1STINIT(8) System Manager's Manual STINIT(8)
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6 stinit - initialize SCSI magnetic tape drives
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9 stinit [-f conf-file] [-h] [-p] [-r] [-v] [devices...]
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12 This manual page documents the tape control program stinit can used to
13 initialize SCSI tape drive modes at system startup, after loading the
14 tape driver as module, or after introduction of new device to the SCSI
15 subsystem at run-time. The initialization is performed by sending ioctl
16 commands to the drive. The commands are defined in a text file that is
17 indexed using the inquiry data the drive returns (manufacturer, device,
18 revision). Values for all of the general and mode-specific SCSI tape
19 parameters up to Linux version 2.6.0 can be initialized.
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22 -f conf-file
23 Specifies the name of the text file containing the definitions
24 for different tape drive types. By default stinit tries to find
25 the definition file /etc/stinit.def.
26 -h Print the usage information.
28 -p The definition file is parsed but no tape drive initialization
30 is attempted. This option can be used for testing the integrity
31 of a definition file after changes have been made.
32 -r Rewind every device being initialized.
34 -v The more -v options (currently up to two), the more verbose out‐
36 put.
37 --version
39 Print the program version.
40
42 If the program is started without arguments, it tries to find all ac‐
43 cessible SCSI tape devices and the device files for the different modes
44 of the devices. The tape drives are searched in the scanning order of
45 the kernel and searching is stopped at the first non-existing tape. All
46 of the found devices are initialized if a matching description is found
47 from the parameter file. Note that a mode for a device is not initial‐
48 ized if the corresponding device file is not found even if a matching
49 description for the mode exists. The non-rewind device is preferred
50 over the auto-rewind device for each mode. If the directory /dev/tapes
51 is found, the devfs filesystem is assumed to be mounted on /dev. Other‐
52 wise, the directories /dev/scsi and /dev are scanned for device files.
53 SCSI tape drives can be initialized selectively using program argu‐
55 ments. A numeric argument specifies the number of the tape drive in the
56 scanning order of the kernel. A file name specifies that the device
57 corresponding to this name is to be initialized. If the file name is
58 given without the directory specification, the program searches for the
59 name in the device directories /dev/scsi and /dev. Only full path
60 names are supported with devfs.
61
63 The configuration file is a simple text file that contains descriptions
64 of tape drives and the corresponding initialization parameters. The pa‐
65 rameter definition blocks are delimited by {}. Specification of the
66 drive description is restarted after each parameter definition block.
67 The drive descriptions and the parameter definitions consist of pairs
69 name = value. The value is either a numeric parameter, a string not
70 containing blanks, or a quoted string. In case of a numeric parameter,
71 the postfix k or M can be used to give the value in units of 1024 or
72 1024 * 1024, respectively. If the =value -part is omitted, the value
73 "1" is used. If the character # is found from an input line, the rest
74 of the line is discarded. This allows use of comments in the definition
75 file. The following example contains definitions for one type of tape
76 drives:
77 # The XY dat
79 manufacturer=XY-COMPANY model = "UVW DRIVE" {
80 scsi2logical=1 # Common definitions for all modes
81 can-bsr can-partitions auto-lock
82 # Definition of modes
83 mode1 blocksize=0 compression=1
84 mode2 blocksize=1024 compression=1
85 mode3 blocksize=0 compression=0
86 mode4 blocksize = 1k compression=0 }
87 The devices are identified using zero or more of the following keywords
89 corresponding to the data returned by the tape device as response to
90 the SCSI INQUIRY command. The matches are case-sensitive and performed
91 up to the length defined in the configuration file (permitting use of
92 partial matches).
93 manufacturer=
95 This keyword specifies the string that must match the vendor
96 identification returned by the device.
97 model= This keyword defines the string that must match the product
99 identification returned by the device.
100 revision=
102 This keyword matched the string that must match the product re‐
103 vision level returned by the device.
104 All of the matching initializations are collected in the order they are
106 defined in the file. This means that common parameters can be defined
107 for all devices using zero keywords for a definition block. Another
108 consequence is that, for instance, some parameters can be easily given
109 different values for a specific firmware revision without repeating the
110 parameters common to all revisions.
111 The tape parameters are defined using the following keywords. More
113 thorough description of the parameters can be found from the st(4) man
114 page (not up to date when this is written) or from the file driv‐
115 ers/scsi/README.st in the Linux kernel source tree. The keywords are
116 matched using only the first characters. The part of the keywords not
117 used in matching is enclosed by []. The numeric values may be specified
118 either in decimal notation or hexadecimal notation (using the prefix
119 0x).
120 drive-[buffering]=value
122 The drive's buffering parameter is set to value. This parameter
123 if common for all modes.
124 cleaning
126 The cleaning request notifying parameter is set to value
127 no-w[ait]
129 The immediate mode is used with commands like rewind if value is
130 non-zero (i.e., the driver does not wait for the command to fin‐
131 ish).
132 mode=value
134 This keyword starts definition of tape mode value. The number
135 of the mode must be between 1 and 4.
136 disab[led]=value
138 This mode is disabled for this device if value is non-zero. Can
139 be used if some mode defined in a more general definition should
140 be disabled by a more specific definition for some device (for
141 example, for a device with buggy firmware level).
142 block[size]=value
144 The default tape block size is set to value. bytes. The block
145 size zero means variable block mode.
146 dens[ity]=value
148 The tape density code is set to value.
149 buff[ering]=value
151 The buffered writes by the driver in fixed block mode are en‐
152 abled if value is non-zero.
153 async[-writes]=value
155 Asynchronous writes by the driver are enabled if value is non-
156 zero.
157 read[-ahead]=value
159 Read-ahead by the driver in fixed block mode is allowed if value
160 is non-zero.
161 two[-fms]=value
163 Two filemarks are written when a file being written to is closed
164 if value is non-zero. By default, one filemark is written.
165 comp[ression]=value
167 Compression of the data by the drive is enabled if value is non-
168 zero. Note that the tape driver can't enable compression for all
169 drives that can compress data. Note also that some drives define
170 compression using density codes.
171 auto[-lock]=value
173 The tape drive door is locked automatically when the device file
174 is opened if value is non-zero.
175 fast[-eom]=value
177 The MTEOM command is performed using the SCSI command that spa‐
178 ces directly to the end of medium if value is non-zero. The
179 drawback is that the file number in the status becomes invalid.
180 By default, spacing to end of medium is performed by spacing
181 over filemarks until end of medium is detected and the file num‐
182 ber remains valid.
183 can-b[sr]=value
185 Backspacing over records is used by the driver when reposition‐
186 ing the tape when read-ahead is enabled if value is non-zero.
187 noblk[limits]=value
189 The tape driver does not use the READ BLOCK LIMITS SCSI command
190 when the device is being opened if value is non-zero. This is
191 for the drives that do not support this SCSI command.
192 can-p[artitions]=value
194 The support for tape partitions is enabled if value is non-zero.
195 scsi2[logical]=value
197 Logical block addresses are used in the MTSEEK and MTIOCPOS com‐
198 mands if value is non-zero. The default is to use the device-
199 specific addresses.
200 sili=value
202 If value is non-zero, the SILI bit is set when reading in vari‐
203 able block mode. This may speed up reading blocks shorter than
204 the read byte count. Set this only if you know that the drive
205 supports SILI and the HBA reliably returns transfer residual
206 byte counts. Requires kernel version >= 2.6.26.
207 defs-for-w[rites]=value
209 The parameters defining the tape format (density, block size,
210 etc.) are forced when writing starts at the beginning of a tape
211 if value is non-zero. The default is to change there parameters
212 each time the device is opened at the beginning of a tape (or
213 the mode is changed in the middle of a tape).
214 sysv=value
216 The System V tape semantics are used if value is non-zero. Oth‐
217 erwise the BSD semantics are used.
218 timeout=value
220 The normal timeout for the device is set to value seconds.
221 long-time[out]=value
223 The long timeout for the device is set to value seconds.
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226 The program exits with value one if the command line is incorrect, the
227 definition file is not found, or option -p is given and parsing the
228 definition file fails. In all other cases the return value is zero
229 (i.e., failing of initialization is not currently signaled by the re‐
230 turn value).
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233 With the exception of the -p option, the program can be used only by
234 the superuser. This is because the program uses ioctls allowed only for
235 the superuser.
236
238 The program is written by Kai Makisara <Kai.Makisara@kolumbus.fi>, and
239 is currently maintained by Iustin Pop <iustin@k1024.org>.
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242 The program and the manual page are copyrighted by Kai Makisara,
243 1998-2008. They can be distributed according to the GNU Copyleft.
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246 Please report bugs to <https://github.com/iustin/mt-st>.
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249 st(4) mt(1)
250 April 2008 STINIT(8)