I just have LTO tape driver for IBM and I already plug in to my server,I also view the information by using cat /proc/scsi/scsi
Attached devices:
Host: scsi2 Channel: 00 Id: 00 Lun: 00
Vendor: IBM Model: SERVERAID Rev: 1.00
Type: Direct-Access ANSI SCSI revision: 02
Host: scsi2 Channel: 00 Id: 01 Lun: 00
Vendor: IBM Model: SERVERAID Rev: 1.00
Type: Direct-Access ANSI SCSI revision: 02
Host: scsi2 Channel: 00 Id: 15 Lun: 00
Vendor: IBM Model: SERVERAID Rev: 1.00
Type: Processor ANSI SCSI revision: 02
Host: scsi2 Channel: 01 Id: 08 Lun: 00
Vendor: IBM Model: 02R0980a S320 1 Rev: 1
Type: Processor ANSI SCSI revision: 02
Host: scsi2 Channel: 02 Id: 03 Lun: 00
Vendor: IBM Model: HH LTO Gen 2 Rev: 0202
Type: Sequential-Access ANSI SCSI revision: 03

and use command for display name of the tape under /dev by

dmesg | grep -i "attached" | grep -i tape
Attached scsi tape st0 at scsi2, channel 2, id 3, lun 0

but when i use
tar cvf /dev/st0 test for backup I was get an error like :

tar: /dev/st0: Cannot write: Input/output error
tar: Error is not recoverable: exiting now

when using dmesg i see the error like this

st0: Write not multiple of tape block size.
ips 0000:06:08.0: Reset Request - Flushed Cache
st0: Error with sense data: Current st0: sense key Not Ready
Additional sense: Medium not presen

So please help me using tape to backup


Thanks very much...

1. Does tape sit in your hardware?
2. Is /dev/st0 logically correct? (not sdb??)
3. I used to use tape before Penguin age, (HP-UX).

1 Yes tape still in driver
2 dmesg | grep -i "attached" | grep -i tape
Attached scsi tape st0 at scsi2, channel 2, id 3, lun 0
Do you have any idea?
Thanks

2. what /var/log/messages or syslog say?

I assume that physical device is sdb2 or sdb3.

I don't know exactly therefore I copy scsi section in here, I thing maybe it a sdb1

SCSI subsystem initialized
ACPI: PCI interrupt 0000:08:0a.0[A] -> GSI 44 (level, low) -> IRQ 185
ACPI: PCI interrupt 0000:08:0a.1[B] -> GSI 45 (level, low) -> IRQ 193
scsi0 : Adaptec AIC7XXX EISA/VLB/PCI SCSI HBA DRIVER, Rev 6.2.36
<Adaptec aic7899 Ultra160 SCSI adapter>
aic7899: Ultra160 Wide Channel A, SCSI Id=7, 32/253 SCBs
scsi1 : Adaptec AIC7XXX EISA/VLB/PCI SCSI HBA DRIVER, Rev 6.2.36
<Adaptec aic7899 Ultra160 SCSI adapter>
aic7899: Ultra160 Wide Channel B, SCSI Id=7, 32/253 SCBs
ACPI: PCI interrupt 0000:06:08.0[A] -> GSI 36 (level, low) -> IRQ 177
scsi2 : IBM PCI ServeRAID 7.10.18 Build 731 <ServeRAID 6M>
Vendor: IBM Model: SERVERAID Rev: 1.00
Type: Direct-Access ANSI SCSI revision: 02
SCSI device sda: 143372288 512-byte hdwr sectors (73407 MB)
SCSI device sda: drive cache: write through
SCSI device sda: 143372288 512-byte hdwr sectors (73407 MB)
SCSI device sda: drive cache: write through
sda: sda1 sda2 sda3 sda4 < sda5 sda6 sda7 sda8 sda9 sda10 >
Attached scsi disk sda at scsi2, channel 0, id 0, lun 0
Vendor: IBM Model: SERVERAID Rev: 1.00
Type: Direct-Access ANSI SCSI revision: 02
SCSI device sdb: 430116864 512-byte hdwr sectors (220220 MB)
SCSI device sdb: drive cache: write through
SCSI device sdb: 430116864 512-byte hdwr sectors (220220 MB)
SCSI device sdb: drive cache: write through
sdb: sdb1
Attached scsi disk sdb at scsi2, channel 0, id 1, lun 0
Vendor: IBM Model: SERVERAID Rev: 1.00
Type: Processor ANSI SCSI revision: 02
Vendor: IBM Model: 02R0980a S320 1 Rev: 1
Mounting other filesystems: succeeded
Type: Processor ANSI SCSI revision: 02

I think you are correct. Try /dev/sdb1