Firmware for STK T10000 drive

[mletendre]

I have been trying to find firmware 1.38 or higher for the T10000 tape drive as I think that is the root of all my problems, well that has been near impossible!

We bought the drives from someone who acquired them from a company going out of business (so no support from SUN) and so far they have been working alright and the only issue is we have about 1440 tapes that will not initialize or reformat. Upon reading a few other PDFs I found what I believe to be evidence that in order for a T10000A drive to load a T10000B tape the firmware needs to be 1.38 (ours are currently 1.34 and 1.31 I believe).

The box of these tapes all have a part number (m-T10K-B-Vib-ASC-V) which states they were initialized on a B drive.


Does anyone know where I can get a copy of this firmware that i can load onto our drives?

I did find this in the PDF manual for the drive, I guess you need to have an options set to allow the drive to make a firmware tape, does anyone know if this is something that is commonly set to allow this? I am hoping I can find someone with a drive that has this firmware and we can make a data code and throw some cash their way for the help...

Make Code Tape Submenu
Note: Only drives with all images loaded into the EEPROM can make code tapes.
MakeCodeTp Make Code Tape, copies the firmware
image from the drive EEPROM to a
data cartridge. This “code tape” can
then be used to update firmware in
other drives using the Code Update
submenu.
A normal data cartridge, if present,
ejects when this function is activated.
If Make Code Tape fails and CHK xxxx
appears, try a different cartridge. If the
problem persists, consult your Sun
service representative.
Note: Make sure drive is properly prepared to
create code tapes. If required, exit Drive
Operations Menu and update drive to full code
of desired firmware release level.
1. Do one of the following:
? Press Menu to bypass
? Press Select to activate.
2. When Ld Code Tp appears, insert a writeenabled
data cartridge.
3. When the new code tape unloads, remove the
data cartridge, and set the write-protect
switch to lock.
4. Insert another write-enabled data cartridge, or
press Menu to exit the create code tape
submenu. .

 

[TekAndy]

If it is anything like the 9840 ABorC and 9940A or B, the unit needs to be in FULL CODE mode to creat a code tape. I'm not sure what different interfaces there are on the T10000, but the manufacturer of the drive "SUN" would only have code loaded to the drive to match the interface. You cannot make a code tape if the drive contains only ESCON, or FIBRE, or SCSI individually in ist memory. It needs to have the option set to FULL CODE and then the code loaded onto it. It will then contain CODE for ALL interface versions in memory and be able to make a code tape. I haven't played with the T10000 yet, but I was at STK for the eairly part of it's development. VERY early.....

Andy

 

[TekAndy]

You may have to spend the $$ and send one unit to SUN for repair/upgrade. Configure it for FULL CODE before you send it,(if it is an option). Then use it to make a tape when you get it back. Just a thought.

Andy

 

[STKman]

Good plan, but Sun will revert it back to FullCode=N before flashing and sending it back. They take these steps to prevent firmware getting into the hands of third party maintainers. Try to find a reseller or repairer who will flash the unit and who say they will keep FullCode=Y setting enabled. Then you can make up a tape to flash all your other drives.

 

[mletendre]

Do you know of anyone who may be able to do this? Pinetree and CPU do not have enough experience with the T10K to support it yet...

 

[mletendre]

Now I am confused... I see in the documentation where it states full code must be enabled.... but I can not find that on any of our 3 drives. I tried taking some tapes and seeing if I could make a code tape and they all let me, so I assume it was enabled on all 3 of the drives but I do not see how the option is toggled.

I can access the drives via VOP and an Ethernet cable as these are not in the rack system with the actual operator panels.

 

[STKman]

I'm in the same position as TekAndy in that I've not worked with the T10K, just 9840's and 9940's. These models have an operator panel and the FullCode setting is in the configuration sub-menu.

This is just a guess, but if you cannot find this setting anywhere with VOP, then it might be because its not available from the customer version of VOP. There are two versions, a customer version and a somewhat more feature rich version for Sun engineers.

 

[mletendre]

I'm sure you are right, I have found someone who has the firmware we need so I am crossing my fingers that it will work

Thank you again for your help, I will let you know if it works.