Re: Problem with Seagate/IBM DDS-3 tape drive.

From: Dr. David Kirkby (drkirkby_at_ntlworld.com)
Date: 08/12/03 

Date: 12 Aug 2003 10:49:18 -0700

"Uli Link" <Ulrich--nO--(dot)-sPAM--Link@Epost.de> wrote in message news:<bhapu1$v0p$07$1@news.t-online.com>...
> >
> > After a few more attempts at cleaning, and another used DDS-2 tape (I
> > only have new DDS-4's around which would be useless) the drive did
> > spring into life and looks like it's now working.
> >
> Always check that you can read the tape on another DDS!
> I had some DDS drives that wrote to tape but weren't able to read anymore.
> This was common shortly before the drive reached their end of life.
> Not nice if you need the data on the tapes.
>
> If you check the readability of the tapes on a regular basis, DDS are
> reliable enough for most purposes.
>
> If you hear signs of shoeshining after inserting a tape written on another
> drive, it's often a sign that the drive needs it's tracking adjusted. This
> cannot be done by the user.
>
> ---
> Uli

Thanks a lot for that Uli. I do have a DDS-4 drive which I can check
tapes with.

I telephoned Seagate to try to determine the function of the LEDs, as
I can't find an IBM manual for the drive. Seagate told me the lights
on the drive (currently shown at
http://www.medphys.ucl.ac.uk/~davek/dds3.jpg but I won't keep it there
forever) are (from left to right).

Power (inverted C above it)
Tape in place. (looks like something pushed in a hole)
Drive busy. (looks like a ligtening strike)

The lights bascially have the function mentioned at
206.204.105.35/support/taper/manuals/dds/dds3pmb.pdf

but the IBM internal drive has a power light, which does not exist on
the Seagate internal drive.

(The Seagate external version does have this power LED, although not
on the actual drive). So it seems Seagate put an extra LED to the
front of the drive for IBM. However, the technician did not have
access to the IBM OEM data, so he was guessing somewhat, although his
guesses seem consistant with what I am seeing.

I'm going to try looking in manuals for newer IBM servers, in the hope
that they (unlike the 7025 F50) might have come fitted with the IBM
DDS-3 drive and so confirms the function of the LEDs.

Why the hell IBM can't ask for lights to be marked 'power', 'tape',
'busy', rather than those stupid symbols, I don't know. My HP drive
has LEDs saying "Tape" and "Clean" which are a bit more helpful. I
have a non-working DLT drive, which has about 8 LEDs on that, all
clearly labelled.

Dr. David Kirkby.

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