Hey, Emacs, we're -*-Text-*- mode!

Abstract
~~~~~~~~

This directory and its subdirectories contain the sources for

                            ftape-4.05

`ftape'  is a  device driver  for floppy tape  drives written  for the
operating system Linux.

Currently, the  driver  supports many  QIC-40/QIC-80/QIC-3010/QIC-3020
tape   drives that   conform   to  the respective   QIC-*  development
standards, as well as the Iomega Ditto 2GB and Max drives.

Some parallel port tape drives are  also supported, too. These are the
Colorado Trakker and  several kinds of parallel  port  drives that use
the Micro   Solutions' "Backpack"   protocol, i.e. the    Iomega Ditto
parallel port  drives, and some parallel  port floppy tape drives made
by Exabyte and Seagate.

Contents
~~~~~~~~

1. Things to read through for getting started
2. Related packages and further documentation
3. Downloading
4. RTFM and problem reports, questions, contacts



1. Things to read through for getting started
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

COPYING         GNU GENERAL PUBLIC LICENSE, Version 2, June 1991
                This software comes without ANY warranty.

README          The file you are reading right now

RELEASE-NOTES   Summary of the changes between different `ftape'
                releases. Reaches back until ftape-2.01, 08/01/95.
                
BUGS            List of known bugs.

TODO            List of things that still need to be done.

README.PCI      Notes about PCI motherboards. Might be slightly out of 
                date.

INSTALL         Short installation instructions. Get the
                `ftape-4.x-doc' package for more detailed
                documentation!

THANKS          Incomplete list of people who contributed to the
                `ftape' project.

ChangeLog       The detailed commit log of my CVS source repository.



2. Related packages and further documentation
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

ftape-4.x-doc-REVISION 
                The `ftape documentation  package' which contains  the
                `ftape-manual'   as   well as  the   `Ftape-HOWTO' and
                `Ftape-FAQ' for local installation. REVISION refers to
                the revision of the `ftape-4.x-doc' manual package. It
                is recommended that you download this package, too.

ftape-tools-VERSION
                This is  an additional  `ftape support  package' which
                contains  some  utilities   needed  to  exploit   some
                features of the `ftape-4.x'  driver. VERSION refers to
                the    version    of  the     `ftape-tools'   package.
                `ftape-tools'    contains  utilities like   `swapout',
                `ftmt',`ftformat' and  `vtblc' and some others.  It is
                recommended that you download this package, too.
Ftape-HOWTO
                The Ftape-HOWTO  is  contained in the  `ftape-4.x-doc'
                package, but the primary source for the Ftape-HOWTO is

                http://www.linuxdoc.org/HOWTO/Ftape-HOWTO.html
Ftape-FAQ
                A version  of the Ftape-FAQ  is also  contained in the
                `ftape-4.x-doc' package for reference, but the primary
                source is

                http://www.correct.nl/~ftape



3. Downloading
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
                     
Recent  versions of  the `ftape'  driver    and the related   packages
mentioned above can be obtained from

                ftp://sunsite.unc.edu/pub/Linux/kernel/tapes/

or from the ftape home page

                http://www.instmath.rwth-aachen.de/~heine/ftape/

The ftape home page

                http://www.instmath.rwth-aachen.de/~heine/ftape/

also contains some useful links to related software and documentation.



4. RTFM and problem reports, questions, contacts
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

`RTFM' is a shortcut for `Read those fine manuals'.

Feel free to contact me if something goes wrong, but first try to read
the available  manuals. The   `ftape-manual'   comes with  a    fairly
extensive index so you can search for suitable keywords there and jump
directly to suitable passages in the  manual without having to read it
in its entirety.

Please post your questions to the `linux-tape' mailing list:

        linux-tape@vger.kernel.org

You can  benefit from the experiences  of other people that share your
problems.

If you want to subscribe to the mailing list, send mail to 

        majordomo@vger.kernel.org

with the text

        subscribe linux-tape 

in the message body.

NOTE: PLEASE  DON'T   POST LARGE  MESSAGES TO THE    MAILING LIST (for
example  large  excerpts of your  kernel  log files).  I'm not talking
about 5 kilobyte  mails. But if your  message exceeds 10kb or so, then
think  a  moment  about  whether this    mail  is really    of general
interest. If you  find it necessary to  send large emails to me,  then
send them directly to

        heine@instmath.rwth-aachen.de

Please keep in mind that  quite a lot  of people might read the  Linux
tape  mailing  list, and  some  of them  might  have to  pay for their
Internet connection. Don't waste the mailing list bandwidth.

Please try to describe your problem as exact as possible. I can't help
if  you simply send  me messages like  `ftape  doesn't work'. SO WHAT! 
Please include the version of the kernel you  are running, the version
of  ftape you are using  and (of course)  tell  me what kind of floppy
tape you are using.

If   you encountered errors during  tape  operation, try to provide an
exact     command  sequence  that     reproduces   the  error if  ever
possible. Please don't send me messages  like `ftape sometimes doesn't
skip   to  the next file'.   Instead, give  me  the  exact sequence of
commands that  you  typed in  when the  unexpected  behaviour or error
occurred, if ever possible.

Please don't feel annoyed if it takes some days before you get a reply
to your email (or  don't get any  reply at all). I get  quite a lot of
messages, and I'm  doing the ftape  support in  my spare time.  Simply
resend your  message if you have the  impression that you don't get an
answer (gimme  a break: please wait  a couple of days before resending
your email)


Have fun

Claus-Justus Heine <heine@instmath.rwth-aachen.de>


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 LocalWords:  PCI CVS unc ChangeLog HOWTO swapout ftmt ftformat vtblc
 LocalWords:  sunsite edu http www rwth aachen claus Justus heine RTFM
 LocalWords:  LDP html nl linux vger rutgers kb LocalWords
