Latest versions
You can download it here:
The unstable/ directory contains (possibly) unstable latest-greatest ftape releases. I have set up a cron job which creates daily snapshots of the ftape CVS repository. Same for the ftape-tools package:
archives/ftape-tools/unstable/.
The timestamp refers to Greenwhich Mean Time (GMT). The cron job runs some minutes after midnight.
ftape-4.04 had a bug which could lead to a broken /proc/ioports with Linux v2.2.x. Problem was comparing a 16 bit value with -1U which is unequal to (unsigned short)-1 (assuming a short has 16 bits). ftape-4.03 had a bug concerning the volume table support for cartridges with more than 65536 (= 2^16) segments. The causes data loss when appending data to cartridges under Windoze which already contain volumes written by ftape-4.03 (or earlier version), and vice versa. This is fixed in ftape-4.04. Again, this only affects cartridges with more than 2^16 segments, and only sharing cartridges with Windoze was dangerous. ftape-4.02 and ftape-4.03-pre-1 still contained some little bugs. Please refer to the ChangeLog files ChangeLog and ChangeLog.1 for some explanations. There was a bug in ftape's parport code which would sometimes cause the trakker and bpck-fdc modules to fail. Also, since 4.03-pre-1, ftape now tries to read the backup header segment in case the data of the first header segment is damaged, i.e. contains the wrong signature.
The MTSEEK/MTTELL interface has changed. Blocks are counted from logical BOT now, each file mark consumes one (virtual) block.
Please refer to the RELEASE-NOTES, the ChangeLog and ChangeLog.1 for more detailed information. The files BUGS and the TODO might be of some interest.
Read the LSM entry for a very brief description of ftape.
Refer to the Ftape HOWTO for a list of supported tape drives, and visit the Ftape Installation and Usage Manual on-line, if you want.
Integration of ftape-4.03 into the Linux v2.4 kernels is planned.
The ftape-tools package. Get your free copy today! (This is GPLed software, of course)
This version comes with DejaGnu tests! You can view the manual on-line.
Or simply read the LSM entry.
The always preliminary version of the ultimate ftape documentation package. Get ftape-doc-1.05.tar.gz now!
It contains the Ftape-HOWTO, the Ftape-FAQ and the Ftape Installation and Usage Manual. To view them on-line use the following links:
Of course, the official location of the Ftape HOWTO is still sunsite, but this is a preliminary version. The link will be changed to point to the proper location as soon as the HOWTO is ready.
Read the LSM entry.