You can use scanner which will show you the record (block) size that was
recorded when the tape was labelled. (Note that there are situations where
tapes have been labelled in unit with one block size and then written to on
a unit with a different size, but in general you should not see this
behaviour)

Example:

scanner -v \\.\Tape1 to list the tape

scanner: \\.\Tape1: opened for reading
scanner: \\.\Tape1: rewinding
scanner: Reading the label...
scanner: Reading the label done
scanner: scanning sdlt320 tape OU0053S on \\.\Tape1
scanner: volume id 4248658740 record size 131072
  created  2/26/04 16:08:36 expires  2/25/06 16:08:36
scanner: \\.\Tape1: rewinding
scanner: setting position from fn 0, rn 0 to fn 2, rn 0

scanner: Press:
        c<RETURN> to continue
        n<RETURN> to go to next volume
        q<RETURN> to quit
 >q
scanner: quitting
scanner: done with sdlt320 tape OU0053S

-----Original Message-----
From: Fowler, Carter [mailto:CFowler AT LONDON DOT CA]
Sent: Tuesday, 2 March 2004 7:26 a.m.
To: NETWORKER AT LISTMAIL.TEMPLE DOT EDU
Subject: [Networker] Determining Block Sizes

Good day.

We have a Win2K SP4 server with 9840s installed via an STK 9740
autochanger, NW 6.1.3.  I'm wondering if anyone knows of a utility
(reliable) that can query the media directly in order to determine the
block size.

I've use 3 or 4 different versions of the MT.EXE command and none of
them show the appropriate stats.  They show the drive's min / max values
but NOT the media's stats, at least not where block size is an issue.

Any suggestions are greatly appreciated.

Cheers,

Carter Fowler
Hardware Services Technician
Technology Services Division
Off: 519.661.5711
Fax: 519.661.5408
Em: cfowler AT london DOT ca

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