Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!rutgers!bellcore!texbell!uhnix1!moray!siswat!buck
From: buck@siswat.UUCP (A. Lester Buck)
Newsgroups: comp.unix.wizards
Subject: Re: Reading past end-of-tape?
Summary: QIC standard requires long erase ahead, across tracks
Keywords: tar, EOT
Message-ID: <408@siswat.UUCP>
Date: 4 Jun 89 15:03:50 GMT
References: <8413@pyr.gatech.EDU>
Organization: Photon Graphics,  Houston
Lines: 20

In article <8413@pyr.gatech.EDU> david@pyr.gatech.edu (David Brown) writes:
>A short while ago, someone put some very important drawings
>onto a 1/4" tape using tar.  Subsequently, and end-of-tape
>marker was written at the beginning of the tape.  I think
>that trashed the first drawing. but the others should still
>be around, just not readily accessable (correct me if I'm
>wrong).  Is there a PD or standard UN*X utility that will 
>read the info that's past the end-of-tape marker?

[I guess this was posted separately to comp.periphs, where I posted
a longer reply.]

The QIC-24 standard requires 45 inches of blank (erased) tape to
follow the last data recorded, and when writing track 0, the
controller erases all 9 tracks at once.  It would take a very
specialized driver violating the standard to read such a tape.


-- 
A. Lester Buck		...!texbell!moray!siswat!buck