tape listing

[Bob McClure Jr]

On Mon, Jul 18, 2005 at 07:00:55AM -0000, ajay wrote:
>   
> On Fri, 15 Jul 2005 Rick Stevens wrote :
> >ajay wrote:
> >>  hi gurus
> >>
> >>i try to list my tape hp 40gb (under compression)
> >>
> >>------------------------------------------------------
> >>[root at tivimtech ajay]# tar vft /dev/st0
> >>tar: This does not look like a tar archive
> >>tar: Skipping to next header
> >>tar: Archive contains obsolescent base-64 headers
> >>
> >>-------------------------------------------------------
> >>
> >>it do not list anything and gives this error and comes out.
> >>is there any way i can mount it, if yes what is mount type ?
> >>
> >>i use this command to backup:
> >>i am very sure it does backup as i checked date against backup.log
> >>it changes everyday and shows latest date time as supposed.
> >>
> >># Daily Backup on the Dat
> >>tar cvfz /dev/st0 /home /data /etc /var/spool/mail /var/www  >/var/log/backup.log &
> >>
> >>It is scheduled in cron.
> >>
> >>here is some part of this log.....
> >>
> >>UW PICO(tm) 4.2                    File: /var/log/backup.log
> >>
> >>
> >>home/
> >>home/niteen/
> >>home/niteen/.bash_history
> >>home/niteen/.addressbook
> >>home/niteen/.addressbook.lu
> >>home/niteen/.bash_logout
> >>home/niteen/.bash_profile
> >>home/niteen/.bashrc
> >>home/niteen/.canna
> >>home/niteen/.emacs
> >>home/niteen/.esd_auth
> >>home/niteen/.fetchmailrc
> >>home/niteen/.fonts.cache-1
> >>home/niteen/.gtkrc
> >>home/niteen/.gtkrc-1.2-gnome2
> >>home/niteen/.ICEauthority
> >>home/niteen/.mailboxlist
> >>home/niteen/.pinerc
> >>home/niteen/.recently-used
> >>home/niteen/.rhn-applet.conf
> >>home/niteen/.viminfo
> >>
> >>..............................
> >>
> >>I am confussed why it says "This does not look like a tar archive" ??
> >>
> >>
> >>help me from this dilemma !!!
> >
> >Did you rewind the tape before trying to list its contents?
> >
> ># mt -f /dev/st0 rewind
> ># tar tvf /dev/st0

Actually, your device, /dev/st0, rewinds after each operation.  If you
were using the non-rewinding device, /dev/nst0, you would have to
rewind it in a separate command.

> i wrote "mt -f /dev/st0 rewind" but it returns silent , no error messg , no attempt on tape to rewind it.
> 
> i am confused why ?
> 
> it just comes to prompt without doing anything, no activity , no message at all.

That means the tape is already rewound.  If in doubt, you can issue

  mt -f /dev/st0 reten

and it will retension the tape by winding it all the way to the end
and back again.

> i checked "mt -f /dev/st0 offline" to confirm "mt" function though.
> It works and tape ejects immediately .
> 
> scratching my head why not with "rewind" option!

It's working.  That's not your problem.

> awaiting your reply
> 
> thanks and regards
> 
> ajay

Cheers,
-- 
Bob McClure, Jr.             Bobcat Open Systems, Inc.
robertmcclure at earthlink.net  http://www.bobcatos.com
God doesn't have (or need) a Plan B.