Hi Everyone,
I would like to thank everyone who responded:
rdbowma_at_tsi.clemson.edu
mike_at_matthews.net
rkubaryc_at_sunyrockland.edu
webster_at_ssdpdc.lgb.cal.boeing.com
hammr_at_ucfv.bc.ca
"C.Ruhnke" <i769646_at_SMRS013A.MDC.COM>
The original question was:
> We are using two TZ87 tape drives in a storage works cabinet. Everything
> (backups/restores/re-labelling old tapes) works great until we have to
> label a new tape. When we go to label a new tape in either drive the
> Networker just 'hangs' and ends up keeping the tape drive 'busy' so it is
> impossible to do anything else with the drives.
>
> This ONLY occurs when it is a new tape - in all other cases there is no
> problems labelling tapes that have already been previously labelled.
>
> It has been awhile since we have had to initialze new tapes but the only
> thing that has changed is the upgrade in Networker Software (from 3.2 to
4.4).
>
In summary most said that there is a problem with the firmware of the
'older' tape drives and Networker 4.4 and most recommended getting the
firmware upgraded.
BUT without actually upgrading the firmware I was able to label a new tape
and use it from a suggestion by "C.Ruhnke" <i769646_at_SMRS013A.MDC.COM>:
"New" tapes are totally blank. Sometimes software (and I suspect NSR does)
tries to read the tape before operating on it. A "blank" tape will just
run down about 20 feet or so before the drive returns an error. The driver
may then retry the operation (up to 10 times) making it seem like the
operation is hung. You can subvert this by writing an EOF mark on "new"
tapes before you try to use them. Put the tape in the drive (I will assume
/dev/mt0, use the correct address for your drive) and issue
$ mt -f /dev/nrmt0h rewind
$ mt -f /dev/nrmt0h eof 2
This will write 2 end-of-file marks on the beginning of the tape. You
should then be able to initialize the tape more quickly with NSR.
Cheers,
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Curt Cranfield
VPHoS - VirtuALL Private Host Services Ltd.
Voice: (604)525-4475
Cell: (604)603-0703
http://www.vphos.net/
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Opportunity is missed by most people because it is dressed in overalls and
looks like work." - Thomas Edison
Received on Thu Sep 24 1998 - 16:24:29 NZST