tar - versions?

Eric Eisenhart eric at eisenhart.com
Thu Mar 29 12:17:32 PST 2001


On Thu, Mar 29, 2001 at 07:40:31PM -0000, cdlcruz at sonic.net wrote:
> To explore some of the options, I need to download a tape from the SCO system
> to the RH7; same tape drive (Seagate Python).  However, when I try 'tar -xvf
> /dev/st0' the tape drive starts to whirl, then  RH informs me that 'this does
> not look like a tar achive' then exits.  
> 
> Any suggestions?  I REALLY NEED the data that is on this tape.

First off, what kind of tape device is a Seagate Python?  (What kind of
tapes, exactly, does it take?  DDS?  QIC?  Exabyte?)

Several, actually:

tar -xvf  /dev/st0  # Just in case
tar -xvf  /dev/nst0 # Non-rewinding version of /dev/st0
tar -xvf  /dev/st0l # This and
tar -xvf  /dev/st0m # this and
tar -xvf  /dev/st0a # this one might not show the device as existing
tar -xZvf /dev/st0  # maybe it's compressed
tar -xzvf /dev/st0  # or gzipped
tar -xGvf /dev/st0  # or in the old incremental format
tar -xgvf /dev/st0  # or the new incremental format...
tar -xIvf /dev/st0  # (okay, okay, this one wouldn't be it...)
tar -xovf /dev/st0  # maybe it's a "V7" format archive?
mt -f /dev/st0 status
mt -f /dev/st0 compression off    ; tar -xvf  /dev/st0
mt -f /dev/st0 compression on     ; tar -xvf  /dev/st0
mt -f /dev/st0 datcompression on  ; tar -xvf  /dev/st0
mt -f /dev/st0 datcompression off ; tar -xvf  /dev/st0

mt also has "density" options, but you'd need to know what kind of tape
drive it is before playing with that.  (there could be multiple density
options for the drive or setting a different density could enable or disable
compression)
-- 
    Eric Eisenhart   Freedom is slavery.      http://eric.eisenhart.com/
 ^  ICQ#: 48217244   Ignorance is strength.   eric-dot-sig at eisenhart.com
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