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5.3.3: Installation under Linux-2.0.0 and up

You don't need to patch the 2.*.* kernels at all to use ftape. But it might be useful to apply the patch contained in `patches/2.x.x/floppy.c.dif' (floppy.c.dif) to the floppy driver like follows:

cd /usr/src/linux
patch -p1 < /usr/src/ftape-3.04d/patches/2.x.x/floppy.c.dif

The problem with the current version of the floppy driver is that it accesses the I/O-ports of the floppy controller without checking whether they are in use. The patch contained in the ftape package changes the floppy driver to protect the I/O-port access by calls to `check_region()' which is the proper way to avoid such kind of conflicts. As a result, the floppy driver (when compiled as a module) will fail to load while your floppy tape is in use but will not disturb the operation of the tape drive.


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