waldram@WOLF.UWYO.EDU (12/06/90)
Has anyone installed a SCSI interface .5" tape drive on a DN3xxx/4xxx
workstation utilizing the WD7000 (three function controller) external
SCSI port? I'm looking for details such as the SCSI address
expected by /dev/rmt8 and /dev/rmt12. Other hints would be
appreciated. Rbak/wbak, rwmt, and device level access is desired.
At one of the ADUS conferences, it was hinted that Exabyte tape
drives could be accessed via the /dev/rmt.. device files utilizing
the WD7000 external SCSI port. I know about (and use) the
Workstation Solutions software/hardware. Again, any info/hints
would be appreciated.
-jjw
waldram@wolf.uwyo.edu
waldram@grizzly.uwyo.edu
jwaldram@outlaw.uwyo.edu
jwaldram@UWYO.BITNETkrowitz@RICHTER.MIT.EDU (David Krowitz) (12/06/90)
The SCSI tape devices on our SR10.2 nodes are /dev/rmts8, /dev/rmts9, /dev/rmts12, and /dev/rmts13. If I remember correctly, rmts8 and rmts12 are the rewind/norewind devices for SCSI tape unit 0 and rmts9 and rmts13 are the corresponding devices for SCSI tape unit 1. These devices do work with an Exabyte 8 mm tape drive ... I have tried them with our unit from Workstation Solutions. However ... some programs such as wbak/rbak and rwmt do not actually use the device files. They make direct calls to the low-level tape I/O library. Programs which can direct their I/O to a device file such as tar, dd, cpio, etc. (and maybe wbak -to/rbak -from ???) do work with the SCSI tape device files. I really wish Apollo would make their tape devices more rational and uniform -- they currently have two incompatible tape device libraries (the old one used by wbak/rbak/rwmt/etc., and a new one used by Omniback -- which is the one which supports Apollo's version of the Exabtye drive), and neither of them is documented so that you can write low-level tape routines (like, say, a tape-to-tape copy). -- David Krowitz krowitz@richter.mit.edu (18.83.0.109) krowitz%richter.mit.edu@eddie.mit.edu krowitz%richter.mit.edu@mitvma.bitnet (in order of decreasing preference)