5. The Care and Feeding of Tape and Tape Drives

5.1 Formatting

Before a tape can be used, it must be formatted. The formatting process lays out sector information onto the tape. Other tape interfaces don't typically require formatting. The reason floppy tapes do is that they need to look like a floppy (kinda gross, but what the hey - it works :-).

Can I format my tapes under Linux?

Yes, you can, if you use ftape-3.04d or above. To format a floppy tape cartridge you need a user level tool called ftformat as well which is contained in the ftape-tools distribution (see section Getting ftape).

The ftape-tools package comes with its own manual, so I do not need to repeat here how to use ftformat.

Which formatting programs can I use under DOS?

The following are known to work:

• Colorado Memory System's software (tape.exe)
• Conner Backup Basics v1.1 and all Windows versions
• Norton Backup
• QICstream version 2
• Tallgrass FileSecure v1.52
• Escom Powerstream 3.0 (qs3.exe -- QICstream v3?)

These programs are known to be more or less buggy:

• Conner Backup Basics 1.0
• Colorado Windows tape program
• CP Backup (wastes tape space, but is OK apart from that)

As a general rule, most software under DOS should work. The Conner Backup Basics v1.0 has a parameter off by one (someone could not read the QIC-80 specs right!), which is corrected in version 1.1. However, ftape detects this, and will work around it. Dennis T. Flaherty (<dennisf@denix.elk.miles.com>) report that Conner C250MQ owners can obtain the new v1.1, by calling Conner at 1-800-4Conner (in the US) and ask for an upgrade (for a nominal fee for the floppy). The Windows versions should work fine. Some versions of Colorado's tape program for windows, has an off-by-one error in the number of segments. ftape also detect and work around that bug.

Central Point Backup can be used, but it wastes precious tape space when it encounters a bad spot on the tape.

NOTE: If you are running a formatting software under DOS, which is not mentioned here, please mail the relevant info to me ( <heine@math1.rwth-aachen.de>), so I can update the list.

5.2 Retensioning

QIC tapes are particularly sensitive to tape stretch. The reason is that floppy tapes are pre-formatted with sector information, whereas other tape types have their sync information written as the data is written to the tape. If the floppy tape stretches and the sync fields get out of sync the result will be read errors. The problem is worse with longer tapes.

It is a good idea to retension new tapes a few times before using them and before formatting them. You should also try retensioning the tape if you are start getting read errors. It might also be a good idea retension the tape before a backup.

5.3 Drive Cleaning

The coating on the tape is an oxide compound. As the tape is dragged across the tape head it has a tendency to leave tiny amounts of residue on the head. You should periodically use a tape cleaner - following the specs for the drive in question. Tape cleaners should be available from any distributer of tapes.

One more additional note about tape cleaning. You might want to clean the drive after the first use of a brand new tape. A brand new tape will typically leave quite a bit of residue the first time it's used.

Thanks to Neal Friedman for the explanation and suggestion that this information be included in the HOWTO.

5.4 Repairing de-spooled cartridges

In rare occasions it can happen that the tape drive doesn't detect the EOT (End Of Tape) markers correctly. These markers are simply holes in the tape which are detected by the tape drive with means of a little photo-transistor (or the like).

The manual of your tape drive will probably give you proper hints how to clean those EOT detectors.

However, if the EOT detection fails, then the tape drive despooles the cartridge because the tape isn't glued to the wheels, but hold by friction only.

There are detailed instructions how to fix such a despooled tape at the Iomega WWW pages at

http://www.iomega.com/support/techs/ditto/3006.html

and at the Hewlett Packard WWW pages at

http://www.hp.com/isgsupport/cms/docs/lpg12020.html

If the pages shouldn't be in the exact locations as given above, then please try to browse a little bit through the web pages of HP or Iomega until you find the needed information.