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From: reading%uinta.utah.edu@cs.utah.edu (Dan L. Reading)
Newsgroups: comp.periphs.scsi
Subject: DATs writes unspacable erase zone?
Message-ID: <1990Oct20.115358.3326@hellgate.utah.edu>
Date: 20 Oct 90 17:53:58 GMT
Organization: University of Utah CS Dept
Lines: 26

Any DAT experts out there?

I've written a SCSI tape driver that handles several different tape
drives (including Exabyte) I'm now working on a DAT drive. Let's say
you have a tape with some files:

------file1------|FMK1|--file2--|FMK2|----file3----|FMK3|

Now rewind the tape and write a short file on top of file1, do not
write a FMK. We should have something like this:

-file4-[garbage]--|FMK1|--file2--|FMK2|----file3----|FMK3|

So you should be able to read file4, fsf, read file2, read file3.
With the DAT drive it appears to make a erase zone has it writes
file4 which can not be spaced past. ie. read file4, fsf BLANK CHECK,
fsf BLANK CHECK, etc.

Is this what's happening? Is there anyway to get past the erase zone?

Thanks for any tips,
Dan
---------
reading@cs.utah.edu

reading@cs.utah.edu