Quantum LTO 1U, Reference

Installing a DLT, SDLT, VS, LTO, or DAT Tape Drive Into a Linux Operating System

6464215-01, Rev B

January 2006

Setting Up Communication with the Tape Drives

8

Installing the Tape 
Drive

0

To install the tape drive, follow these steps:

1

Shut down your workstation or server and remove AC power from the 

system.

2

Follow the instructions in your tape drive’s product manual to install the 

tape drive and set the SCSI ID.

Verifying the st Module 
is Loaded 

0

st

 is the tape device driver for Linux. Typically, 

st

 is loaded into the kernel as 

a module to support SCSI tape devices. You must verify that 

st

 is loaded to 

assure that the kernel supports SCSI tape devices. 
 To verify the

 st

 module is loaded, follow these steps:

1

Execute the following command as superuser:

# modinfo st

If 

st

 is loaded, the output will look similar to one of the following:  

• Red Hat Enterprise Linux 3.0 (RHEL3):

filename:    /lib/modules/2.4.21-4.ELsmp/kernel/drivers/scsi/st.odescription: 
"SCSI Tape Driver"
author:     "Kai Makisara"
license:   "GPL"
parm:       buffer_kbs int, description "Default driver buffer size (KB; 32)"
parm:        max_buffers int, description "Maximum number of buffer allocated 
                 at initialisation (4)"
parm:       max_sg_segs int, description "Maximum number of scatter/gather 
                 segments to use (32)"
parm:      blocking_open int, description "Block in open if not ready an no 
                 O_NONBLOCK (0)"

• Novell SuSE Linux 9 (SuSE9):

parm:           try_wdio:Try direct write i/o when possible
parm:           try_rdio:Try direct read i/o when possible
parm:           try_direct_io:Try direct I/O between user buffer and tape drive (1)
parm:           max_sg_segs:Maximum number of scatter/gather segments to 
                      use (256)
parm:           buffer_kbs:Default driver buffer size for fixed block mode (KB; 32)
license:        GPL
description:    SCSI Tape Driver
author:         Kai Makisara
depends:        scsi_mod
supported:      yes
vermagic:       2.6.5-7.79-smp SMP 586 REGPARM gcc-3.3

If the 

st

 module is not loaded, 

modinfo

 will report that the module name is 

not found. You need to load the 

st

 module by using the 

#insmod

command. Consult your Linux manuals for instructions.

2

Reboot the server. This allows the 

st

 driver to attach tape device nodes 

(/dev/st#).