<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 3.2 Final//EN"> <HTML> <HEAD> <META NAME="GENERATOR" CONTENT="SGML-Tools 1.0.9"> <TITLE>Ftape-HOWTO: The preliminaries</TITLE> <LINK HREF="Ftape-HOWTO-4.html" REL=next> <LINK HREF="Ftape-HOWTO-2.html" REL=previous> <LINK HREF="Ftape-HOWTO.html#toc3" REL=contents> </HEAD> <BODY> <A HREF="Ftape-HOWTO-4.html">Next</A> <A HREF="Ftape-HOWTO-2.html">Previous</A> <A HREF="Ftape-HOWTO.html#toc3">Contents</A> <HR> <H2><A NAME="s3">3. The preliminaries</A></H2> <P> <P> <H2><A NAME="ss3.1">3.1 Other sources of information</A> </H2> <P> <P> <DL> <DT><B>ftape version 3</B><DD><P><CODE>ftape-3.x</CODE> came with a manual of its own, which is contained in the <CODE>ftape-3.04d</CODE> package available from the usual places. See <A HREF="Ftape-HOWTO-4.html#getting">Getting Ftape</A>. <P> <DT><B>ftape version 4</B><DD><P><CODE>ftape-4.x</CODE> also has a documentation package <CODE>ftape-doc</CODE> which is available from the usual places. This Ftape-HOWTO, however, also focusses on <CODE>ftape-4.x</CODE> and is meant as an entry point to the available documentation. See <A HREF="Ftape-HOWTO-4.html#getting">Getting Ftape</A>. <P> <DT><B>ftape-tools</B><DD><P>The <CODE>ftape-tools</CODE> package (including useful utilities for <CODE>ftape</CODE>) comes with its own manual. See <A HREF="Ftape-HOWTO-4.html#getting">Getting Ftape</A>. <P> <DT><B>Ftape-FAQ</B><DD><P>The <CODE>Ftape-FAQ</CODE> is included wordly in this manual, but more recent versions may be found at <A HREF="http://www.correct.nl/~ftape">http://www.correct.nl/~ftape</A>. <P> </DL> <P> <H2><A NAME="ss3.2">3.2 Contacts</A> </H2> <P> <P>The maintainer of the source for <CODE>ftape</CODE> is Claus Heine <A HREF="mailto:heine@math1.rwth-aachen.de"><heine@math1.rwth-aachen.de></A>. He has a web page at <A HREF="http://www-math.math.rwth-aachen.de/~LBFM/claus/ftape/">http://www-math.math.rwth-aachen.de/~LBFM/claus/ftape/</A>. <P>If you have a problem or questions about ftape, try posting to the <CODE>Linux Tape</CODE> mailing list <CODE>linux-tape@vger.rutger.edu</CODE> (see <A HREF="Ftape-HOWTO-4.html#tape-channel">Following the ftape development</A> below). There also used to be a newsgroup that mirrored the mailing list traffic but it has vanished some time ago. <P>I use <CODE>ftape</CODE> (it is my sole means of backing up on my linux box :-). I hesitate to make recommendations on what hardware to buy. See the section <A HREF="Ftape-HOWTO-6.html#supp_drives">Supported drives</A> and <A HREF="Ftape-HOWTO-6.html#unsupp_drives">Unsupported drives</A> for a list of supported and unsupported drives. <P>You should try to post a summary of your problems and its solution(s), after you've got it working, even if you only got it partially working. Please also send a copy copy of your solution to the Linux Tape mailing list at <A HREF="mailto:linux-tape@vger.rutgers.edu"><linux-tape@vger.rutgers.edu></A> so that it can be added to the HOWTO and/or the FAQ. <P>If you receive this as part of a printed distribution or on a CD-ROM, please check out <A HREF="http://sunsite.unc.edu/LDP/">the Linux Documentation home page</A> or ftp to <A HREF="ftp://sunsite.unc.edu:/pub/Linux/doc/HOWTO">ftp://sunsite.unc.edu:/pub/Linux/doc/HOWTO</A> to see if there exists a more recent version. This could potentially save you a lot of trouble. <P>If you email me, please include the string <CODE>ftape</CODE> in the subject line. This will help ensure the mail doesn't inadvertently get buried. But preferrably you should email to the Linux Tape mailing list at <A HREF="mailto:linux-tape@vger.rutgers.edu"><linux-tape@vger.rutgers.edu></A> instead of contacting me directly. <P> <P> <H2><A NAME="ss3.3">3.3 What is <CODE>ftape</CODE></A> </H2> <P> <P><CODE>ftape</CODE> is a driver program that controls various low-cost tape drives that connect to the floppy controller. <P><CODE>ftape</CODE> is not a backup program as such; it is a device driver, which allows you to use the tape drive (just like the SoundBlaster 16 driver let you use your sound card) through the device files <CODE>/dev/[n]qft[0-3]</CODE>. <P><CODE>ftape</CODE> was originally written by Bas Laarhoven <CODE><bas@vimec.nl></CODE>, with ``a little help from his friends'' to sort out the ECC (Error Correcting Code) stuff. <CODE>ftape</CODE> is copyrighted by Bas under the GNU General Public License, which basically says: ``go ahead and share this with the world, just don't disallow other people from copying it further''. <P><CODE>ftape</CODE> has undergone several changes since then. While the Linux-2.0.x kernel series still contains <CODE>ftape-2.08</CODE> the v2.1.x and soon the v2.2.* kernel series come with <CODE>ftape-3.x</CODE> (hopefully even with <CODE>ftape-4.02</CODE>, but this wasn't clear at the time of this writing) which differs in some points from the <CODE>ftape-2.x</CODE> driver. Since version <CODE>3.00</CODE> the <CODE>ftape</CODE> driver has been maintained by me (Claus-Justus Heine); it has been changed and improved in several respects and support for new hardware has been added. <P><CODE>ftape</CODE> is quite stable, and has been that for some time now. It is reliable enough for critical backups (but it's always a good idea to check your backups, so you won't get a nasty surprise some day). <P><CODE>ftape</CODE> supports drives that conform to the QIC-117 and one of the QIC-80, QIC-40, QIC-3010, and QIC-3020 standards as well as the Iomega Ditto 2GB and Ditto Max drives which no longer strictly conform to the QIC standards in all respects. <P><CODE>ftape</CODE> can drive floppy tape drives that connect to the internal FDC as well as certain parallel port floppy tape drives. <P><CODE>ftape</CODE> supports neither QIC-02, IDE (ATAPI), nor SCSI tape drives. SCSI drives are accessed as <CODE>/dev/[n]st[0-7]</CODE> and are supported by the kernel through the SCSI drivers. If you look for help on SCSI tape drives, you should read the <CODE>SCSI-howto</CODE>. ATAPI tape drives are supported by the kernel since 1.3.46. See section <A HREF="Ftape-HOWTO-6.html#supp_drives">Supported drives</A> and <A HREF="Ftape-HOWTO-6.html#unsupp_drives">Unsupported drives</A> for a list of supported and unsupported drives. <P> <P> <P> <P> <HR> <A HREF="Ftape-HOWTO-4.html">Next</A> <A HREF="Ftape-HOWTO-2.html">Previous</A> <A HREF="Ftape-HOWTO.html#toc3">Contents</A> </BODY> </HTML>