because, as i understood, if i want to recover a specific file, i have to go to the specific track were it was recorded.
Let's say: i have
- file1.zip recorded at track 1
- file2.zip recorded to track 2
- file3.zip recorded at track 3.
I want to restore only file2.zip. then i have to do a mt -f /dev/nst0 fsf 2 (go to track 2) and after that perform the restore with whatever i used (tar or dd, etc). So this is why i need the counter: to hold in a file the track number where i stored the file on the tape for future restore tasks.