Configuring HP-UX For Peripherals

Chapter 7 183
Configuring Tape Drives
7 Configuring Tape Drives
Several kinds of tape drives, having different recording methods and
formats, can be configured to HP-UX:
• nine-track reel-to-reel tape drive
• cartridge tape drive (configured like a disk device)
• QIC tape drive
• DDS (DAT) tape drive
• 8mm Exabyte tape drive
• 3480-style cartridge tape drive
Despite their differences, any of these tape drives can be configured into
HP-UX by the same basic procedure:
1. Select the device drivers, based on the interface to which the tape
drive is attached, and include them in the kernel.
2. Set the tape drive to a unique address on the interface bus.
3. Follow the steps documented in this chapter to configure HP-UX for
the device.
Once you reboot the system with the tape driver installed and
configured, insf automatically creates the device special files that
enable you to use the features of the specific tape drive technologies.
You will create customized device special files (using mksf) only for
special circumstances, such as when you have to write a tape on a tape
drive that supports data compression, but you intend to read it on a tape
drive that does not support data compression. Examples are given in
“Creating Customized Device Special Files for Tape Devices” later in this
chapter.