The SCSI tape driver (st) has numerous option bits that can be set by ioclt or by the mt-st utility. buffer-writes buffered writes enabled async-writes asynchronous writes enabled read-ahead read-ahead for fixed block size debug debugging (if compiled into driver) two-fms write two filemarks when file closed fast-eod space directly to eod (and lose file number) no-wait dont wait until rewind, etc. complete auto-lock automatically lock/unlock drive door def-writes the block size and density are for writes can-bsr drive can space backwards as well no-blklimits drive doesnt support read block limits can-partitions drive can handle partitioned tapes scsi2logical seek and tell use SCSI-2 logical block addresses instead of device dependent addresses sysv enable the System V semantics and the recently added sili bit (see BZ 457970). There is currently no easy way to determine the current settings of these option bits. The following upstream commit makes this information available is sysfs: http://git.kernel.org/?p=linux/kernel/git/torvalds/linux-2.6.git;a=commit;h=b174be02f3634460ac215d249617dee5ae446ae1 This capability should be added to RHEL 5, to make system management and support easier. A newer version of the mt-st management utility also formats and displays this information nicely. This is under consideration for RHEL 5 as well. BZ 501014.
This request was evaluated by Red Hat Product Management for inclusion in a Red Hat Enterprise Linux maintenance release. Product Management has requested further review of this request by Red Hat Engineering, for potential inclusion in a Red Hat Enterprise Linux Update release for currently deployed products. This request is not yet committed for inclusion in an Update release.
Release note added. If any revisions are required, please set the "requires_release_notes" flag to "?" and edit the "Release Notes" field accordingly. All revisions will be proofread by the Engineering Content Services team. New Contents: The SCSI tape driver (st) has numerous option bits that can be set by ioclt or by the mt-st utility. Refer to /usr/include/linux/mtio.h and "man mt" for the bit definitions. A new sysfs entry is provided to allow the current state of these option bits to be read. This information is in the file: /sys/class/scsi_tape/devn/options where "devn" is a device name, such as st0 or nst0.
in kernel-2.6.18-179.el5 You can download this test kernel from http://people.redhat.com/dzickus/el5 Please update the appropriate value in the Verified field (cf_verified) to indicate this fix has been successfully verified. Include a comment with verification details.
~~ Attention Customers and Partners - RHEL 5.5 Beta is now available on RHN ~~ RHEL 5.5 Beta has been released! There should be a fix present in this release that addresses your request. Please test and report back results here, by March 3rd 2010 (2010-03-03) or sooner. Upon successful verification of this request, post your results and update the Verified field in Bugzilla with the appropriate value. If you encounter any issues while testing, please describe them and set this bug into NEED_INFO. If you encounter new defects or have additional patch(es) to request for inclusion, please clone this bug per each request and escalate through your support representative.
An advisory has been issued which should help the problem described in this bug report. This report is therefore being closed with a resolution of ERRATA. For more information on therefore solution and/or where to find the updated files, please follow the link below. You may reopen this bug report if the solution does not work for you. http://rhn.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2010-0178.html
The needinfo request[s] on this closed bug have been removed as they have been unresolved for 1000 days