STINIT(8)STINIT(8)NAMEstinit - initialize SCSI magnetic tape drives
SYNOPSISstinit [-f conf-file] [-h] [-p] [-r] [-v] [devices...]
DESCRIPTION
This manual page documents the tape control program stinit can used to
initialize SCSI tape drive modes at system startup, after loading the
tape driver as module, or after introduction of new device to the SCSI
subsystem at run-time. The initialization is performed by sending ioctl
commands to the drive. The commands are defined in a text file that is
indexed using the inquiry data the drive returns (manufacturer, device,
revision). Values for all of the general and mode-specific SCSI tape
parameters up to Linux version 2.6.0 can be initialized.
OPTIONS-f conf-file
Specifies the name of the text file containing the definitions
for different tape drive types. By default stinit tries to find
the definition file stinit.def or /etc/stinit.def (in this
order).
-h Print the usage information.
-p The definition file is parsed but no tape drive initialization
is attempted. This option can be used for testing the integrity
of a definition file after changes have been made.
-r Rewind every device being initialized.
-v The more -v options (currently up to two), the more verbose out‐
put.
--version
Print the program version.
THE DEVICES BEING INITIALIZED
If the program is started without arguments, it tries to find all
accessible SCSI tape devices and the device files for the different
modes of the devices. The tape drives are searched in the scanning
order of the kernel and searching is stopped at the first non-existing
tape. All of the found devices are initialized if a matching descrip‐
tion is found from the parameter file. Note that a mode for a device is
not initialized if the corresponding device file is not found even if a
matching description for the mode exists. The non-rewind device is pre‐
ferred over the auto-rewind device for each mode. If the directory
/dev/tapes is found, the devfs filesystem is assumed to be mounted on
/dev. Otherwise, the directories /dev/scsi and /dev are scanned for
device files.
SCSI tape drives can be initialized selectively using program argu‐
ments. A numeric argument specifies the number of the tape drive in the
scanning order of the kernel. A file name specifies that the device
corresponding to this name is to be initialized. If the file name is
given without the directory specification, the program searches for the
name in the device directories /dev/scsi and /dev. Only full path
names are supported with devfs.
THE CONFIGURATION FILE
The configuration file is a simple text file that contains descriptions
of tape drives and the corresponding initialization parameters. The
parameter definition blocks are delimited by {}. Specification of the
drive description is restarted after each parameter definition block.
The drive descriptions and the parameter definitions consist of pairs
name = value. The value is either a numeric parameter, a string not
containing blanks, or a quoted string. In case of a numeric parameter,
the postfix k or M can be used to give the value in units of 1024 or
1024 * 1024, respectively. If the =value -part is omitted, the value
"1" is used. If the character # is found from an input line, the rest
of the line is discarded. This allows use of comments in the definition
file. The following example contains definitions for one type of tape
drives:
# The XY dat
manufacturer=XY-COMPANY model = "UVW DRIVE" {
scsi2logical=1 # Common definitions for all modes
can-bsr can-partitions auto-lock
# Definition of modes
mode1 blocksize=0 compression=1
mode2 blocksize=1024 compression=1
mode3 blocksize=0 compression=0
mode4 blocksize = 1k compression=0 }
The devices are identified using zero or more of the following keywords
corresponding to the data returned by the tape device as response to
the SCSI INQUIRY command. The matches are case-sensitive and performed
up to the length defined in the configuration file (permitting use of
partial matches).
manufacturer=
This keyword specifies the string that must match the vendor
identification returned by the device.
model= This keyword defines the string that must match the product
identification returned by the device.
revision=
This keyword matched the string that must match the product
revision level returned by the device.
All of the matching initializations are collected in the order they are
defined in the file. This means that common parameters can be defined
for all devices using zero keywords for a definition block. Another
consequence is that, for instance, some parameters can be easily given
different values for a specific firmware revision without repeating the
parameters common to all revisions.
The tape parameters are defined using the following keywords. More
thorough description of the parameters can be found from the st(4) man
page (not up to date when this is written) or from the file driv‐
ers/scsi/README.st in the Linux kernel source tree. The keywords are
matched using only the first characters. The part of the keywords not
used in matching is enclosed by []. The numeric values may be specified
either in decimal notation or hexadecimal notation (using the prefix
0x).
drive-[buffering]=value
The drive's buffering parameter is set to value. This parameter
if common for all modes.
cleaning
The cleaning request notifying parameter is set to value
no-w[ait]
The immediate mode is used with commands like rewind if value is
non-zero (i.e., the driver does not wait for the command to fin‐
ish).
mode=value
This keyword starts definition of tape mode value. The number
of the mode must be between 1 and 4.
disab[led]=value
This mode is disabled for this device if value is non-zero. Can
be used if some mode defined in a more general definition should
be disabled by a more specific definition for some device (for
example, for a device with buggy firmware level).
block[size]=value
The default tape block size is set to value. bytes. The block
size zero means variable block mode.
dens[ity]=value
The tape density code is set to value.
buff[ering]=value
The buffered writes by the driver in fixed block mode are
enabled if value is non-zero.
async[-writes]=value
Asynchronous writes by the driver are enabled if value is non-
zero.
read[-ahead]=value
Read-ahead by the driver in fixed block mode is allowed if value
is non-zero.
two[-fms]=value
Two filemarks are written when a file being written to is closed
if value is non-zero. By default, one filemark is written.
comp[ression]=value
Compression of the data by the drive is enabled if value is non-
zero. Note that the tape driver can't enable compression for all
drives that can compress data. Note also that some drives define
compression using density codes.
auto[-lock]=value
The tape drive door is locked automatically when the device file
is opened if value is non-zero.
fast[-eom]=value
The MTEOM command is performed using the SCSI command that spa‐
ces directly to the end of medium if value is non-zero. The
drawback is that the file number in the status becomes invalid.
By default, spacing to end of medium is performed by spacing
over filemarks until end of medium is detected and the file num‐
ber remains valid.
can-b[sr]=value
Backspacing over records is used by the driver when reposition‐
ing the tape when read-ahead is enabled if value is non-zero.
noblk[limits]=value
The tape driver does not use the READ BLOCK LIMITS SCSI command
when the device is being opened if value is non-zero. This is
for the drives that do not support this SCSI command.
can-p[artitions]=value
The support for tape partitions is enabled if value is non-zero.
scsi2[logical]=value
Logical block addresses are used in the MTSEEK and MTIOCPOS com‐
mands if value is non-zero. The default is to use the device-
specific addresses.
sili=value
If value is non-zero, the SILI bit is set when reading in vari‐
able block mode. This may speed up reading blocks shorter than
the read byte count. Set this only if you know that the drive
supports SILI and the HBA reliably returns transfer residual
byte counts. Requires kernel version >= 2.6.26.
defs-for-w[rites]=value
The parameters defining the tape format (density, block size,
etc.) are forced when writing starts at the beginning of a tape
if value is non-zero. The default is to change there parameters
each time the device is opened at the beginning of a tape (or
the mode is changed in the middle of a tape).
sysv=value
The System V tape semantics are used if value is non-zero. Oth‐
erwise the BSD semantics are used.
timeout=value
The normal timeout for the device is set to value seconds.
long-time[out]=value
The long timeout for the device is set to value seconds.
RETURN VALUE
The program exits with value one if the command line is incorrect, the
definition file is not found, or option -p is given and parsing the
definition file fails. In all other cases the return value is zero
(i.e., failing of initialization is not currently signaled by the
return value).
RESTRICTIONS
With the exception of the -p option, the program can be used only by
the superuser. This is because the program uses ioctls allowed only for
the superuser.
AUTHOR
The program is written by Kai Makisara <Kai.Makisara@kolumbus.fi>.
COPYRIGHT
The program and the manual page are copyrighted by Kai Makisara,
1998-2008. They can be distributed according to the GNU Copyleft.
SEE ALSOst(4)mt(1)
April 2008 STINIT(8)
