3590 Medium Changer Device Name

[johndrake]

Hi All,

I have recently installed some backup software on our
AIX box. It is running AIX 4.3.3. In order to get it working
properly, I need to know the passthrough device that controls the "robotic arm" in the tape drive. I can't seem
to find it. I have tried /dev/rmt1 and /dev/ptyp0 and /dev/ptype1. They don't work. Can someone help me?

-Joe

 

[DSMARWAY]

hi,

what piece of backup software have you installed ?

If it is something like tapeutil , this will allow you to control the loading/unloading of tapes
for example :- tapeutil -f /dev/rmt1 move 16 33
basically moves tape from slot 16 which is priority slot to slot 33.

The backup software you installed , should allow you to do something similar
HTH

 

[johndrake]

Hi,

The backup software is named Arkeia (4.2.2). I spoke with the
technical support people and they said that I needed to know
the device name of the "robotic arm" that actually moves
the tape. I've explained to them that it is just a 3590
tape device with a ten tape cartridge rack that you pop
into it. I've also sent them the following list of configured devices, which I will put at the end of the email. Also, previously, whenever you put the cartridge rack
into the tape drive it would automatically load the first
tape into the slot. It does not do that anymore, and I
have tried all of the ACF settings, system, manual, random,
random 2, with the exception of accumulate. I will also include the tape settings on the AIX box.

Configured devices:

lsdev -C -H
name status location description

sys0 Available 00-00 System Object
sysplanar0 Available 00-00 System Planar
pci0 Available 00-f8400000 PCI Bus
pci1 Available 00-f8500000 PCI Bus
pci2 Available 00-f8600000 PCI Bus
pci3 Available 00-f8700000 PCI Bus
scsi0 Available 10-68 Wide/Fast-20 SCSI I/O Controller
isa0 Available 10-78 ISA Bus
ppa0 Available 01-R1 CHRP IEEE1284 (ECP) Parallel Port Adapter
sa0 Available 01-S1 Standard I/O Serial Port
sa1 Available 01-S2 Standard I/O Serial Port
siokma0 Available 01-K1 Keyboard/Mouse Adapter
fda0 Available 01-D1 Standard I/O Diskette Adapter
mg20 Available 20-58 GXT130P Graphics Adapter
scsi1 Available 20-68 Wide/Fast-20 SCSI I/O Controller
scsi2 Available 30-68 Wide/Fast-20 SCSI I/O Controller
scsi3 Available 30-70 Wide/Ultra-2 SCSI I/O Controller
scsi4 Available 30-71 Wide/Ultra-2 SCSI I/O Controller
ent0 Available 20-60 IBM 10/100 Mbps Ethernet PCI Adapter (231
00020)
ent1 Available 20-70 IBM 10/100 Mbps Ethernet PCI Adapter (231
00020)
sioka0 Available 01-K1-00 Keyboard Adapter
sioma0 Available 01-K1-01 Mouse Adapter
fd0 Available 01-D1-00-00 Diskette Drive
cd0 Available 10-68-00-3,0 16 Bit SCSI Multimedia CD-ROM Drive
rmt0 Available 10-68-00-5,0 SCSI 8mm Tape Drive
hdisk0 Available 30-68-00-8,0 16 Bit LVD SCSI Disk Drive
hdisk1 Available 30-68-00-9,0 16 Bit LVD SCSI Disk Drive
ses0 Available 30-68-00-15,0 SCSI Enclosure Services Device
hdisk2 Available 30-70-00-0,0 16 Bit LVD SCSI Disk Drive
hdisk3 Available 30-70-00-1,0 16 Bit LVD SCSI Disk Drive
hdisk4 Available 30-70-00-2,0 16 Bit LVD SCSI Disk Drive
hdisk5 Available 30-70-00-3,0 16 Bit LVD SCSI Disk Drive
hdisk6 Available 30-70-00-4,0 16 Bit LVD SCSI Disk Drive
ses1 Available 30-70-00-15,0 SCSI Enclosure Services Device
hdisk7 Available 30-71-00-0,0 16 Bit LVD SCSI Disk Drive
hdisk8 Available 30-71-00-1,0 16 Bit LVD SCSI Disk Drive
hdisk9 Available 30-71-00-2,0 16 Bit LVD SCSI Disk Drive
hdisk10 Available 30-71-00-3,0 16 Bit LVD SCSI Disk Drive
hdisk11 Available 30-71-00-4,0 16 Bit LVD SCSI Disk Drive
hdisk12 Available 30-71-00-8,0 16 Bit LVD SCSI Disk Drive
hdisk13 Available 30-71-00-9,0 16 Bit LVD SCSI Disk Drive
hdisk14 Available 30-71-00-10,0 16 Bit LVD SCSI Disk Drive
hdisk15 Available 30-71-00-11,0 16 Bit LVD SCSI Disk Drive
hdisk16 Available 30-71-00-12,0 16 Bit LVD SCSI Disk Drive
ses2 Available 30-71-00-15,0 SCSI Enclosure Services Device
lvdd Available LVM Device Driver
mem0 Available 00-00 Memory
proc0 Available 00-00 Processor
proc1 Available 00-01 Processor
proc2 Available 00-02 Processor
proc3 Available 00-03 Processor
proc4 Available 00-04 Processor
proc5 Available 00-05 Processor
L2cache0 Available 00-00 L2 Cache
pmc0 Available 00-00 Power Management Controller
lft0 Available Low Function Terminal Subsystem
tty0 Available 01-S1-00-00 Asynchronous Terminal
rootvg Defined Volume group
hd5 Defined Logical volume
hd6 Defined Logical volume
hd8 Defined Logical volume
hd4 Defined Logical volume
hd2 Defined Logical volume
hd9var Defined Logical volume
hd3 Defined Logical volume
lv13 Defined Logical volume
pty0 Available Asynchronous Pseudo-Terminal
gxme0 Available Graphics Data Transfer Assist Subsystem
rcm0 Available Rendering Context Manager Subsystem
aio0 Available Asynchronous I/O
inet0 Available Internet Network Extension
en1 Available Standard Ethernet Network Interface
en2 Defined Standard Ethernet Network Interface
et0 Defined IEEE 802.3 Ethernet Network Interface
et1 Defined IEEE 802.3 Ethernet Network Interface
et2 Defined IEEE 802.3 Ethernet Network Interface
lo0 Available Loopback Network Interface
kbd0 Available 01-K1-00-00 PS/2 keyboard
mouse0 Available 01-K1-01-00 3 button mouse
secvg Defined Volume group
appsvg Defined Volume group
dbasevg Defined Volume group
project1vg Defined Volume group
loglv00 Defined Logical volume
trainvg Defined Volume group
loglv01 Defined Logical volume
lv04 Defined Logical volume
lv05 Defined Logical volume
loglv02 Defined Logical volume
lv06 Defined Logical volume
lv07 Defined Logical volume
loglv03 Defined Logical volume
lv08 Defined Logical volume
lv09 Defined Logical volume
dlctoken Available Token-Ring Data Link Control
dlcsdlc Available SDLC Data Link Control
dlcqllc Available X.25 QLLC Data Link Control
dlcfddi Available FDDI Data Link Control
dlcether Available Standard Ethernet Data Link Control
dlc8023 Available IEEE Ethernet (802.3) Data Link Control
lus Available Legato SCSI User Interface Release 5.5.ls
m.Build.51
en0 Available Standard Ethernet Network Interface
lp0 Available 01-R1-00-00 Hewlett-Packard LaserJet 8100
tty1 Available 01-S2-00-00 Asynchronous Terminal
lv10 Defined Logical volume
lv11 Defined Logical volume
rmt1 Available 20-68-00-3,0 IBM 3590 Tape Drive and Medium Changer
homedirvg Defined Volume group
loglv05 Defined Logical volume
lv14 Defined Logical volume
loglv06 Defined Logical volume
lv03 Defined Logical volume
wagvg Defined Volume group
loglv07 Defined Logical volume
lv00 Defined Logical volume
projvg Defined Volume group
loglv08 Defined Logical volume
lv01 Defined Logical volume
project2vg Defined Volume group
loglv09 Defined Logical volume
lv15 Defined Logical volume
scsi5 Available 10-60 Wide/Fast-20 SCSI I/O Controller
hdisk17 Available 10-60-00-8,0 16 Bit LVD SCSI Disk Drive
hdisk18 Available 10-60-00-9,0 16 Bit LVD SCSI Disk Drive
hdisk19 Available 10-60-00-10,0 16 Bit LVD SCSI Disk Drive
ses3 Available 10-60-00-15,0 SCSI Enclosure Services Device
hdisk20 Available 30-68-00-10,0 16 Bit LVD SCSI Disk Drive
hdisk21 Available 30-68-00-11,0 16 Bit LVD SCSI Disk Drive
kdcvg Defined Volume group
lv02 Defined Logical volume
loglv10 Defined Logical volume
lv16 Defined Logical volume
internalappsvg Available Volume group
loglv11 Available Logical volume
lv17 Available Logical volume


Tape drive settings:

Tape Drive rmt1
Tape Drive type 3590
Tape Drive interface scsi
Description IBM 3590 Tape Drive an>
Status Available
Location 20-68-00-3,0
Parent adapter scsi1
Connection address 3,0
Block Size (0=Variable Length) [0] +#
Use DEVICE BUFFERS during writes yes +
Use Hardware Compression on Tape yes +
Use Autoloading Feature at End-of-Tape yes +
Activate volume information logging no +
Maximum size of log file (in # of entries) [500] +#
Backward Space/Forward Space Record Mode SCSI +
Use Immediate Bit in Rewind Commands no +
Trailer Label Processing yes +
Use Random Mode to Emulate Autoloader Tape Drive no +
Limit Read Error Recovery Time to 5 Seconds no +
Fail Tape Operation if Degraded Media is Detected no +

I have also set the below named parameter to "yes":

Use Random Mode to Emulate Autoloader Tape Drive

The OS is AIX 4.3.3.

I do greatly appreciate your help.

-Joe

 

[mrn]

Look to see if there is a /dev/changer/* device --
| Mike Nixon
| Unix Admin
|

http://www.instantflashshop.com

----------------------------

 

[Chapter11]

For a stand-alone 3590 with the 10-slot robot device, I *believe* the robot control is on the same device as the tape drive itself. (I used to have some of these, but I don't at the moment so I can't verify).

I noticed you've got Legato on that machine, try running /etc/LGTOuscsi/inquire and see what turns up there.

 

[dansz]

have you used thc command 'changers' to scammer the robbt,another thing that legato must the IBM's tape driver but the robot driver is not.

 

[Philipian]

I believe the device you want to use for controling the autochange on a 3590 drive is /dev/rmtX.smc

 

[johndrake]

Hi All,

Still no luck. How would I determine if my host can
support "Random mode" for the IBM 3590 Tape Drive running
AIX 4.3.3? The techs said that this, also, could be an issue.

-Joe

 

[Chapter11]

"Random" is a mode that is set on the 3590 itself. It is the only mode (that I'm aware of) that allows a host to control the robotics. All of the other ACF modes on the 3590 use logic provided by the 3590 itself.

You want the 3590 ACF mode set to "Random" for backup software to utilize the robotics properly.

You will also need the Atape drivers loaded on the RS/6000. This package will install a utility called "tapeutil". You can use this utility either interactively or from the command line to manipulate the 3590 robotics. Once you've established the ability to use this tool (the syntax can bite you sometimes), then other utilities should be able to control the robot as well.

 

[johndrake]

Hi,

I verified that "Random" worked yesterday. For the
software that I am using I was told that I need to configure their driver so that it can be used. So, this is
what I did:

For their driver:

$ lsattr -l pthru0 -E
scsi_id 3 N/A True
lun_id 0 N/A True
adap_name /dev/scsi1 N/A True

For the tape drive:

Tape Drive rmt1
Tape Drive type 3590
Tape Drive interface scsi
Description IBM 3590 Tape Drive an>
Status Available
Location 20-68-00-3,0
Parent adapter scsi1
Connection address 3,0
Block Size (0=Variable Length) [1024]

According to their tech support, I need to configure their
driver (pthru0) so that goes against the "robotic arm" of
the 3590 Tape Drive. By "robotic arm" I am the tape cartridge loader that pulls the tapes from the cartridge rack and loads it into the drive.

Here's the catch, their AIX tech pros are in France. The techs here expertise is in Solaris/Linux.

Thanks!

-Joe