I can't test this, but wouldn't wipe do the job? I would think something along the lines of
wipe -Da /dev/st0 would work, although it could take a long time (35 passes by default, use -q to do four passes). In the same time and with less mechanical wear and tear you could sit a few rare earth magnets on the cartridge. Sean Whitney wrote: > I have a bunch of DLT tapes I want to erase and give to freegeek. I > don't have a degausser, nor do I really want to invest in one. > > I wrote this script in an attempt to do a fairly decent job of erasing > the tapes. > > I realize that with enough forensic work there is data that's > recoverable, however since I'm not a secret gov't agency I doubt anyone > really cares. > > I'm looking for feedback on this script, things that might make it "better". > > #/bin/sh > > MT=`which mt` > DD=`which dd` > DEVICE="/dev/st0" > $MT -f $DEVICE rewind > $MT -f $DEVICE erase > $DD if=/dev/urandom of=$DEVICE bs=2048K > $MT -f $DEVICE compression off > $DD if=/dev/zero of=$DEVICE bs=2048K > $MT -f $DEVICE erase > $MT -f $DEVICE eject > > Note: The compression off statement was needed, otherwise the server > just went along compressing zero's and writing something to tape about > every hour..... > > > Sean > _______________________________________________ > PLUG mailing list > [email protected] > http://lists.pdxlinux.org/mailman/listinfo/plug > > -- L a r r y W i l l i a m s PM, Holbrook #30, AF&AM | RP, Acacia #22, Amaranth Forest Grove #37, RAM | Tualatin #31, OES Sunset #20, Cryptic | Dad, Hillsboro #24, IORG _______________________________________________ PLUG mailing list [email protected] http://lists.pdxlinux.org/mailman/listinfo/plug
