Configuring HP-UX For Peripherals

Chapter 7 191
Configuring Tape Drives
Creating Customized Device Special Files for Tape Devices
The following shows the command line and resulting device special files:
/usr/sbin/mksf -C tape -I 1 -e
/dev/rmt/c#t#d#eBEST
on a system allowing long file names, or
/dev/rmt/c#t#d#i#
on a system requiring short file names
Avoiding Data Compression
Sometimes an operation requires use of a device special file that writes
data without compression. For example,
On HP-UX, the STK 3480 tape drive requires that if data cannot be
compressed to fewer than 102,400 bytes, it must be written to tape
without compression.
A tape created on an HP35480A will have been written with data
compression enabled. To read the tape on an HP35470A tape drive,
you must use a device special file that does not compress data.
To accomplish this, you cannot use the default BEST density because it
will automatically compress the data.
To create device special files for the STK 3480 that write data in
uncompressed form, use the following sample command. Also shown are
the resulting device special files.
/usr/sbin/mksf -C tape -I 1 -b D3480
/dev/rmt/c#t#d#D3480
on a system allowing long file names, or
/dev/rmt/c#t#d#f1
on a system requiring short file names
To create device special files for the HP35480A to write a tape in
uncompressed form, use the following sample command. Also shown are
the resulting device special files.
/usr/sbin/mksf -I 8 -C tape -b DDS1
/dev/rmt/c#t#d#DDS1
on a system allowing long file names, or
/dev/rmt/c#t#d#f1
on a system requiring short file names
This tape can now be read on a tape drive, regardless of whether or not it
supports data compression.