1MTIO(4) Kernel Interfaces Manual MTIO(4)
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6 mtio - UNIX magtape interface
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9 The files mt0, ..., mt15 refer to the UNIX magtape drives, which may be
10 on the MASSBUS using the TM03 formatter ht(4), or on the UNIBUS using
11 either the TM11 or TS11 formatters tm(4) or ts(4). The following
12 description applies to any of the transport/controller pairs.
13 The files mt0, ..., mt7 are 800bpi (or the transport's lowest density),
15 mt8, ..., mt15 are 1600bpi (or the transport's second density), and
16 mt16, ..., mt23 are 6250bpi (or the transport's third density). (But
17 note that only 1600 bpi is available with the TS11.) The files mt0,
18 ..., mt3, mt8, ..., mt11, and mt16, ..., mt19 are rewound when closed;
19 the others are not. When a file open for writing is closed, two end-
20 of-files are written. If the tape is not to be rewound it is posi‐
21 tioned with the head between the two tapemarks.
22 A standard tape consists of a series of 1024 byte records terminated by
24 an end-of-file. To the extent possible, the system makes it possible,
25 if inefficient, to treat the tape like any other file. Seeks have
26 their usual meaning and it is possible to read or write a byte at a
27 time. Writing in very small units is inadvisable, however, because it
28 uses most of the tape in record gaps.
29 The mt files discussed above are useful when it is desired to access
31 the tape in a way compatible with ordinary files. When foreign tapes
32 are to be dealt with, and especially when long records are to be read
33 or written, the `raw' interface is appropriate. The associated files
34 are named rmt0, ..., rmt23, but the same minor-device considerations as
35 for the regular files still apply. A number of other ioctl operations
36 are available on raw magnetic tape. The following definitions are from
37 <sys/mtio.h>:
38 /*
40 * Structures and definitions for mag tape io control commands
41 */
42 /* structure for MTIOCTOP - mag tape op command */
44 struct mtop {
45 short mt_op; /* operations defined below */
46 daddr_t mt_count; /* how many of them */
47 };
48 /* operations */
50 #define MTWEOF 0 /* write an end-of-file record */
51 #define MTFSF 1 /* forward space file */
52 #define MTBSF 2 /* backward space file */
53 #define MTFSR 3 /* forward space record */
54 #define MTBSR 4 /* backward space record */
55 #define MTREW 5 /* rewind */
56 #define MTOFFL 6 /* rewind and put the drive offline */
57 #define MTNOP 7 /* no operation, sets status only */
58 #define MTCACHE 8 /* enable controller cache */
59 #define MTNOCACHE 9 /* disable controller cache */
60 /* structure for MTIOCGET - mag tape get status command */
62 struct mtget {
64 short mt_type; /* type of magtape device */
65 /* the following two registers are grossly device dependent */
66 short mt_dsreg; /* ``drive status'' register */
67 short mt_erreg; /* ``error'' register */
68 /* end device-dependent registers */
69 short mt_resid; /* residual count */
70 /* the following two are not yet implemented */
71 daddr_t mt_fileno; /* file number of current position */
72 daddr_t mt_blkno; /* block number of current position */
73 /* end not yet implemented */
74 };
75 /*
77 * Constants for mt_type byte. These are the same
78 * for other controllers compatible with the types listed.
79 */
80 #define MT_ISTS 0x01 /* TS-11 */
81 #define MT_ISHT 0x02 /* TM03 Massbus: TE16, TU45, TU77 */
82 #define MT_ISTM 0x03 /* TM11/TE10 Unibus */
83 #define MT_ISMT 0x04 /* TM78/TU78 Massbus */
84 #define MT_ISUT 0x05 /* SI TU-45 emulation on Unibus */
85 #define MT_ISCPC 0x06 /* SUN */
86 #define MT_ISAR 0x07 /* SUN */
87 #define MT_ISTMSCP 0x08 /* DEC TMSCP protocol (TU81, TK50) */
88 /* mag tape io control commands */
90 #define MTIOCTOP _IOW(m, 1, struct mtop) /* do a mag tape op */
91 #define MTIOCGET _IOR(m, 2, struct mtget) /* get tape status */
92 #define MTIOCIEOT _IO(m, 3) /* ignore EOT error */
93 #define MTIOCEEOT _IO(m, 4) /* enable EOT error */
94 #ifndef KERNEL
96 #define DEFTAPE "/dev/rmt12"
97 #endif
98 Each read or write call reads or writes the next record on the tape.
100 In the write case the record has the same length as the buffer given.
101 During a read, the record size is passed back as the number of bytes
102 read, provided it is no greater than the buffer size; if the record is
103 long, an error is indicated. In raw tape I/O seeks are ignored. A
104 zero byte count is returned when a tape mark is read, but another read
105 will fetch the first record of the new tape file.
106 The MTCACHE and MTNOCACHE commands do not apply to all tape drivers.
108 At present only the TMSCP driver supports those commands and then only
109 for drives such as the TU81+.
110
112 /dev/mt?
113 /dev/rmt?
114
116 mt(1), tar(1), tp(1), ht(4), tm(4), ts(4)
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119 The status should be returned in a device independent format.
120 The special file naming should be redone in a more consistent and
122 understandable manner.
1233rd Berkeley Distribution December 22, 1995 MTIO(4)