The new tape drive is located beneath the old 9-track tape drive in the tall cabinet to the right of the computers. The tapes used in the drive are Verbatim DataLife 4mm cartridges, which hold approximately 1.3 gigabytes per tape. To install, gently push the tape into the slot with the "write enable" tab visible. This tab allows the user to write to the tape when the white plastic is visible. Your tape is write-protected when the tab is pushed to the left and no longer visible. To take the tape out of the drive, push the tan button on the lower right side of the drive box. Wait patiently for the tape to rewind...it will then be ejected automatically. The following are some useful commands to know while using this tape drive.
| 1) | First, allocate with alloc mtdat | |
| 2) | To write a file from the computer disk to the tape, use: wfits root_filename* mtdat[number for single file or range] | Example: wfits M870* mtdat[18:25] |
| 3) | To read a file from the tape to the computer disk, use: rfits mtdat[range] root_filename | Example: rfits mtdat[7:15] M51 |
| 4) | MAKE SURE YOU DEALLOCATE with: dealloc mtdat |
| 1) | To write a file from the computer disk to the tape, use: wrfits root_filename starting_number ending_number or wrall root_filenameXXX | Example: wrfits M87 018 025 or wrall uitXXX |
| 2) | To read a file from the tape to the computer disk, use: rdfits root_filename starting_number ending_number | Example: rdfits M51 007 015 |
| These commands are also available in UNIX: | |
|---|---|
| rewind | rewinds to the beginning of the tape |
| eot | forwards to the end of the data on the tape |
| forward n | skips ahead through the tape by the number of images specified by n |
| reverse n | skips backward through the tape by the number of images specified by n |
| status | reports status of tape drive |
| offline | rewinds and ejects the tape from the drive |