The Ftape-FAQ

Johan De Wit, <jo@correct.nl>

1. A Word From The Maintainer Of Ftape.

2. "Compiling and installing Ftape" related questions !

• 2.1 What Ftape version should I use?
• 2.2 I'm having problems getting my XYZ drive to run under the 2.0.xx kernel with the built-in driver. How do I fix this?
• 2.3 I'm running Linux/SMP and the system just freezes when trying to access the Ftape devices!
• 2.4 Why does depmod complain about "undefined symbols"?
• 2.5 "insmod" says the kernel version is wrong
• 2.6 "insmod" says that kernel 1.2.0 and 1.2.0 differ
• 2.7 Trying to compile Ftape gives me the error "modversions.h: no such file or directory"
• 2.8 What is this versioned symbols stuff anyway?
• 2.9 I seem to be getting sftape instead of zftape. When I run "ftmt status" command, I get output that the Ftape docs says corresponds to sftape ( /dev/qft0: Invalid argument ). Why?
• 2.10 My Ditto DASH/FC-20/Exabyte Accelerator card works under Microsoft Windows, but I get a drive not found type of error in /var/log/messages when trying to use it under Linux.
• 2.11 Ftape DMA transfers gives ECC errors
• 2.12 Help! I'm getting 'dmaalloc() failed' in my syslog file.
• 2.13 Syslogd works overtime when running Ftape
• 2.14 How do I change the trace-level?
• 2.15 I'm having problems with Ftape. I'm using the latest version of Ftape from the Ftape Home Page and believe that I've located a real bug. What should I do?

3. "Using Ftape" related questions !

• 3.1 How fast is Ftape ?
• 3.2 When I write to some of my tapes, they seem to spend a lot of time "shoe-shining," or repositioning instead of streaming. Is something wrong with my system?
• 3.3 Do I have to reboot to the DOS world to format tapes?
• 3.4 Is it possibly to format Ditto 2GB tapes with ftape?
• 3.5 Is it possibly to format Ditto Max or Max Pro tapes with ftape?
• 3.6 Ftape detects more bad sectors than DOS on QIC-3020 tapes
• 3.7 Is it ok that I'm not hearing the tape move when I do a fsf or a bsf with mt?
• 3.8 Why does my XYZ backup program complain about "Invalid argument" errors?
• 3.9 I/O errors and FDC - some explanations.
• 3.10 Why do I get "/dev/qft0: No such device" errors?
• 3.11 I get "device busy" when I make multiple backups on a tape using some script.
• 3.12 How do I "..." with tar?
• 3.13 What block-size should I use with tar ?
• 3.14 Where can I find the tar/mt/cpio/dd binaries - sources - manpages?
• 3.15 If I use tapers compression, is it a bad idea to use the compression with zftape, or would it be better to not use tapers compression, and let zftape do it?
• 3.16 How does zftape compression compare to say gzip -9?
• 3.17 I don't trust compression, but hear that the sftape interface is going away. What should I do?
• 3.18 Ftape says "This tape has no 'Linux raw format"
• 3.19 Can I exchange tapes with someone using DOS?
• 3.20 How does `mt eom' work when you've started overwriting a tape in the middle?
• 3.21 When I made backups before using taper, under the 2.0.29 ftape my drive didn't support fsf, under the new zftape it does, why would this be, and what exactly is fsf ?
• 3.22 What exactly is the difference between ftape, and zftape?
• 3.23 What is the difference between a rewinding, and non rewinding drive?
• 3.24 Can someone tell me how to use mt to rewind my TR-3 drive one record using zftape record, so I can verify it?
• 3.25 By non-rewinding, they mean that it doesn't automatically rewind, correct? It doesn't mean that under no circumstances it will rewind, right? I tried using /dev/zqft0, and it instantly rewinds the tape.
• 3.26 What is the difference between what mt considers a record and what it considers a file?
• 3.27 Reusing tapes with zftape without reformatting the tape.
• 3.28 This script implements a simple contents listing for the zftape package using the "MTIOCVOLINFO" ioctl.

4. "Tape and Drivers" related questions !

• 4.1 What are good makers of Travan tapes?
• 4.2 Where can I obtain the QIC standards?
• 4.3 Is the Iomega Ditto 2GB drive supported?
• 4.4 Is the Iomega Ditto Max drive supported?
• 4.5 Is the Iomega Ditto Max Pro drive supported?

5. Miscellaneous !

• 5.1 How to subscribe to the Ftape Mailing List?
• 5.2 How to un-subscribe from the Ftape Mailing List?
• 5.3 Links to related information.