I actually have had some problems with the ftape included in the kernel
for a while now. Since they don't seem to be going away, here goes:
Sometime in the pre-2.0 or 2.0.x kernels(I don't use my tape drive all
that often), something broke for me in the ftape in the kernel, which
appears to be based on the 2.0.8 release of ftape. Specifically, I can do
any single tape operation, ie 'tar -tf /dev/rft0' or a single 'tar -xf
/dev/rft0', however, when the command stops normally or is cancelled, the
loadaverage shoots up to > 2 even though no processes appear to be
consuming an inordinate amount of CPU time(the forementioned tar command
would be maybe 5% or so on my P133).
So, I grabbed 2.0.9 from the ftape
homepage(http://www.dolphonics.no/~khp/ftape.html) which worked great.
This is somewhat confusing because the home page claims that the kernel
version is synched with 2.0.9, while the RELEASE-NOTES file in the kernel
appears to be from 2.0.8. In any case, the kernel version would not work
for me and the standalong did. Of course 2.0.15-2.0.17 changed the
scheduling code which required a fix to ftape, and as a result the
stand-alone 2.0.9 no longer works(Hangs the system HARD on tape access).
However, I still get the hang with the kernel version I have for a while
now. Any suggestions?
Hardware config:
Tyan Titan III(triton) motherboard
P-133
HP T-1000 travan tape drive
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