B132L and DDS3 tape drive

[ricky_1]

Hi folks,

Would like to ask about the problem iam hit with.We have B132L workstation with one default factory installed disk.I tried to attach a DDS3tape drive to it on wide scsi port .But when i do that i cannot detect the disk and the tape drive both.The stape driver is installed on the system,and also tried changing the scsi ID tried 1 3 5 etc. but no luck.If i remove the tape drive and replace it with terminator everything works as normal.

Any pointers will be helpful

[Franky_1]

Hi,

first of all look that the scsi id are really different and if the tape drive is connected close it with the terminator
What is the ioscan output ? Maybe you'll have to make insf (-e) to install the necessary device files
Just my thoughts

Regards

Franky

[ricky_1]

Frank,

The Scsi Id's are diff.,and terminator is used on tape drive as well.

[Heiner E. Lennackers]

You say that you connect the DDS3 Tape to the wide scsi port. AFAIK the wide port on a B132L is a differential scsi port, but for the tape drive you need a single ended port. You should try to connect it to the narrow port.

HeL

[Bill Hassell]

What does ioscan -f report? Check before and after adding the tape drive. ioscan is a low-level SCSI query program and if it does not see your tape drive, it's probably not working. If devices on the same bus disappear when you hook up the tape, you likely have mixed HV-FWD with standard SCSI (HV-FWD is electrically incompatible with *all* other versions of SCSI)

[ricky_1]

Hi,

Actually cannot run ioscan cause when i add this tape drive , the only disk it has also disappears so no bootable device is found.

Thanks

[Bill Hassell]

That definitely indicates that the tape drive is incompatible with the SCSI interface you are using. HV-FWD refers to HighVoltage FastWideDifferential and is unique to older HP computers. Since the voltages are different, no narrow/wide adapter will work--HVFWD is incompatible with non-HV SCSI interfaces.

[ricky_1]

So what is the solution to this, how do i connect the tape drive? Any idea

[Bill Hassell]

On the back of the B132L (NOTE: not the B132L+) there are two SCSI connectors, a small HD50 at the left edge and right next to it, an HD68 connector which is HV FWD SCSI. Now your DDS3 tape drive may have a low density connector (fairly large with two triangle-shaped wire clips) or an HD50 SCSI connector. For the former case, a low-density to high-density 50-pin cable is needed. For the second case, a standard 50-pin high-density cable is needed. Do not use a 68-pin adapter. If your box is a B132L+ then the FWD connector is actually a 16bit Ultra-wide SCSI connector.

Bottom line is that if you plug the drive into the leftmost HD50 connector and the disk drive stops working, your tape drive has a problem, possibly with basic SCSI compatibility (now there's an oxymoron) or possibly the drive is strapped wrong or broken.

[ricky_1]

Bill,

It seems it is B132L and with HVFWD and narrow scsi port.

Probably will look out for a LD to HD conversion 50 pin cable and try out the Tape drive.Tape drive works fine on other systems so it is not a issue atall.

Thanks