NAME

mt − magnetic tape manipulating program

SYNOPSIS

mt [-t tapename] command [count]

DESCRIPTION

mt is used to give commands to the tape drive.  If tapename is not specified, the environment variable TAPE is used; if TAPE is not defined, the default drive is used. 

mt winds the tape in the requested direction (forward or backward), stopping after the specified count EOF marks or records are passed.  If count is not specified, one is assumed.  Each EOF mark counts as one record.  When winding backwards, the tape always stops at the BOT marker, regardless of the number remaining in count.

mt accepts the following commands:

eof Write count EOF marks. 

fsf Forward space count files. 

fsr Forward space count records. 

bsf Backward space count files. 

bsr Backward space count records. 

rew Rewind tape. 

offl Rewind tape and go offline. 

eod Seek to end of data ( DDS and QIC drives only). 

smk Write count setmarks ( DDS drives only). 

fss Forward space count setmarks ( DDS drives only). 

bss Backward space count setmarks ( DDS drives only). 

Spacing operations (back or forward space file or record) leave the tape positioned past the object being spaced to in the direction of motion.  That is, backspacing a file leaves the the tape positioned before the file mark, forward spacing a file leaves the tape positioned after the file mark.  This is consistent with all classical usage on tapes. 

FILES

/dev/rmt/* Raw magnetic tape interface

/dev/rmt/0mn Default tape interface

WARNINGS

Only raw, no rewind, Berkeley-style devices can be specified. 

It is possible to wind the tape beyond the EOT marker and off the end of the reel. 

EXAMPLES

Rewind the tape associated with the device file /dev/rmt/0mn:

mt -t /dev/rmt/0mn rew

AUTHOR

mt was developed by the University of California, Berkeley. 

SEE ALSO

dd(1), mt(7). 

Hewlett-Packard Company  —  HP-UX Release 9.0: August 1992