SUMMARY: Cartridge Tape Becomes Read-Only

From: reardon@sws.SINet.SLB.COM
Date: Thu Oct 24 1991 - 20:25:39 CDT


From: REARDON@SWS@PSI%HDSRTR@MRGATE@SNDRTR
To: "sun-managers@eecs.nwu.edu"@M_INTERNET@MRGATE@SNDRTR

PROBLEM:
        Cartridge tape drive goes into write-protected mode for no
        known reason and stays that way until vmunix is rebooted.
        The system is a SUN4-280 running SUN OS 4.1.1.
        The tape drive is an Archive 150 megabyte.
SOLUTION:
        It still isn't clear what causes the problem to occur in the
        first place. Once it has occurred, the following reply tells
        how to restore normal write-mode without having to re-boot.
        Here is reply from Lee@sq.com...
        Lee was exactly right - the "mt offline" command makes the
        drive become writable every time. The reply also shows that
        the problem occurs in multiple versions of SUN OS and on at
        least two different types of workstations or servers.
        Thanks to several others who also replied.
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Subj: Re: Problem with Cartridge Tape Drive
Mine has always done this (4/110, Archive 150) even under 4.0.3; the cure
is
        mt -f /dev/rst8 offl
(or offline if you prefer, instead of offl).
Then it's fine. I think it's something to do with format/density detect.
Lee
lee@sq.com
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