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Re: ML370 G3 and IBM/Seagate STD2401WL Tape Drive

 
Alex Daskalakis
Occasional Advisor

ML370 G3 and IBM/Seagate STD2401WL Tape Drive

Hello
I am currently setting up a ProLiant ML370 G3 server under Linux and i have been given an IBM/Seagate STD2401WL tape drive from am old IBM server. I am currently having trouble getting the on-board scsi controller (either port 1 or 2) to read it. I have changed the ID of the tape drive from 0 to 15 excluding 7 which is the controller id and yet, when loading the array console it comes up with (i.e tape is on id 6) multiple LUN numbers for id 6 and, at the end, a 'SCSI Bios not installed!' message. Am i missing something in the id configuration of the server ?

Thanks in advance

Alex
10 REPLIES 10
Eugeny Brychkov
Honored Contributor

Re: ML370 G3 and IBM/Seagate STD2401WL Tape Drive

Alex,
I've found the following
"20/40GB SCSI DAT 68PIN LVD (STD2401W)"
thus interfaces should be compatible. I think that the problem is in embedded controller BIOS - it may not support this drive or not support this drive with current firmware it has.
Please note that SCSI BIOS installs only if it finds supported bootable devices - BIOS is required only to boot from the device. Maybe this drive is not supported to boot from?
I would try with addon generic Adaptec AHA-2940UW controller.
BTW, you're telling that BIOS says 'not installed'. But can you access drive for OS?
Eugeny
Alex Daskalakis
Occasional Advisor

Re: ML370 G3 and IBM/Seagate STD2401WL Tape Drive

Hi

Well i tried something else - changing the controller id for the separate ports only to screw up the kernel. That said, i did think about the firmware but i think that, in this case, where we are talking about an old tape drive, a scsi adaptor with recent upgrades whould have been able to recognise it. Also i have no knowledge of Linux/Unix and someone else built the kernel and installed linux on the server. All i am concerned about is that it can't be recognised hardware-wise by the onboard controller. The server runs SuSE 8.2 so if you can help me find the correct commands for accessing the drive i'd be very glad

Thanks
Eugeny Brychkov
Honored Contributor

Re: ML370 G3 and IBM/Seagate STD2401WL Tape Drive

Does this drive have a jumpers somewhere? I've tried to find manuals, but they're unavailable neither from Seagate nor from IBM.
If your drive really has jumpers then I would suspect that for different platforms (PC, Unix, etc) jumper settings can be different (like with HP tape drives which have 8 dip switches at the bottom)
Eugeny
Alex Daskalakis
Occasional Advisor

Re: ML370 G3 and IBM/Seagate STD2401WL Tape Drive

There are 1.) jumpers for the scsi id and 2.) dip switches for the various OS settings, parity and termination power.

I found an old pdf with the dip switches settings and set them to Other OS as the pdf showed no support with linux but had support for things like Unix (HP, et al), Win NT and Vines. I played around with those dip switches but nothing happened. The only thing i can think of is the mention of firmware upgrading but where am ito find a firmware upgrade of a virtually non-existant scsi tape drive ?

One other solution i thought of was changing the scsi cable used for the hard-disks ( as it is has a single scsi connector), using a multi-port cable and hooking up the tape drive to that, although i am not sure what id number to give it, as the server has 3 hard drives in a raid 5 config..
Eugeny Brychkov
Honored Contributor

Re: ML370 G3 and IBM/Seagate STD2401WL Tape Drive

As soon as you're using PC-type server you should set dip switches appropriately.
Please clarify: are you trying to connect tape drive to RAID controller's SCSI channel?
Eugeny
Alex Daskalakis
Occasional Advisor

Re: ML370 G3 and IBM/Seagate STD2401WL Tape Drive

The mainboard has two onboard scsi connectors (not sure if it's raid). I have hooked it onto both.
Eugeny Brychkov
Honored Contributor

Re: ML370 G3 and IBM/Seagate STD2401WL Tape Drive

Please check. I've found http://h18004.www1.hp.com/products/servers/proliantml370/benefits-g3.html , and I would use 'removable media bays' and their SCSI bus(es) to connect tape hardware. Please remember that RAID controllers may NOT (in most of the cases) support tape device correctly
Eugeny
Alex Daskalakis
Occasional Advisor

Re: ML370 G3 and IBM/Seagate STD2401WL Tape Drive

I found out today that an old co-employee that used to work with us had successfully installed the compaq version of the above drive (the new one) without so much as a blink. When we first received the server we were given an identical tape drive like the compaq, yet had the same problem with the ibm. Could this be a fault in the raid controller ?
Eugeny Brychkov
Honored Contributor

Re: ML370 G3 and IBM/Seagate STD2401WL Tape Drive

It's hard to say. The rule says: "do not connect tape drives to RAID controller channels as this RAID controller may not handle drive correctly, and in addition tape drive may slow down SCSI bus (RAID controllers are usually LVD but tape drive may be SE)".
In your situation I suspect that problem may be in different drives' firmware. This one may have firmware developed for IBM AIX operating system. BTW, which part/product number analogous Compaq drive has?
Eugeny