I have a MicrSolutions Backpack QIC 80 tape drive How do I use it in linux.

The Tape drive is connected on the parallel port

My understanding is that the drivers are built into their kernel

Some Good web pages on this topic would also help allot.

If you installed the HOWTO's then you might want to read /usr/doc/Linux-HOWTOs/Ftape-HOWTO for the basic info. There is also a kernel doc concerning ftape in Documentation/ftape.txt. You will need to download and install the kernel source package for 2.4.20 for the kernel sources. I highly suggest the kernel doc first though because the HOWTO is about 5 years old.

There is a module called "ftape" that you may need to load as well. (modprobe ftape) I do not know if anything special is required for parallel port support. The ftape interface was written primarily for QIC-80 drives using the floppy drive interface controller. But it appears that it will also support the parallel port operation.

My personal experience has been with IDE and SCSI TR-4 tape drives. But once the character device interface is established it shouldn't make any difference. Exception might be that QIC-80 tapes may need to be formatted. So perhaps the info above will be of some help to at least get you started. You could also try searching for "ftape" on http://www.google.com/linux .

Linux has n will bring us such a time-losing xp, understanding sth that u could not tell or use w/ other is ?

What?

posts like this are funny, if not so helpful reminds me of the test where it was claimed that when given a typewriter and enough time, an ape will eventually press the buttons in a correct order to write a successful book. don't know if that works for real, though, but this text somehow brings the story in my mind..