The Ftape Installation and Usage Guide - Kernel patches
You don't need to patch the v2.x.x kernels at all to use ftape. Also, the patch is already included in later versions of the v2.1.x (hopefully) kernel versions and certainly isn't needed for Linux v2.2.x.
Otherwise, it might be useful to apply the patch contained in
[/usr/src/ftape-4.03]/patches/v2.0/floppy.c.dif
to the floppy driver like follows:
cd /usr/src/linux patch -p1 < /usr/src/ftape-4.03/patches/v2.0/floppy.c.dif
The problem with some versions 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.
Also, the floppy driver contained in Linux v2.0.x (at least until v2.0.35) grabs the floppy controller IO ports when loading and doesn't release them back to the system even when the floppy isn't used.
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