Very Computer

Hello,

I have an RS/6000 with a fast wide differential card installed.  I have been
given an external DLT 7000 which I have confirmed from Quantum that my
version is the Fast Wide differential version.  Thus, I have a match on the
hardware types but I am unable to see this item on FWD bus.  I have no other
devices attached to this bus (at least as far as I can tell.).  I have tried
various SCSI id's and not had any luck.  The advanced diagnostics, scsi
analyzer also has not provided any insight (I check on all 15 id's except 7
(scsi card) and got no response to the OS queries at any id).  Is there a
driver I need to install for this to be seen or a patch?  If so, pointers to
location or package would be a great help.

Thank You

Christine Cooper

: Hello,

: I have an RS/6000 with a fast wide differential card installed.  I have been
: given an external DLT 7000 which I have confirmed from Quantum that my
: version is the Fast Wide differential version.  Thus, I have a match on the
: hardware types but I am unable to see this item on FWD bus.  I have no other
: devices attached to this bus (at least as far as I can tell.).  I have tried
: various SCSI id's and not had any luck.  The advanced diagnostics, scsi
: analyzer also has not provided any insight (I check on all 15 id's except 7
: (scsi card) and got no response to the OS queries at any id).  Is there a
: driver I need to install for this to be seen or a patch?  If so, pointers to
: location or package would be a great help.

Hi Christine,

 Is this a ATL Library?  We have a F-50 and ATL with a single DTL drive,
single cable and I'm having the same problem.  I've been told to check
that the drive is terminated, so I'm popping the cover off of it tomorrow
and take a look.  I have a feeling that the ATL is configured as a 2 cable
system and not a single like we are using it.  I'm also getting a cable
with a 68 pin male to centronics so I can hook up a 8mm tape drive and
check out the scsi port.  I didn't have any 68 pin scsi connectors so had
to order one.  

Mike

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Hillsboro and Prineville, Oregon
Bouvier des Flandres - Carting, Herding & Clicker Training
The Mocassin Telegraph - Cherokee Genealogy
WWW:  http://www.europa.com/~mjordan

Hello Mike,
  In my case the drive is a DLT 7000 in a case by "CI Design".  The drive
inside is a PN: 593120 model TH6aF-MB.  I called quantum and asked them to
look up the part and model number and was told "its a fast wide DLT 7000".
Beyond that they said it had been "sold internally" and thus they had no
further information.  I assume from that that they sold the "bare" drive to
CI design who integrated it into one of their cases and then sold it
(probably via mail order or a 3rd party channel).  My case is strange in the
fact that there is no brand on it at all.  I called 411 and got the number
of CI Design corporate, called them, asked for technical support etc.  They
confirmed that the internal drive cabling was correct and that I "should" be
able to set the jumper etc..   It was pointed out in another post the fact
that I only tested SCSI ID's 0-6 when, as a differential device, I have a
lot more ID's available to me.  Well, the case I have only goes 0-7
(suspicious isn't it).  I cannot help but wonder if something doesn't match
with the case and the drive and that is the source of the problem.  I wish I
had another fast wide external device to test with but I don't.  I have
internal FWD SCSI drives hooked to that same bus/card and they work fine.
I have another internal drive (8mm) that shows up with OST.  I really have a
feeling that something is up with the case/drive combo in this scenario.
All of the docs I have seen both at quantum and at IBM indicate that this
guy should at least show up as an OST.  Since it doesn't even show up on the
bus one has to suspect that this drive isn't responding to commands or I
have an ID conflict (possible but not likely unless the drive is set to ID 7
and is conflicting with the controller itself).  At this point I think the
best route for me will be to call CI Design and put pressure on the internal
purchasing group to find where this was purchased.  More later :) the saga
continues.

Christine Cooper

Will your TTI DLT successfully boot the RS/6000 with a mksysb tape?  We
don't have an IBM tape drive at all and was just wondering.  Thanks.

Quantum confirmed that it was definately FW/Diff by the part number.  The
case has 68 pins.  I did open up the case in order to get the quantum part
number and all that is in there is a power cable leading to the drive and
two cables that lead to the drive jumpers. I check of those cables with the
case vendor indicated that they were properly configured.

Quote:

>Did you open the case ? Is there anything between the socket for
>the SCSI cable and the drive itself that might change the SCSI
>transfer ? AFAIK, there are units to convert wide/narrow or
>diff/single - such a thing might be in the box.

No converters.  Fairly standard stuff just jumper and power.

Quote:

>> ((...))   It was pointed out in another post the fact
>> that I only tested SCSI ID's 0-6 when, as a differential device, I have a
>> lot more ID's available to me.  Well, the case I have only goes 0-7
>> (suspicious isn't it).

>I assume you meant "wide" two lines above ?  "Differential" does
>not influence the addresses available.

>> ((...))  I have
>> internal FWD SCSI drives hooked to that same bus/card and they work fine.

>In your first posting, you claimed "I have no other
>devices attached to this bus (at least as far as I can tell.)."
>which definitely differs from the new statement.

True, I have slowyly been improving my education.  Upon re-examination of
the devices on the system, I realized that several hard drives that were
internal were attached to that card.  My thinking, at the time, was very
narrow.  I thought, there must not be any devices attached since there
aren't any other external devices.  It never occured to me (it should have)
that they would have attached devices internally. Those devices seem to work
fine since they are all hard disks and show up on the system.  One thing to
now.  I get lots and lots of termination errors and SCSI error message in
the lot (doesn't matter if this DLT is attached or not.  I still get them).
My guess is that there is something going on with the internal cables or
termination setup.  I am going to remove the covers this week-end and try to
look at the cables to see if any are loose etc.

FPT could be an issue.  Currently I have a FW Diff card that has two MD 68
ports (externally) and neither port has a terminator.  In high-end Sun
workstations you have to terminate the bus at the external connection point
EVEN IF there are no devices attached to the adapter card.  I was wondering
if that was what was wrong here.  I get lots of vscsi0 and vscsi1 errors in
the error log about "termination"  "loose cable" etc.  I was thinking that I
needed to have both of those external connections on this AIX box terminated
with active terminators.  I have one terminator (currently on the DLT drive)
and I have ordered the second.  When It comes in I plan to terminate both
external connections and watch to see if the errors go away.

Christine.

HI,
  I still haven't resolved my connection issues with my DLT 7000 drive so I
haven't yet created a mksysb.  I thought I remember seeing issues relating
to booting with mksysb off of tape drives that are added as OST to the
external bus.  I plan to continue to do my mksysb from my internal 8mm drive
for as long as space will allow.  Seems less hastle that way.  I mainly need
my DLT for dabase archive files.

Christine Cooper