted to root access
only.
clserex Clear serious exception. Works with tape drives
which use the TMSCP tape controller interface
clsub Clear subsystem. Works with tape drives which use
the TMSCP tape controller interface This command is
restricted to root access only.
eof, weof Write count end-of-file marks at the current posi‐
tion on the tape.
eotdis Disable end-of-tape detection. When the end of
tape is reached, the tape will run off the reel.
Only the superuser can issue this command. The
command remains in effect for the device until end-
of-tape detection is enabled with the eoten com‐
mand.
eoten Enable end-of-tape detection. When the end-of-tape
markers are reached, the tape is halted on the
reel, between the two end-of-tape markers. Only
the superuser can issue this command. The command
remains in effect for the device until end-of-tape
detection is disabled with the eotdis command.
This is the default mode after a system boot.
fsf Forward-space count files.
fsr Forward-space count records.
nocache Disables the use of the cache buffer for any tape
drive that has the cache buffer feature.
offline, rewoffl Rewind the tape and place the tape unit off-line.
retension Retensions the tape. Retension means moving the
tape one complete pass between EOT and BOT.
rewind Rewind the tape.
status Print status information about the tape unit.
Examples
This example shows how to rewind the tape
mt-f /dev/rmt0l rewind
This example shows how to backspace the tape nmt1h three files:
mt-f /dev/nrmt1h bsf 3
This example shows how to write two end-of-file marks at the current
position on tape nmt6h:
mt-f /dev/nrmt6h eof 2
Return Values
In shell scripts, returns a 0 exit status when the operation(s) were
successful, 1 if the command was unrecognized, and 2 if an operation
failed.
Files
/dev/rmt?h or /dev/rmt?l
Raw magnetic tape interface with rewind when closed
/dev/nmt?h or /dev/nmt?l
Raw magnetic tape interface with no rewind when closed
See Alsodd(1), tar(1), ioctl(2), mtio(4), tms(4), environ(7)mt(1)
