Very Computer

I am running Linux 1.3.20 (Slackware 3.0) on a 486DX2-75 (IBM
PS/Valuepoint, IDE).  I have been given an 8 mm SCSI Exabyte 8200 tape
drive for use with Linux for backups, and was wondering:

- Does Linux support such a drive?
- What is involved in getting my IDE computer speaking SCSI?

Any advice would be appreciated.

----------------< LINUX: The choice of a GNU generation. >-----------------

Frontenac-Lennox & Addington County RCSSB   Kingston, Ontario  CANADA

So, to get the drive working, you just need a supported SCSI card.  See
the Linux source code and documentation for details.

------  Ben Pearre  ---  Princeton University Computer Science  ------
                     http://www.princeton.edu/~bwpearre

SF> Hello:
SF>
SF> I am running Linux 1.3.20 (Slackware 3.0) on a 486DX2-75 (IBM
SF> PS/Valuepoint, IDE).  I have been given an 8 mm SCSI Exabyte 8200 tape
SF> drive for use with Linux for backups, and was wondering:
SF>
SF> - Does Linux support such a drive?

Yes.

SF> - What is involved in getting my IDE computer speaking SCSI?

        1) Get yourself a good SCSI controller board. An Adaptec AHA-1542CF is
a good ISA board.  Look at the SCSI-HOWTOs for more details.

        2) You'll probably need to re-make your kernel.  You want to

           A) enable SCSI support
           B) enable the driver for the SCSI board you get
           C) enable at least SCSI tape support (you might want to also
              enable disk, CD-ROM, and generic support as well).

           D) re-make your kernel (don't forget to re-run /etc/lilo/install -
              make zLilo does this automagically).

        Once you install the board, SCSI cables (don't forget a terminator),
you should be all set.

        Oh, there is no problem supporting IDE and SCSI at the same time, only
the limits of floppy size limits the boot/install kernels from including both
(esp. given the number of different SCSI controllers).

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Quote:>- What is involved in getting my IDE computer speaking SCSI?

Rebuild your kernel for SCSI support.

Make sure the tape drive has terminators installed.

Use a good SCSI cable.

Quote:>Any advice would be appreciated.

Watch out for media compatibility problems. I am involved in a
dispute with Exabyte right now over this. Apparently there is
no such thing as an industry standard tape, or so their support
people are attempting to convince me. If you have to buy
Exabyte tapes, your tapes may wind up costing you enough extra
that you would benefit by throwing away the drive and purchasing
one from a different manufacturer, that uses industry standard tapes.

If there is such a drive.

---

: >- What is involved in getting my IDE computer speaking SCSI?

: Get a SCSI card. For just talking to a tape drive, Adaptec 1510
: can be had for perhaps $80.

Don't forget that many recent sound cards have SCSI ports on them.
I have a PAS16, and have used my DAT drive, CD-ROM, and a hard drive
on it at a really decent speed.

The PAS16 can be found for well under $100 if you look.

 >Watch out for media compatibility problems. I am involved in a
 >dispute with Exabyte right now over this. Apparently there is
 >no such thing as an industry standard tape, or so their support
 >people are attempting to convince me. If you have to buy
 >Exabyte tapes, your tapes may wind up costing you enough extra
 >that you would benefit by throwing away the drive and purchasing
 >one from a different manufacturer, that uses industry standard tapes.
 >

Curious.  What's the problem?  

The only thing I have read in Exabyte literature has to do with tape and
cleaning cartridge quality and abrasiveness, not physical or magnetic
media compatibility.  Problems with media include flaking of media
particles and the tape surface not being smooth enough.  Exabyte also
warns against the use of video cleaning tapes as they are too abrasive.

I use my 8200 at home and am basically cheap so I don't normally buy
new-in-the-box Exabyte media.  Most of my tapes are 112m Sony data grade
tapes bought at about $4US ea. out of overruns from a duplicating
service.  They have not given me any problems.  I regularly use an Exabyte
cleaning cartridge however, and blow all the dust out of the drive
ocassionally.

Quote:>If there is such a drive.

Quote:>I am running Linux 1.3.20 (Slackware 3.0) on a 486DX2-75 (IBM
>PS/Valuepoint, IDE).  I have been given an 8 mm SCSI Exabyte 8200 tape
>drive for use with Linux for backups, and was wondering:
>- Does Linux support such a drive?

Good luck!

--
Disclaimer: The opinions expressed above are my own and do not in any way represent L*Aerospace Corporation.

Quote:>One cautionary note:  Some very old 8200 series drives have firmware
>revisions that can cause lots of problem or just plain won't work.
>Generally, any firmware revision lower than MX2618 spells trouble.
>The good news is that Exabyte has an upgrade kit that is quick, easy,
>and (at the time of this writing) US$22.  You can get ordering details
>from http://www.exabyte.com.  I'd look up the exact kit number, but I'm
>not in my office.  :-)