Re: File-system on tape
In-reply-to: <356D81D3.C8420B0F@bdsinc.com> (jjorgens@bdsinc.com)
Somebody wrote:
>
> Kenneth.Scharf@coulter.com wrote:
>
> > > On Tue, May 26, 1998 at 10:15:58PM -0600, Lazar Fleysher wrote:
> > >> Is it possible to create a file system on a tape drive ( like on
> > >> mainframes) and use it as a disk? I know it is very slow, but is it
> > >> possible?
> > >
> > > ...
> >
> > QIC tapes (FTAPE) use the floppy disk controller and are formatted like
> > floppy disks with 'tracks' and 'sectors' and so are block replaceable.
> > This means that they CAN hold a random access file system just like disks,
> > only SLOWER.
>
> Don't be too sure. Most tape drives only allow to write appending to the *end* of
> any data already written, so even if random positioning is possible the device is
> fairly useless.
It's an (probably) unnecessary limitation somewhere in the system.
I was able to make a file system on a floppy tape (with mke2fs, I
believe).
When I tried to mount the file system, mount complained that the tape
wasn't a block device.
Given the mke2fs ran without complaining, it didn't see any problem with
treating the floppy tape as a block device. I would guess that mke2fs
or
whatever library or system calls it uses incorrectly assume that a tape
is not a block device.
Daniel
--
Daniel Barclay
dsb@smart.net
(Gee, look at that: http://www.anonymizer.com/snoop.cgi )
--
To UNSUBSCRIBE, email to debian-user-request@lists.debian.org
with a subject of "unsubscribe". Trouble? Contact listmaster@lists.debian.org
Reply to: