HP surestore autochanger C1557A

[john wesson]

I have "aquired" a DDS-3 autochanger and have attached it to a Sun Ultra running Solaris 8, (can I say that on a HP site). Using netbackup and DDS tapes I have not experienced any problems what so ever.

Having proven my aquistion works within my enviroment I then went out and purchased 10 DDS3 Tapes, so I didnt have to visit the autochanger that often.

The tape drive is not too happy with the DDS3 tapes, it gives both media errors and sequential postioning errors.

Using native tar I can write to the tape occassionally, with some success on smaller files (/etc/hosts etc), however writing a larger backup causes problems.

According to prtconf Im running U610 on the tape drive.

Anybody have any ideas whats going on and what my options are. I have cleaned the tape drives several times, but I cant understand why DDS tapes work fine and it complains about the DDS3 tapes.

I have read these support forums with interest, but as I havent got access to either a HP box, or a PC with a SCSI card I cant reun L&TT, upgrade the firmware or recalibrate the drive.

Finally, as I doubt this kit is still under warranty, if it needs to be repaired does anybody have a clue as to the cost - Im based in the UK.

Thanks

[Eugeny Brychkov]

John,
check 'Getting Started' guide available from http://h20000.www2.hp.com/bizsupport/TechSupport/DocumentIndex.jsp?contentType=SupportManual&locale=en_US&prodTypeId=12169&prodSeriesId=42846&taskId=115&prodSeriesId=42846&docIndexId=763 . I see that for Sun OS drive bottom dip switches should be set as all on except 6 and 7 are off. Also check autoloader option switch. Did you boy HP DDS3 tapes (C5708A)?
Eugeny

[john wesson]

Nope - the were Sony.

[Eugeny Brychkov]

John, then try with HP DDS3 tape. I know there are tapes with different tape lenght, different magnetic coating etc. So the best now for you is to check with HP recommended tape. If it will fail again, then we'll have tape question closed and return to drive question
Eugeny

[Rothery Harris]

The drive probably has worn write heads in the DDS-3 tape mechanism. Writing DDS-3 tapes requires more 'margin' than DDS-2 as the density is higher. Also some brands of tape do seem to exhibit more errors. Apart from giving the mechanism a good clean you will need to have the drive repaired. HP only provides unit exchange.

Rothery

[john wesson]

I dont see the point of using a HP DDS tape here - DDS is a standard and therefore all tapes SHOULD be of the same standard, if a particular manufacturers tape drive doesnt read those standard tapes then it would be a big concern. I will check the dip switches tonight, but apparantly Soalris disables the ones on the bottom of the machine.

Rothery Im beginning to suspect that the tape heads are worn, as the tape drive has a sticker on it showing it had a previous life in a large UK utility company.

Do you know of anywhere where I could source a cheap repair, this drive is for home use and I want to try and keep costs down.