IRIX and Software

I have three tapes that are a backup made with the IRIX gui tool. I am trying to un-archive them but, so far have been unable too. I don't have a working sgi tape drive. The only one I had died. I have plenty of Sun ones though but, they aren't happening. They are old tapes so, their condition is unknown as well.

I tried to use the gui tool with various Sun drives attached to IRIX boxes but, always get a "Tape Full: Insert next tape" Which is odd in itself since I am attempting to restore and it happens during the read tape phase. Seems like a write error. Also my Sun drives will not show up as DAT drives. They always show up as Cartridge drives. They appear to be working fine though. mt and tar appear to work. The one SGI drive I had showed up as a DAT drive even though its basically the same model as the Sun drives. Might just be going by the firmware. Could this cause an issue with the tool or tar ?

Trying to read the tapes with tar gives a "Unexpected EOF try the -b option" no matter what I've tried. I've even tried using dd and byteswapping. I get basically the same error trying to read them on a Solaris box. What is the Backup and Restore Manager using internally ? The note on the tape said it was tar but, could it be using some different format ? Closest I've got so far is gnutar on a Solaris box using byteswapping. It read a bit then complained about outdated headers and said it was skipping and forwarding to the next position. Just hits the end of the tape after that.

Any ideas ?

leaknoil wrote: What is the Backup and Restore Manager using internally ?

The first few results from a google search for the words irix backup restore give the correct answer, and this has been covered a few times here on Nekochan.

For 6.5, the format is cpio.
For 6.3 and 6.4, the format is tar.
For 5.3-6.2, the format is bru.

Also, DAT tapes are not known for their long term reliability. It is entirely possible, perhaps even probable, that the problem is with the tape itself.

leaknoil wrote: ... my Sun drives will not show up as DAT drives. They always show up as Cartridge drives. They appear to be working fine though. mt and tar appear to work. The one SGI drive I had showed up as a DAT drive even though its basically the same model as the Sun drives. Might just be going by the firmware. Could this cause an issue with the tool or tar ?

While seen as a "cartridge drive", IRIX won't use any of the features specific to the drive such as compression. Fortunately the situation is pretty easy to correct.

Make a backup of /var/sysgen/master.d/scsi <as /var/sysgen/master.d/scsi.OLD or something similar>.

At a command prompt <while the Sun DAT is connected> run "mt status" <you'll need the info it returns>

Open the original copy of /var/sysgen/master.d/scsi with nedit <as root>.

Find the identification string that most closely matches the features of your Sun DAT drive <if the SGI branded drive has the same hardware mechanism, it should work when modified>.

Duplicate <copy and paste so that /var/sysgen/master.d/scsi contains two identical ID strings> and edit the copy as described in this wiki: http://www.nekochan.net/wiki/ ... r_IRIX_6.5

recondas wrote: edit the copy as described in this wiki: http://www.nekochan.net/wiki/ ... r_IRIX_6.5

Hey, Recondas - I hadn't noticed that wiki entry before - nice job!

josehill wrote: I hadn't noticed that wiki entry before - nice job!

Thanks - hope leaknoil finds it helpful.

leaknoil - you a motorcycle rider?

Thanks for the info. Couldn't make it happen in Solaris but, sticking it on a O2 and changing that file worked. I saw that info before for some reason I thought it was outdated and never tried it. Solaris got rid of MAKEDEV a long time ago.

Besides collecting old computer iron I also collect old British iron. Well more like lots of boxes of Triumph and Norton parts that used to be motorcycles Someday though I will get one running again !!! Well, if I can figure out how any of them go together anymore.

leaknoil wrote: Thanks for the info. Couldn't make it happen in Solaris but, sticking it on a O2 and changing that file worked.

You're welcome - glad to hear it was helpful.

leaknoil wrote: Besides collecting old computer iron I also collect old British iron.

Nice! My first bike was a 1971 BSA 650 Lightning <wish I still had it>.

recondas wrote: Nice! My first bike was a 1971 BSA 650 Lightning <wish I still had it>.

Awesome photo. I've never had a BSA though lots of my friends did or do. I have a 1959 Triumph 650 TR6, a '79 750E, and most of the parts of a Triton I've been meaning to build but, probably never will. The '59 is probably closest to what could be called running. The front end is off and just need to be rebuilt. Though I haven't fired it up in almost four years now so, who knows. Kick the engine over every month or so and its still turns and has good compression. Still leaking oil so there is some still left in there

I feel bad about not fixing the bikes but, I just don't have time these days. I wonder if I can even remember how to put most of them back together anymore. Just hauled the parts along from place to place over the years. Haven't even kept up the registration which may make getting them back on the road pretty expensive.

I managed to get the tape drive happening and dump the tapes but, there was one interesting thing I noticed. The tape drive id string can't have any spaces in it in 6.5.30 and it has to have them in 6.5.6. .30 would barf with any char[25] in the id string but, .6 wouldn't id the drive correctly unless the complete string was used spaces, control characters, and all. Was driving me crazy till I just tried the first few digits of the string and it worked in 30.

Never could get the gui to read across multiple tapes though during just a read file names pass. It would just stop at the end of the tape with no message. When I hit the cancel button then the insert next tape message would pop up right before the canceled message which was nice of it but, a little too late. It spanned the tapes fine just restoring everything out without a read pass.

hamei - Isn't that Dick Mann?

leaknoil - I don't remember which IRIX revision I was using when I modified /var/sysgen/master.d/scsi for the DEC DLT mentioned in the wiki article <I'm still using the DLT>. The system is running 6.5.30 now. If IRIX was earlier than .30 when I modified master.d/scsi, the upgrade to .30 kept the older master.d/scsi - the modified file appears untouched by any IRIX upgrades. It still contains comments I inserted during the modification, and revision <1.66> is still the same as the backup copy </var/sysgen/master.d/scsi.OLD>.

recondas wrote: hamei - Isn't that Dick Mann?

The one and only ! Back when men were men and sheep ran scared

Looks like maybe San Jose ?

Its funny I've run into a lot of vintage motorcycle people in the vintage computer crowd. I wonder if its because working on some imperfect old server is a lot like working on some imperfect old bike. You end up with bloody knuckles, bruises, and dirt all over in the end. Server dirt sure is a lot easier to clean off then grease though.

leaknoil wrote: Server dirt sure is a lot easier to clean off then grease though.

...Unless someone's been smoking heavily around the machine.