Custom Drivers for HP Digital Audio Tape (DAT) ?

[henry at zoo.toronto.edu]

>We currently have an Hewlett Packard 35450A Digital Audio Tape (DAT) tape
>... documentation specifies that it is possible to search the tape at 200
>times normal speed with this drive, which it does not seem to be doing
>with the TAR command...

If I am not mistaken -- I'm not very familiar with those things -- the
capability in question is a high-speed *seek* not a high-speed *search*.
That is, you can use the high speed only if you know exactly where you
want to go.  Unfortunately, tar doesn't; it really does have to read the
stuff going past to decide whether it's reached what you're after.

                                    Henry Spencer at U of Toronto Zoology
                                uunet!attcan!utzoo!henry henry at zoo.toronto.edu