HP Ultrium 460 and Adaptec 29160

[Anthony Capone_1]

Hello All,

I was hoping that someone could help me out here...

I have an HP Ultrium 460 external tape drive ( http://h20000.www2.hp.com/bizsupport/TechSupport/Document.jsp?objectID=c00351251〈=en&cc=us&taskId=101&prodSeriesId=238671&prodTypeId=12169 )

and an Adaptec 29160 ( http://www.adaptec.com/en-us/products/controllers/hardware/scsi/entry/asc-29160/ ).

I would like to connect the external tape drive to the adaptec controller, but I am really unsure which cable I would need. Can anyone help here?

Thanks, Anthony

[Anthony Capone_1]

Sorry,

I posted the wrong card...I actually, have the N version of the Adaptec 29160N.

Here is the correct link:

http://www.adaptec.com/en-us/products/_eol/asc-29160n/

Thanks!

[Johan Guldmyr]

Hi!

As far as I can see,

the external port on that card is a "50-pin for Ultra SCSI".

The port on the Ultrium 460 is a "LVD, Wide, Ultra SCSI-3 68 HD External".

I think you would need a SCSI-3 card with 68-pin. Unsure if there is one that goes from 50-pin to 68-pin.

http://www.scsita.org/aboutscsi/Pictures.html

For some pictures.

In the Ultrium drive quickspecs:

http://h18000.www1.hp.com/products/quickspecs/11739_na/11739_na.html

There are cables, but they are only 68-pin HD -> 68 pin VHDCI or HD.

[Anthony Capone_1]

Hi,

I think I have found the cable that I need...

http://www.monoprice.com/products/product.asp?c_id=102&cp_id=10205&cs_id=1020502&p_id=770&seq=1&format=2

I have ordered it...and just waiting for it to show up...but by all accounts, it looks like it will fit the tape drive and 29160N.

Thanks for the help, Anthony

[Johan Guldmyr]

Cool!

If you remember, please post here when you try it :)

[Curtis Ballard]

The recommended HP cables are available at this link:
http://h18004.www1.hp.com/products/servers/proliantstorage/bcs-rackandpower/data-cables/scsi_cables_terminators.html

Any HDTS68 cable will work. Those are the top three in the table.

You need 68 pin HD connectors at both ends. Don't get a cable with a VHDCI or VHDTS connector.

[Anthony Capone_1]

Curtis,

I don't think I need a 68pin at both ends. I believe its only the Tape Drive end the needs a 68 pin connector...and at the host controller end, it should be a 50pin HD connector.

The tape drive has a considerably bigger connector than the host controller.

Thanks,

Anthony

[Curtis Ballard]

I should have refreshed - your updates explains that. The 29160N is a "narrow" version of the standard 20160 so you are correct you need an HDTS68 cable to an HDTS50 cable.

The connectors on the cable you found are correct. I'd be nervous about that particular cable being suitable for an Ultrium 460 drive however. It is pretty important to buy high quality SCSI cables when using parallel SCSI.

HP doesn't sell cables with those connectors anymore but if it were my system I'd be more comfortable buying something from a well known cable manufacturer such as the Amphenol cables available from Amphenol direct at the link below.

http://www.cablesondemand.com/product/CS-VHDCI68H50/URvars/Items/Library/InfoManage/CS-VHDCI68H50.htm

[Anthony Capone_1]

Thanks for the reply. I have purchased cables from Monoprice before, mainly HDMI cables, cat5/6, etc...and have found them to be very good. Having said that, I have never purchased any SCSI cables from them.

I would hope that they are high quality like their other cables are.

Since the cable has been shipped...and I will give it a try...but if the cable is not a high quality cable, what types of problems should I expect to experience from a low quality cable?

Thanks for providing that like..I will use, should the cable from Monoprice prove to be of substandard quality.

[Curtis Ballard]

I have no knowledge of the cable quality from Monoprice, it may be an excellent cable. I'm just guessing from the raw cost of the connectors and bulk cable that the price they are charging looks too low.

If the cable doesn't have all the right signal quality characteristics the problems are difficult to identify and resolve which is why I tend to be very conservative.

Generally a cable issue will cause fairly random errors of differing types. A "Parity Error" is a pretty good indication of a cable problem. Others like random command failures just show up as a backup failure, usually a command timeout, and are hard to track down.

[Anthony Capone_1]

Alright, I got the cable today from Monoprice. Cable quality appeared to be very good, and IT FIT! So, I proceeded to install the card, the cable and the drive. All went smoothly! Windows recognized everything, I was even able to upgrade the firmware on the tape drive. The drive is currently erasing the tape, 4 hours to go.

Anything specific I should be doing to test out the cable quality? Or should I be satisfied so far? Also, not even sure if the tape is good,it came used from Ebay.

[Johan Guldmyr]

In HP LTT - library and tape tools - there are some test for the tape drive (like read/write test), not specifically for the cable though.