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MT(1)									 MT(1)

NAME
       mt - control magnetic tape drive operation

SYNOPSIS
       mt [-h] [-f device] operation [count] [arguments...]

DESCRIPTION
       This  manual  page  documents the tape control program mt.  mt performs
       the given operation, which must be one of the  tape  operations	listed
       below,  on a tape drive. The commands can also be listed by running the
       program with the -h option. The version of mt is printed with the -v or
       --version  option.  The path of the tape device on which to operate can
       be given with the -f or -t option.  If  neither	of  those  options  is
       given,  and  the	 environment variable TAPE is set, it is used.	Other‐
       wise, a default device defined in the file  /usr/include/sys/mtio.h  is
       used.

       Some  operations optionally take an argument or repeat count, which can
       be given after the operation name and defaults to 1. The postfix k ,  M
       ,  or  G	 can  be used to give counts in units of 1024, 1024 * 1024, or
       1024 * 1024 * 1024, respectively.

       The available operations are listed below.   Unique  abbreviations  are
       accepted.   Not all operations are available on all systems, or work on
       all types of tape drives.

       fsf    Forward space count files.  The tape is positioned on the	 first
	      block of the next file.

       fsfm   Forward  space  past  count  file marks, then backward space one
	      file record.  This leaves the tape positioned on the last	 block
	      of the file that is count-1 files past the current file.

       bsf    Backward	space count files.  The tape is positioned on the last
	      block of the previous file.

       bsfm   Backward space past count file marks,  then  forward  space  one
	      file record.  This leaves the tape positioned on the first block
	      of the file that is count-1 files before the current file.

       asf    The tape is positioned at the beginning of the count file. Posi‐
	      tioning  is  done	 by  first rewinding the tape and then spacing
	      forward over count filemarks.

       fsr    Forward space count records.

       bsr    Backward space count records.

       fss    (SCSI tapes) Forward space count setmarks.

       bss    (SCSI tapes) Backward space count setmarks.

       eod, seod
	      Space to end of valid data.  Used on  streamer  tape  drives  to
	      append data to the logical end of tape.

       rewind Rewind the tape.

       offline, rewoffl, eject
	      Rewind the tape and, if applicable, unload the tape.

       retension
	      Rewind  the  tape,  then	wind  it  to the end of the reel, then
	      rewind it again.

       weof, eof
	      Write count EOF marks at current position.

       wset   (SCSI tapes) Write count setmarks at current position (only SCSI
	      tape).

       erase  Erase the tape.

       status Print  status  information  about the tape unit. (If the density
	      code is "no translation" in the status  output,  this  does  not
	      affect working of the tape drive.)

       seek   (SCSI  tapes)  Seek to the count block on the tape.  This opera‐
	      tion is available on some Tandberg  and  Wangtek	streamers  and
	      some  SCSI-2  tape  drives. The block address should be obtained
	      from a tell call earlier.

       tell   (SCSI tapes) Tell the current block on tape.  This operation  is
	      available on some Tandberg and Wangtek streamers and some SCSI-2
	      tape drives.

       setpartition
	      (SCSI tapes) Switch to the partition determined by  count.   The
	      default  data  partition of the tape is numbered zero. Switching
	      partition is available only  if  enabled	for  the  device,  the
	      device  supports	multiple partitions, and the tape is formatted
	      with multiple partitions.

       partseek
	      (SCSI tapes) The tape position is set to block count in the par‐
	      tition  given by the argument after count. The default partition
	      is zero.

       mkpartition
	      (SCSI tapes) Format the tape with one (count  is	zero)  or  two
	      partitions  (count  gives	 the  size  of the second partition in
	      megabytes). The tape drive must be able  to  format  partitioned
	      tapes with initiator-specified partition size and partition sup‐
	      port must be enabled for the drive.

       load   (SCSI tapes) Send the load command to the tape drive. The drives
	      usually  load  the  tape	when  a new cartridge is inserted. The
	      argument count can usually be omitted.  Some  HP	changers  load
	      tape n if the count 10000 + n is given (a special funtion in the
	      Linux st driver).

       lock   (SCSI tapes) Lock the tape drive door.

       unlock (SCSI tapes) Unlock the tape drive door.

       setblk (SCSI tapes) Set the block size of the drive to count bytes  per
	      record.

       setdensity
	      (SCSI  tapes)  Set  the  tape density code to count.  The proper
	      codes to use with each drive should be looked up from the	 drive
	      documentation.

       densities
	      (SCSI  tapes)  Write explanation of some common density codes to
	      standard output.

       drvbuffer
	      (SCSI tapes) Set the tape drive  buffer  code  to	 number.   The
	      proper  value  for  unbuffered  operation	 is  zero and "normal"
	      buffered operation one. The meanings  of	other  values  can  be
	      found  in	 the  drive  documentation or, in the case of a SCSI-2
	      drive, from the SCSI-2 standard.

       compression
	      (SCSI tapes) The compression within the drive can be switched on
	      or  off  using the MTCOMPRESSION ioctl. Note that this method is
	      not  supported  by  all  drives  implementing  compression.  For
	      instance,	 the  Exabyte  8 mm drives use density codes to select
	      compression.

       stoptions
	      (SCSI tapes) Set the driver options bits for the device  to  the
	      defined  values. Allowed only for the superuser. The bits can be
	      set  either  by  ORing   the   option   bits   from   the	  file
	      /usr/include/linux/mtio.h	 to  count,  or by using the following
	      keywords (as many keywords can be used on the same line as  nec‐
	      essary, unambiguous abbreviations allowed):

	      buffer-writes  buffered writes enabled

	      async-writes   asynchronous writes enabled

	      read-ahead     read-ahead for fixed block size

	      debug	     debugging (if compiled into driver)

	      two-fms	     write two filemarks when file closed

	      fast-eod	     space directly to eod (and lose file number)

	      no-wait	     don't wait until rewind, etc. complete

	      auto-lock	     automatically lock/unlock drive door

	      def-writes     the block size and density are for writes

	      can-bsr	     drive can space backwards as well

	      no-blklimits   drive doesn't support read block limits

	      can-partitions drive can handle partitioned tapes

	      scsi2logical   seek  and tell use SCSI-2 logical block addresses
			     instead of device dependent addresses

	      sili	     Set the SILI bit  is  when	 reading  in  variable
			     block  mode.  This	 may  speed  up reading blocks
			     shorter than the read byte count. Set this option
			     only if you know that the drive supports SILI and
			     the HBA reliably returns transfer	residual  byte
			     counts. Requires kernel version >= 2.6.26.

	      sysv	     enable the System V semantics

       stsetoptions
	      (SCSI  tapes)  Set selected driver options bits.	The methods to
	      specify the bits to set are given above in  the  description  of
	      stoptions.  Allowed only for the superuser.

       stclearoptions
	      (SCSI  tapes) Clear selected driver option bits.	The methods to
	      specify the bits to clear are  given  above  in  description  of
	      stoptions.  Allowed only for the superuser.

       stshowoptions
	      (SCSI tapes) Print the currently enabled options for the device.
	      Requires kernel version >= 2.6.26 and sysfs must be  mounted  at
	      /sys.

       stwrthreshold
	      (SCSI  tapes)  The write threshold for the tape device is set to
	      count kilobytes. The value must be smaller than or equal to  the
	      driver buffer size. Allowed only for the superuser.

       defblksize
	      (SCSI  tapes)  Set the default block size of the device to count
	      bytes. The value -1 disables the default block size.  The	 block
	      size  set	 by  setblk  overrides the default until a new tape is
	      inserted.	 Allowed only for the superuser.

       defdensity
	      (SCSI tapes) Set the default density code. The value -1 disables
	      the default density. The density set by setdensity overrides the
	      default until a new tape is inserted. Allowed only for the supe‐
	      ruser.

       defdrvbuffer
	      (SCSI  tapes)  Set  the  default drive buffer code. The value -1
	      disables the default drive buffer code. The  drive  buffer  code
	      set  by  drvbuffer  overrides  the  default  until a new tape is
	      inserted. Allowed only for the superuser.

       defcompression
	      (SCSI tapes) Set the default compression	state.	The  value  -1
	      disables	the  default compression. The compression state set by
	      compression overrides the default until a new tape is  inserted.
	      Allowed only for the superuser.

       sttimeout
	      sets  the	 normal	 timeout for the device. The value is given in
	      seconds. Allowed only for the superuser.

       stlongtimeout
	      sets the long timeout for the device. The value is given in sec‐
	      onds. Allowed only for the superuser.

       stsetcln
	      set the cleaning request interpretation parameters.

       mt exits with a status of 0 if the operation succeeded, 1 if the opera‐
       tion or device name given was invalid, or 2 if the operation failed.

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 ALSO
       st(4)

				  April 2008				 MT(1)
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