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On 10/01/13 22:28, Edwin Rhodes wrote: > Hi I am looking for a Linux boot disk that will enable me to format tapes on a > scsi drive > Any ideas? > Thanks > Ed > > Hmm, this is a slightly odd question - unless you are reclaiming tapes that have been used from a different system (typically a 'proper' Unix like AIX or HP-UX) and have been overwritten with stuff that Linux doesn't understand (I have seen this happen before, especially when using very expensive enterprisey backup solutions) you normally wouldn't have to/want to bother doing this. Typically, you'd use mt to overwrite the data instead, or if you *really* have to, use mt to erase the tape, and then just use it as normal. The erase will take a loooong time. However, it's not my place to question what you want to do, so your answer is probably Ubuntu, believe it or not (Mint as well). Really, any live distribution that you like and are familiar with and critically provides the necessary hardware drivers for your specific tape drive and scsi card. Once you're dropped at your desktop, you can initialize the network connection, refresh your system's software repositories and then apt-get or yum install whatever utilities you could possibly desire. Normally, you're only going to want tar and mt on a Linux system though, surely? And that's only going to need a prompt, not a full blown DE. I would personally use grml for something like this, which you may want to check out instead: grml.org Cheers -- The Mailing List for the Devon & Cornwall LUG http://mailman.dclug.org.uk/listinfo/list FAQ: http://www.dcglug.org.uk/listfaq