9.2.3.3 Set device type

With this switch you can toggle between different ways of treating the device. You can choose between TAPE, FLOPPY, BLOCKDEV and FILE.

• TAPE: This should be selected when you are writing to a tape device.
• BLOCKDEV: This format is new since KBACKUP Version 1.2. With this setting, KBACKUP will format and mount the device and then start writing to it. This gives you all the advantages of KBACKUP , like a backup header with information about the backup and the contents directory, together with a much improved reliability compared to the FLOPPY-format. If you are using floppy disks with this option, you must low-level format them, using the fdformat(1) or superformat(1) commands (under LINUX ). You do not need to write a filesystem on it, this will be done by KBACKUP . When selecting this option, you also must set the filesystem type and the formatting command.

  I recommend using this format for any removable media, like floppies or removable hard-drives ^9.2or cartridges. It does not work with tapes, it is intended for block devices that can be mounted. The BLOCKDEV support was new in version 1.2.0 and is therefore less tested than TAPE of FLOPPY. If you should expect any trouble using it, please contact the author. If it works for you, I'd like to know as well.

• FILE: This is will make use of the Filename for backup files setting. KBACKUP will write the archive to a couple of files starting with the given name and having distinctive extensions. Note that any existing backup with that name will get overwritten. I have created this archive type to allow people to put multiple backups onto one filesystem, e.g. on a mounted removable harddrive. A typical use would be to mount(8) your medium at /mnt and set the filename to /mnt/Foo-Archive. If you want to add another backup to the disk, you just need to change the archive name and the backups will not interfere with each other.

• FLOPPY: With this option, KBACKUP writes directly to the floppy. This is most reliable when you are using afio(1) - better do not try to use tar(1) with floppies. However, writing straight to a floppy is not to safe under LINUX and there is no way for KBACKUP to write a header or a directory of contents to the floppy. So you just have a sequential archive, like when using afio(1) directly.

  However, using this format is not recommended, better use the BLOCKDEV-format which is more reliable.