replacing drive in Autoloader DLT 818

[Hermanns_2]

The drive in my out-of-warranty DLT 818
failed. HP-LTT advised me to replace the
drive. So I tried to do.

I have an external DLT80e which workes fine.
Since the drive units look very similar,
I changed the front panel and the closing
handle, mounted the drive into the loader
and on the display appears: 'no drive'.
Loader firmware is 2.12, and DLT drive
firmware is V080/OEM1, the worn drive
has firmware V086/OML3, which I want to
flash onto the 'new' drive, but HP L&TT
doesn't allow this due to wrong personality.

I think, I have to flash a 'loader firmware'
into the externel drive to use it in the autoloader,
is that right?

Is it possible to disable this limitation in HP L&TT?

thanks in advance,
Dieter

[Marino Meloni_1]

Sorry but for what I know, it is now allowed, L&TT check for the personality and even with the password do not allow this. Several personlalities have also hardware changes, like I2C bus for library communication and differents handle to load and unload tapes

[Hermanns_2]

Thanks to Marino Meloni,

but I can't belive this in this case, because I've compared the
PCBs and their components and I cannot detect any differences
in components or PCB layout.
So, I still believe that's only difference in the firmware.

btw, the 'loader'-drive works with the front-panel of the stand-alone unit.

still appreciating helpful answers,
Dieter

[Curtis Ballard]

You are correct the drives have identical hardware other than the front panel. However the firmware is different and OEM1 firmware doesn't have the serial port communciation module that libraries use.

It isn't possible to change from OEM1 to OML3 in the field. Changing firmware personalities can only be done in the factory. It isn't L&TT checking the header in this case there just isn't any way we can change the firmware personality.

To replace the drive in an 818 you need another OML3 drive or if you can't find one an OMX drive will work.

[Hermanns_2]

Hi Curtis Ballard,

thanks for your answer.

What are the 1,13 MB in the firmware file?
Isn't that the whole firmware, or is it only the one for the 68020 cpu?
The 80C196 Microcontroller, which is responsible for the serial port
connection, has code RAM, so it must be initialized from the Main-CPU,
whose firmware is downloaded, and therefore it must contain also
the code for the 80C196.

As read in the L&TT manual on page 45, the advanced option dialog
is shown, which allows the feature to download any firmware
and update the Product ID.

What is an OMX drive? Where is it built in?

[Curtis Ballard]

The firmware files contain all the firmware needed for use in the application they are built for. Standalone drive firmware has everything a standalone drive needs but doesn't contain the library interface code. Library firmware is all the standalone firmware and the library interface firmware.

Everything that is needed to run that drive in a library is in the OML3 firmware you downloaded however there just isn't any way we can get the drive to accept that firmware. If L&TT were to send the firmware to the drive it would reject it. When you try to download firmware to the drive the first thing the drive does in check to see if it is the right kind. If it isn't the right kind it rejects the firmware. Only the factory has the special tools required to force the drive to accept different firmware. Some drives have ways to do that over SCSI and we could provide that function in L&TT but the DLT8000 drive doesn't.

I don't know what products used OMX firmware. HP has only used the OML firmware so any HP library drive would work. If you get a drive from another vendor's library you would have to check the revision string. I think most library drives would probably work but can't promise that.

[Hermanns_2]

as I figured out, the personality is stored
inside an EEPROM and has to be changed
to accept another firmware. How is this to be done? is there any source of information
what the pins of the diag/config are for?

[Curtis Ballard]

Sorry I don't even have a way to change the personality of that drive. The diag connector connects to an external circuit board which has a serial connection to a host then special software on the host can change the EEPROM setting for personality.

Quantum doesn't let anybody else have that circuit board or the design to it and even if one could be built they don't publish their procedure for changing personality.

HP's R&D lab has to send DLT8000 drives to Quantum or have a factory rep come on site if personalities need changed. I doubt that their field engineers even know how to do that.

[Ragnar Sundblad]

Hello Dieter,

I have a few older DLT drives too that could need an overhaul, but that I don't want to spend too much money on.

Did you find someone, preferably in Europe, that can take a look on DLT drives without charging a fortune?

FYI, the DLT drives has a personality and a subpersonality. The personality can for external drives be OML, it identifies itself as QUANTUM on the SCSI bus, or a different brand like HP, SUN or TANDBERG. For internal (loader) drives it can be OML or OMX, and there doesn't seem to be any special firmware for different brands. The subpersonality is a number which indicates some minor differences. With the normal firmware upgrade procedure, you need to have at least the same personality on the new firmware, I think you can change the subpersonality though.

I _think_ that the extra OMX functionality (something with how unloading is done) isn't activated until the loader tells it to, so I _think_ that is why an OMX drive probably works in an OML library.

Thank you in advance for any pointers to a DLT repair shop.

/ragge

[Andrew Hazell]

I know of a company who can repair and upgrade DLT818 drives and all other DLTs, let me know if you want the details.
Regards

Andrew