> I read a tech doc over at www.austin.ibm.com and they have info on how to
> deal with scsi tapes, etc... it's a pretty decent document.
> They mention most tape drives can be put in either fixed-block or
> variable-block modes.... is this true, and if so, how do I know which
> mode NetBSD is using?  Can it be changed?

This is IBM you're talking about.  They probably figure that half-inch
800BPI reel-to-reel tape drives still dominate the earth.

I'm pretty sure none of the QIC standards permit anything other than 512
bytes per block.