DDS4 Drive writing to DDS2 Tape

[Joseph C. Denman]

Hi All,

Does anyone know why I can't write to DDS2 90m tapes on a DDS4 Drive. I can read from the tapes, but can't write. Any assistance is greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

...jcd...

[Stf]

Hello,

What is your DDS4 PN?

Stf ;-)

[Steven E. Protter]

Depends on the drive maker.

My experience is DDS3 drivers can write to DDS2 tapes.

DDS technology has traditionally been downwardly compatible, ie able to read/write to previous version tapes.

What you report is what I used to get when I worked with Travan standard tapes. Its one of the reasons I never considered Travan a serious technology standard.

SEP

[Joseph C. Denman]

Can't get it to write!! I tried writing on a DDS3 drive, and it works fine. Moved to two different DDS4 Drives and it will not write. Error "Cannot open /dev/rmt/0m", but if I put a dds4 or 3 tape in the drive, it works fine. The DDS4 drives I am using are listed below:

HP StorageWorks DAT 40
P/N: C5687-60009

HP surestore dat 40
P/N: C5687-60003 REV B008

Anyone got a clue???

Thanks,

...jcd...

[Stf]

I think that you made all the tests that we could make... So DDS2 cartridge doesn't works on DDS4 drive...

Stf ;-)

[RAC_1]

I think you can. Prepare the device file for dds2.

mksf -H "hardware_path_of_drive" -C tape -b DDS2 /dev/rmt/dds2
Then use it. tar -cvf /dev/rmt/dds2

Hope this helps.

[Joseph C. Denman]

Still a no go. I created the dds2 file and I still get the same error. Any Ideas??


# mksf -H 0/0/1/0.3.0 -C tape -b DDS2 /dev/rmt/dds2
# cd /dev/rmt
# ls
0m 0mnb c0t3d0BESTn c0t3d0DDSb dds2
0mb c0t3d0BEST c0t3d0BESTnb c0t3d0DDSn stape_config
0mn c0t3d0BESTb c0t3d0DDS c0t3d0DDSnb
# tar tvpf /dev/rmt/dds2
rw-rw-rw- 0/0 4 Dec 2 10:33 2004 ups.tmp
# cd /tmp
# ls
.AgentSockets .oracle ioc llbdbase.dat ups.tmp
# ls
.AgentSockets .oracle ioc llbdbase.dat ups.tmp
# tar cvpf /dev/rmt/dds2 ioc
tar: cannot open /dev/rmt/dds2
#


Thanks

...jcd...

[Steven E. Protter · Accepted solution]

Probably time to log a support call and get a definitive answer from HP.

SEP

[RAC_1]

What does lssf /dev/rmt/dds2 says??

Anil

[Joseph C. Denman]

I'm on the phone with hp support now. I'll let you know.

lssf is:

stape card instance 0 SCSI target 3 SCSI LUN 0 at&t DDS2 DAT tape cartridge at a
ddress 0/0/1/0.3.0 /dev/rmt/dds2

Thanks,

...jcd...

[Joseph C. Denman]

FYI!!!

Looks like the DDS4 cannot write to 60 or 90 meter tapes. I was thinking 90 meters was DDS2, but it is DDS1. Here is the response from HP.

I've looked up the HP resources, and all sources points out that:
DDS-4 can read, but CAN NOT WRITE to a 90m tape.
The 90m tape you mentioned seems to actually be a DDS-1 media.

Here is the compatibility documentation:
http://h20000.www2.hp.com/bizsupport/TechSupport/Document.jsp?objectID=lpg50457&locale=en_US&taskId=101&prodSeriesId=81997&prodTypeId=12169


Here is a full source for material for your research should you need to find out more on other tape drives and media.
dds/dat drives

hp surestore dat8 drives <>
hp surestore dat24 drives <>
hp surestore dat24 tape array module <>
hp surestore dat40 drives <>
hp surestore dat40 tape array module <>

dds/dat mechanisms

hp trade-ready dds-1 mechanisms <>
hp trade-ready dds-2 mechanisms <>
hp trade-ready dds-3 mechanisms <>
hp trade-ready dds-4 mechanisms <>
hp trade-ready dds-3 autoloaders <>
hp trade-ready dds-4 autoloaders <>


...jcd...

[Patrick Wallek]

Ah yes, that would do it.

DDS Tape types:

DDS (original) - 60 meter - 1.3GB native
DDS1 - 90 meter - 2.0 GB native
DDS2 - 120 meter - 4.0 GB native
DDS3 - 125 meter - 12.0 GB native
DDS4 - 150 meter - 20.0 GB native

[Ralf Loehmann_2]

Hello Joseph,

there are DDS-4 drives out, which are not writing to DDS-2 Media.
You might check with LTT tool to get details about your drives.
http://h18006.www1.hp.com/products/storageworks/ltt/index.html

It will also check, if there is newer firmware available.

Regards,
Ralf.