Ray Strode wrote:
They're just character devices...you can use them with tar's "f" option to make tar files on the tape.I've never used a tape drive in linux before, so I'm wondering, is it standard practice to symlink/dev/st0 or /dev/ht0 to /dev/rmt0 ?I ask, because I know that tar assumes /dev/rmt0 if you don't use the "f" option.--Ray
Quite possibly, but an app shouldn't rely on those being present any more than /dev/mouse, /dev/modem, /dev/cdrom, etc and should probably ask the user before assuming anything like that.
However, it's of course permissable to make things easier on yourself :) I believe the "mt" command (controls tape drive to do things like rewind, retensions, advance to next "mark", etc) also defaults to /dev/rmt0. There is also sometimes a /dev/tape.
Come to think of it, I think rmt0 may be for ftape based devices only. Not sure. The authoritative source is of course /usr/src/linux/Documentation/devices.txt. It also mentions something about the common symlinks that are often present (but not required to be).
--MonMotha
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