NAME

mt − magnetic tape control

SYNOPSIS

/usr/ucb/mt [−f tapename] command [count]

DESCRIPTION

mt sends commands to a magnetic tape drive.  If tapename is not specified, the environment variable TAPE is used.  If TAPE does not exist, mt uses the device /dev/rmt/ctape1n.  tapename must refer to a raw (not block) tape device.  By default, mt performs the requested operation once; multiple operations may be performed by specifying count.

The available commands are listed below.  Only as many characters as are required to uniquely identify a command need be specified. 

mt returns a 0 exit status when the operation(s) were successful, 1 if the command was unrecognized or if mt was unable to open the specified tape drive, and 2 if an operation failed. 

the following commands are available to mt:

eof, weof Write count EOF marks at the current position on the tape. 

rewind Rewinds the tape. 

fsf Forward space count files. 

fsr Forward space count records. 

bsf Back space count files. 

bsr Back space count records. 

For the following commands, count is ignored:

offline, rewoffl
Rewind, unload, and place the tape drive unit off-line.

retension
Wind the tape to the end of the reel and then rewind it, smoothing out the tape tension.

erase Erase the entire tape. 

eod Space to the end of the data.  This positions the tape at the end of the data so that additional files may be appended. 

FILES

/dev/rmt∗ raw magnetic tape interface

dev/rmt/ctape∗ raw cartridge tape interface

dev/rmt/ninetrack∗ raw 9-track tape interface

SEE ALSO

ar(4), dd(1M), environ(5), and tape(7)

NOTES

Not all devices support all options. 

  —  BSD Compatibility Package