Our IBM 7337-305 DLT-library has two DLT7000 drives. It is attached to a
RS/6000. IBM uses a software approach to download the microcode to those
drives from the host machine. I tried several times and always got error.
The service call is still open with IBM. I know that It is also possible to
put the drive into firmware upgrading mode and put a tape containing the
microcode into the drive to upgrade. I am wondering what approach you guys
choose.

Jie

Jie Wu
System and Storage Administrator
ROW Sciences Inc @NCTR FDA
phone: 870-543-7958
fax: 870-543-7382


> -----Original Message-----
> From: Prather, Wanda [SMTP:PrathW1 AT CENTRAL.SSD.JHUAPL DOT EDU]
> Sent: Thursday, August 05, 1999 10:12 AM
> To:   ADSM-L AT VM.MARIST DOT EDU
> Subject:      Re: DLT reliability
>
> Our drives are DLT7000.
> We got considerable reduction in errors when we upgraded to the V70
> firmware.
> Current level is V80!
>
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: Wu, Jie [SMTP:JWu AT NCTR.FDA DOT GOV]
> > Sent: Thursday, August 05, 1999 10:24 AM
> > To:   ADSM-L AT VM.MARIST DOT EDU
> > Subject:      Re: DLT reliability
> >
> > DLT tapes have been giving me much headache. From the specification, DLT
> > technology seems very pretty. However, I had to replace over ten tapes
> in
> > the last 3 or 4 months. That is painful experience. Yes, definitely do
> not
> > use a tape for more than half a year.
> > By the way, I am using IBM 7337, and the Quantum drives in it have
> > formware
> > version V65. People are saying that this level of firmware will cause
> > tape-reading and locating problem. Can somebody confirm this?
> >
> > Jie
> >
> > Jie Wu
> > System and Storage Administrator
> > ROW Sciences Inc @NCTR FDA
> > phone: 870-543-7958
> > fax: 870-543-7382
> >
> >
> > > -----Original Message-----
> > > From: David Boyes [SMTP:dboyes AT DIMENSION DOT NET]
> > > Sent: Thursday, August 05, 1999 8:31 AM
> > > To:   ADSM-L AT VM.MARIST DOT EDU
> > > Subject:      DLT reliability
> > >
> > > >But i'm interested in the reliability of DLT tapes. How many damaged
> > > >tapes have the members of this list seen in their live?
> > >
> > >
> > > Dozens. DLTs are high density, but very sensitive to environmentals.
> > > Temperature, pressure, humidity all have a serious impact on DLT
> > > performance and lifetime -- most small shops don't maintain a
> controlled
> > > environment that supports longterm DLT usage.  Drop one or knock it
> off
> > a
> > > desk and the data's probably gone. They also hold up very poorly to
> lots
> > > of tape positioning requests (in a non-collocated environment, DLTs
> > don't
> > > work well at all).
> > >
> > > In most "open systems" environments, I don't recommend using DLT
> > > cartridges for more than 4 months before replacing them.  If you look
> at
> > > the total lifecycle cost of using the DLTs, the 3590s start to look
> like
> > a
> > > good idea very quickly.