Man pages › Compared with Linux and the BSDs

`mt(1)` on Solnix vs Linux and the BSDs

On Solnix, mt is the illumos mt at /usr/bin/mt. It takes only -f, and with no -f and no TAPE it uses /dev/rmt/0n. Unlike the other systems' pages, it documents no blocksize or density commands, and it adds illumos-specific commands such as config, forcereserve, nbsf and bssf.

The manual pages

Solnix: mt(1) from pkgs.solnix.illumos-world-man · illumos.org
Linux: mt(1) mt-st-1.8
FreeBSD: mt(1) 15.1-RELEASE
OpenBSD: mt(1) 8.0
NetBSD: mt(1) 11.0

What Solnix runs

A default Solnix system runs the illumos mt at /usr/bin/mt. No other variants are shipped. The page says mt is architecture sensitive, so tape use between SPARC and x86 is not supported.

Differences

Compared with	Topic	What differs
OpenBSD, NetBSD	default tape device	With no `-f` and no TAPE, Solnix mt uses /dev/rmt/0n. OpenBSD uses /dev/rst0 and NetBSD uses /dev/nrst0. The visible Linux and FreeBSD text does not give a default device. Source: Solnix mt(1) DESCRIPTION; OpenBSD mt(1) DESCRIPTION; NetBSD mt(1) DESCRIPTION
OpenBSD, NetBSD	remote tape devices	OpenBSD and NetBSD accept host:device or user@host:device and talk to the remote host through rmt(8). NetBSD honours RCMD_CMD for the remote shell. The Solnix page documents neither remote devices nor RCMD_CMD. Source: OpenBSD mt(1) DESCRIPTION; NetBSD mt(1) DESCRIPTION, ENVIRONMENT (RCMD_CMD); Solnix mt(1) DESCRIPTION
all four	block size and density commands	The Solnix page lists no command to set block size or density. Linux has setblk and setdensity. FreeBSD has blocksize. OpenBSD has blocksize and density. NetBSD has blocksize/setblk and density/setdensity. Source: Solnix mt(1) OPERANDS; Linux mt(1) setblk, setdensity; FreeBSD mt(1) blocksize; OpenBSD mt(1) blocksize, density; NetBSD mt(1) blocksize, density
all four	config and reservation commands	Only Solnix documents config (shows drive settings in st.conf format), forcereserve (superuser only), reserve and release (SCSI reservation control), nbsf, and the sequential-file-mark spacing commands fssf and bssf. None of these appear in the other pages' visible text. Source: Solnix mt(1) config, forcereserve, reserve, release, nbsf, fssf, bssf; Linux/FreeBSD/OpenBSD/NetBSD mt(1) command lists
Linux	file spacing position	Solnix fsf leaves the tape on the first block of the file after the marks it spaced over, and bsf leaves it on the beginning-of-tape side of the EOF mark. Linux bsf leaves it on the last block of the previous file. Linux adds fsfm and bsfm. Source: Solnix mt(1) fsf, bsf; Linux mt(1) fsf, bsf, fsfm, bsfm
Linux, FreeBSD, OpenBSD	asf	Solnix asf is a rewind followed by fsf count, as on NetBSD. Linux describes it as positioning at the beginning of the count file. The visible FreeBSD and OpenBSD command lists have no asf. Source: Solnix mt(1) asf; NetBSD mt(1) asf; Linux mt(1) asf; FreeBSD mt(1) commands; OpenBSD mt(1) commands
Linux, FreeBSD	end of data command name	Solnix spaces to the end of recorded media with eom. Linux names it eod (also seod). FreeBSD accepts both eod and eom. OpenBSD and NetBSD use eom. Source: Solnix mt(1) eom; Linux mt(1) eod, seod; FreeBSD mt(1) eod, eom; OpenBSD mt(1) eom; NetBSD mt(1) eom
OpenBSD, NetBSD	exit status	Solnix mt exits 1 when the command is unrecognized or the tape drive cannot be opened, and 2 when an operation fails. OpenBSD and NetBSD document 1 only for an unrecognized command. The Linux and FreeBSD pages show no exit status in the visible text. Source: Solnix mt(1) EXIT STATUS; OpenBSD mt(1) EXIT STATUS; NetBSD mt(1) EXIT STATUS
FreeBSD	status and erase	FreeBSD has a new-format status and keeps the old one as ostatus. Its erase with count 0 is a quick erase. Solnix status shows sense key, residual, retries, position and WORM media. Solnix erase always erases the whole tape. Source: Solnix mt(1) status, erase; FreeBSD mt(1) status, ostatus, erase
Linux	count argument	On Solnix, the commands listed after the count-ignored note (config, eom, erase, offline, rewind, status and others) ignore count. Linux accepts k, M or G suffixes on counts. The Solnix page documents no suffixes. Source: Solnix mt(1) OPERANDS; Linux mt(1) DESCRIPTION
OpenBSD	eject	OpenBSD ships eject as an alias for mt with the offline command, with a `-t` option to insert media. The Solnix page documents no eject command; its mt takes only `-f`. Source: OpenBSD mt(1) SYNOPSIS, DESCRIPTION; Solnix mt(1) SYNOPSIS
NetBSD	compression and caching	NetBSD mt has compress, cache, nocache and eew commands. The Solnix page documents none of these. Source: NetBSD mt(1) compress, cache, nocache, eew; Solnix mt(1) OPERANDS

Standards

POSIX: mt is not a POSIX.1-2024 utility.

Writing portable scripts

Always pass -f device explicitly; the default device differs (/dev/rmt/0n on Solnix, /dev/rst0 on OpenBSD, /dev/nrst0 on NetBSD).
Stick to rewind, fsf, bsf, fsr, bsr, weof, offline and status, which appear in the visible pages of all five systems. Check exit status 0 only, since 1 and 2 are not documented everywhere.

Every difference here is taken from the manual pages linked above: Solnix's published page, Linux (man-pages and the GNU and util-linux manuals), FreeBSD, OpenBSD and NetBSD. Each row names its source. Where a manual is silent, this page is too. Compiled 2026-10-26. Found a mistake? Mail hackers@lists.solnix.io.