viewing contents of tape

h@foorsa.biz · 07-11-2009, 07:43 AM

Hi all,
i would like to view the contents of Tape on Solaris 10
i issued the following command

Code:

tar -tvf /dev/rmt/0m

i'm getting the following error

Code:

bash-3.00# tar -tvf /dev/rmt/1m
tar: tape read error

by the way the reference to the command is on sun's wiki
any alternatives
Thanks in advance

stress_junkie · 07-11-2009, 07:50 AM

You could try using the dd utility to extract the file from the tape and put it on a disk.

Code:

dd if=/dev/rmt/0m of=tapefile.tar bs=32768 conv=notrunc,noerror

Then you can use the tar utility on the file that you extracted.

Code:

tar -tf tarfile.tar

BTW using t and v in the same tar command doesn't make any sense because they both do the same thing but are used under different circumstances.

BBTW you did a generally good job writing your post. I would only recommend that you remove any command prompts that are displayed in a terminal window. In particular the "bash-3.00#" prompt should be removed when you type a post. This is because removing the prompt makes reading your post a lot easier. Thanks in advance.

jlliagre · 07-11-2009, 11:34 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by stress_junkie

BTW using t and v in the same tar command doesn't make any sense because they both do the same thing but are used under different circumstances.

They actually do different things.
t = list the content of the archive
v = provide verbose information (might be used with c, r, t, u or x)

jlliagre · 07-11-2009, 11:38 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by h@foorsa.biz

Hi all,
i would like to view the contents of Tape on Solaris 10

How was the tape written, if at all ?
Tar isn't the only way to write a tape.

h@foorsa.biz · 07-11-2009, 03:08 PM

first of all thanks both of you jlliagre and stress_junkie for your helpful repiles
it was wrriten with

Code:

tar

as follows

Code:

tar cf /dev/rmt/0hc /usr/local/vmail/scu/*.* &

and

Code:

tar cvf /dev/rmt/0 usr/local/vmail/*.*