TAPE(1)

NAME
tape - magnetic tape maintenance

SYNOPSIS
tape [-tape] [-a arg] command [device]

DESCRIPTION
The tape command performs control operations on tape devices. If no device is given on the command line, the file /etc/default/tape is scanned for a line beginning with `device='; the remainder of the lines specifies the default device.

The command argument may be one of:

status
    Print status information about the drive.

reten
    Retension the tape.

erase
    Erase the tape.

reset
    Reset tape drive.

rewind
    Rewind tape.

rfm Skip to the next file.

eod Seek to the end of written data.

wfm Write a filemark at the current position.

load
    Load the tape device.

unload
    Unload the tape device.

setblk
    Set the block size (in bytes) for the tape device.

setcomp
    Set tape compression. A value of 0 means no compression, all other values mean compression

setdensity
    Set tape density (in hexadecimal). Some density codes are: 0 = default (autodetect); 4 = QIC-11; 5 = QIC-24; F = QIC-120, 10 = QIC-150; 11 = QIC-320; 14 = EXB-8200; 15 = EXB-8500; 15 = QIC-1000; 22 = QIC-2GB; 8C = EXB-8500c; 90 = EXB-8200c.

The -a option gives a count for the rfm, wfm, setblk, setcomp, and setdensity commands.

The [-tape] option is currently ignored.