The Ftape Installation and Usage Guide - MTIOCFTFORMAT
FTFMT_FORMAT_TRACK
-- start formatting a tape track
This command initiates the formatting of a tape track. It sets up the
cyclic dma buffer queue, fills the DMA buffers with the proper sector
coordinates to format the tape cartridge, conforming to the parameters
previously set with FTFMT_SET_PARMS
(see FTFMT_SET_PARMS),
programs the FDC and DMA controllers and sends the `logical forward
' command to the tape drive.
struct ftfmttrack { unsigned int ft_track; /* track to format */ };
The mode of the tape drive remains unchanged (i.e. format mode is
not entered) but the sector coordinates are computed by this
command. The format mode must have been entered previously by the user
level formatting program using the MTIOCFTCMD
ioctl
(see MTIOCFTCMD).
With ftape-3.04d the sector coordinates had to be computed in user space. This isn't true any longer. For an outline of the old protocol refer to the documentation of the ftape-3.04d driver. See Start formatting a tape track (info file ftape).
![]() |
Use these buttons to jump to the top menu |