NAME

mt − magnetic tape control

SYNOPSIS

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/rmt12.  Note: tapename must refer to a raw (not block) tape device.  By default mt performs the requested operation once.  Operations may be performed multiple times by specifying a count argument. 

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, and 2 if an operation failed. 

OPTIONS

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

rewind
Rewind the tape.

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

status
Print status information about the tape unit.

retension
Wind the tape to the end of the reel and then rewind it, smoothing out the tape tension. (count is ignored.)

erase Erase the entire tape. 

FILES

/dev/rmt∗ raw magnetic tape interface

/dev/rar∗ raw Archive cartridge tape interface

/dev/rst∗ raw SCSI tape interface

/dev/rxt∗ raw Xylogics tape interface

SEE ALSO

dd(1), ar(4S), mtio(4), st(4S), environ(5V)

BUGS

Not all devices support all options.  For example, ar(4S) and st(4S) currently do not support the fsr, bsf, or bsr options; but they are the only ones that currently support the retension and rewind options.  Half-inch tapes, in particular, do not support the retension option. 

Sun Release 4.0  —  Last change: 9 September 1987