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Move Ultrium 448 from Autoloader to Stand-alone??

 
J Mike Gilbert
Advisor

Move Ultrium 448 from Autoloader to Stand-alone??

Hi,

I've been using a 1/8 G2 Autoloader with an Ultrium 448 tape drive and Microsoft DPM for a while with no problems.

 

Now the autoloader has died at an inconvenient time and it's long out of warranty.  I'm considering whether to pay to get it repaired and back under support or just to buy a newer model...but that's another story.

 

However the embedded tape drive appears to be fine.  If I remove the Ultrium 448 from the autoloader and apply power directly to the back of the drive, the tape drive comes up and I can load/unload tapes etc.

 

I need to get the tape drive working if possible (outside the dead autoloader) so I can restore some files.  I tried connecting the same SCSI cable through the back of the (dead) autoloader - it appears to just connect straight through to the tape drive which I imagine would work even if the autoloader is off, and I need the external connector on the back of the autoloader because the back of the tape drive has an internal connector.

 

This didn't work - Windows didn't see the drive at all.  I notice that the tape drive also has a thin ribbon cable that connects to the autoloader.  I understand the power and SCSI cables and I believe they are connected correctly, but does anybody know what that third ribbon cable is?  Is there something simple I can do to get this working, just as a hack to restore some files?

 

And if I want to mount the tape drive in an external box long term, is there a compatible HP tape drive enclosure I can order to house the drive?  I need to keep it going for a year until all my old tapes expire.  External drive enclosures are very common but now I'm wondering if I need one that has a connector for that third ribbon cable as well as SCSI and power.

 

I'm thinking of ordering another 1/8 autoloader with a newer drive, but the newer ones use a different controller card so I couldn't just move the tape unit over.  That's why I'm looking for a way to keep the old drive going for a while.

 

Any suggestions for a quick hack to get Windows to see the tape drive would be appreciated!

 

Thanks.

Mike

2 REPLIES 2
Torsten.
Acclaimed Contributor

Re: Move Ultrium 448 from Autoloader to Stand-alone??

It is for device control, the library tells the drive the scsi id, the load/unload commands and other things.


Hope this helps!
Regards
Torsten.

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J Mike Gilbert
Advisor

Re: Move Ultrium 448 from Autoloader to Stand-alone??

So can I just remove this ribbon cable and be sure the drive is configured to be the normal SCSI ID 3 with the usual jumpers, or does this cable need to be connected for the drive to work?

 

If I purchase an external enclosure for this drive, will it have a place for the ribbon cable to plug in?

 

I guess what I'm really asking is if the Ultrium 448 drive I extracted from the autoloader is a "standard" drive which will work as a standalone unit, or whether it's some variant model which only works inside autoloaders with that ribbon cable connected.

 

Thanks!