abcscnge@csuna.csun.edu (Scott "The Pseudo-Hacker" Neugroschl) (06/19/89)
Hi. On my new 3640 box at work, tar(1) seems to run incredibly slowly. It seems to spend an awful lot of time seeking the tape. Am I doing something wrong? Configuration: Motorla 3640 12 slot VME Box MVME141 CPU board MVME2x4 MEM Board MVME332XT Intelligent SIO controller board (2) MVME327 SCSI board CDC WREN IV 300MB SCSI HD Archive 2150S 150MB SCSI Tape drive 3M DC600A (12500 ftpi) tapes Motorla System V/68 R3V5 The command I am using is: $ tar cvf /dev/TAPE.CART files Thanks in advance Scott -- Scott "The Pseudo-Hacker" Neugroschl UUCP: ...!sm.unisys.com!csun!csuna.csun.edu!abcscnge -- Beat me, Whip me, make me code in Ada -- Disclaimers? We don't need no stinking disclaimers!!!
stefan@yendor.phx.mcd.mot.com (Stefan Loesch) (06/24/89)
In article <2046@csuna.csun.edu> abcscnge@csuna.csun.edu (Scott Neugroschl) writes: >Hi. On my new 3640 box at work, tar(1) seems to run incredibly slowly. > $ tar cvf /dev/TAPE.CART files TAPE.CART is linked to r40 (minor 0) use /dev/r41 (minor 4) instead. Minor 0 tells the driver to do a retension on the tape. Add a 4 to the minor number (like r41 minor = 4 = 0 + 4) and the tape will start right away. Stefan uunet!asuvax!mcdphx!yendor!stefan
heiby@mcdchg.chg.mcd.mot.com (Ron Heiby) (06/24/89)
Scott Neugroschl (abcscnge@csuna.csun.edu) writes: > Hi. On my new 3640 box at work, tar(1) seems to run incredibly slowly. > It seems to spend an awful lot of time seeking the tape. Am I doing something > wrong? > ... > The command I am using is: > > $ tar cvf /dev/TAPE.CART files Perhaps if you instead used the command: $ tar cvbf 20 /dev/TAPE.CART files That way, you specify a larger block size to tar. The only way to get decent performance with a cartridge tape drive is to keep it running with rather large blocks. Personally, I use something like: find files (sorta) -print | cpio -ocvB > /dev/TAPE.CART The drive seems to keep going pretty well, with few start/stops. Of course, load on your systems, particularly disk activity, will reduce your ability to keep your tape drive fed with data constantly. If you have any further questions, please let me know. I'll help you get in touch with your local support. -- Ron Heiby, heiby@chg.mcd.mot.com Moderator: comp.newprod "Life is indeed an inexplicable sequence of imponderable surprises."