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How do I read information off a tape when I don't know the format of the tape?

How do I read information off a tape when I don't know the format of the tape?

by  cspilman  Posted    (Edited  )
The dtype utility and the device /dev/install are helpful in determining what is on a disk. The command

dtype /dev/fd048

will determine what type of 48tpi floppy is in the drive mountable, tar format, DOS, etc.).

If you don't know the density of the disk, /dev/install will
read that disk anyway (by trying a number of densities until a read is successful). Note that the command

dtype /dev/install

is an almost universal disk identifier. It doesn't tell you
what density disk it found, but it will diagnose the type of
disk present.

The command

tar tvf /dev/install

will list the contents of a tar format disk of any density.

This also works for tape drives also by issuing the command

dtype /dev/rStp0

Have Fun!
Chuck
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