The Tape Drive Confidence test requires that you have a scratch tape, that is, a tape that can be written to. The tape test overwrites the existing data on the tape you place in the tape drive for testing purposes. Verify that the tape that you are using is writable and does not contain any valuable data. The Tape Drive Confidence test performs the following tests to determine whether the tests pass or fail:
Verifies the existence of the tape device file.
Verifies that the tape device is available and not in use.
Verifies that a tape is in the tape drive.
Verifies that the tape in the tape drive can be written to.
Verifies that the device file for the tape drive has write permissions.
Attempts to write 2 MB of data to the tape.
Attempts to read the data that was written to the tape.
Checks to see if the data that was written to the tape was the same data that was read from the tape.
For additional information, see the Personal System Administration Guide or IRIX Admin: Peripheral Devices. For additional questions or assistance, contact your local support provider.