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From: dbfunk@ICAEN.UIOWA.EDU (David B Funk)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.apollo
Subject: Re: Exabyte (8mm) on DN3500
Message-ID: <9003230743.AA03668@icaen.uiowa.edu>
Date: 23 Mar 90 07:30:50 GMT
Sender: daemon@ucbvax.BERKELEY.EDU
Organization: Iowa Computer Aided Engineering Network, University of Iowa
Lines: 40

In posting <1667@cernvax.UUCP>,  Achille Petrilli writes:

>In article <1990Mar21.160013.5672@ecn.purdue.edu> curt@ecn.purdue.edu (Curt Freeland) writes:
>>We have the drive connected to the SCSI port on the WD disk
>>controller.  This is as far as we got.  We do not know what driver 
>>software is required, how to order it, how to configure it, ...

[stuff deleted]

>
>Hi,
>to use the Exabyte you should be running 10.2 or have Omniback on 10.[01].
>There is no special library for SCSI magtapes. At 10.2 the installation
>will create a type manager rmt_scsi and 4 devices, rmts[89] and rmts1[23].

[stuff deleted]

>I ran using the sr10.2 rmt_scsi manager Exabyte units, DAT units and IBM
>3480 compatible units.
>All of those units ran without a problem. Just write/read to/from them
>like on real Unix. Unfortunately the /bin/mt program does not
>allow you to do anything more than rewind on SCSI mag tape units. I guess
>you can position on specific file numbers using ioctl.
>Good luck,
>	Achille Petrilli

sr10.2 will provide you with the type manager and device files (/dev/rmt*)
to access the Exabyte tape drive. The optional OmniBack product provides a
special version of "mt" that can be used to position the 8 mm tapes.
Here is an excerpt from the OmniBack Release 1.2 notes:

  OmniBack mt Command

  OmniBack  uses  Domain/OS  type  managers  to access tape devices, but
  SR10.1 does not currently provide full support  for  the  SCSI  device
  access  method.   However,  OmniBack supplies an mt-compatible command
  for use until base software is  provided.   The  OmniBack  command  is
  called   /etc/omniback/bin/new_mt,  and  it  provides  primitive  tape
  positioning functions.  It supports the same options as does the  UNIX
  mt command for  SCSI tape devices.