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Full Discussion: Need help with DDS data tape
Top Forums UNIX for Dummies Questions & Answers Need help with DDS data tape Post 302221672 by khaos83_2000 on Tuesday 5th of August 2008 02:20:42 AM
Old 08-05-2008
Need help with DDS data tape

Hi all

I have BIG headache with an old unix server I have and I need some help and ideas how to solve them effectively. Thanks in advance

***Story***
I have an OLD SCO OpenServer 5 release 5 server with DDS4 tape device.
I also have a box full of DDS4 tapes with data inside. I don't even know whats the name of the tape.... It says here, DDS4. Its a very small cassette tape.

I need to catalog all these tapes and extract a lot of specific files from them. e.g. backup31012008 .... backup28022008

This is how I do it, according to some of the files the previous guy left behind...

Code:
   To list the files...
  cpio -itcvB < /dev/nrct0
  
  To copy a file out
  cpio -icvdBum filename < /dev/nrct0

The problem with listing of files is that I have to keep using the command to list all the file until it reaches the end of tape. Sometimes it will hit some messages and i have to press enter to clear the message and repeat the command again. It seems that the tape is divided into blocks and i have to access each block one at a time. Thus the multiple times to list the file.

I am manually entering the command to catalog the files and it is taking 6+hrs to list all the files in a tape!!!

Code:
 cpio -itcvB < /dev/nrct0 | grep backup >> list.txt

I haven't even started extracting the files.....
Another headache is that the old server does not have much free space left.


***What I need to do***

1) I need to catalog the tapes
2) I need to extract a lot of specific files e.g. backup*running number*
problem is my old server has VERY LIMITED free space. At most can only hold 2 of the extracted files.
3) and transfer the extracted file through ftp to another place

How can I list the contents of the tape, without me issuing the command again and again, so that it can automatically move to the next block when it reach the end of a block.

How can i extract a file from the tape and transfer it straight over ftp to another server without putting it on my old server.
 

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TM(4)							     Kernel Interfaces Manual							     TM(4)

NAME
tm - TM-11/TU-10 magtape interface DESCRIPTION
The files mt0, ..., mt7 refer to the DEC TU10/TM11 magtape. When closed it can be rewound or not, see below. If it was open for writing, two end-of-files are written. If the tape is not to be rewound it is positioned with the head between the two tapemarks. If the 0200 bit is on in the minor device number the tape is not rewound when closed. A standard tape consists of a series of 512 byte records terminated by an end-of-file. To the extent possible, the system makes it possi- ble, if inefficient, to treat the tape like any other file. Seeks have their usual meaning and it is possible to read or write a byte at a time. Writing in very small units is inadvisable, however, because it tends to create monstrous record gaps. The mt files discussed above are useful when it is desired to access the tape in a way compatible with ordinary files. When foreign tapes are to be dealt with, and especially when long records are to be read or written, the `raw' interface is appropriate. The associated files are named rmt0, ..., rmt7. Each read or write call reads or writes the next record on the tape. In the write case the record has the same length as the buffer given. During a read, the record size is passed back as the number of bytes read, provided it is no greater than the buffer size; if the record is long, an error is indicated. In raw tape I/O, the buffer must begin on a word boundary and the count must be even. Seeks are ignored. A zero byte count is returned when a tape mark is read, but another read will fetch the first record of the new tape file. FILES
/dev/mt?, /dev/rmt? SEE ALSO
tp(1) BUGS
If any non-data error is encountered, it refuses to do anything more until closed. In raw I/O, there should be a way to perform forward and backward record and file spacing and to write an EOF mark. TM(4)
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