Tape backup, Linux 7.3 OS

Having a couple of issues doing tape backups on my 2600 which has a 20/40 DDS4 drive.  First of all, I'm using regular old "tar" to write to the tape:

tar cvf /dev/nst0 /local     to backup one partition.

The command kicks off, but then is so slow it's maddening.

The installation is stock RedHat 7.3.  I was wondering if anyone has heard of perhaps driver issues/kernel issues...something?

 

The other problem I've seen is that unless there's a tape in the drive when the system is booted, the tape drive is NOT recognized.

 

TIA

Ray