Our DLT7000 drives are in an STK 9710 library attached to the RS6000.
The STK engineer has always done it for us using a tape, I've never done it
myself.

> -----Original Message-----
> From: Wu, Jie [SMTP:JWu AT nctr.fda DOT gov]
> Sent: Thursday, August 05, 1999 11:25 AM
> To:   'ADSM: Dist Stor Manager'
> Cc:   'PrathW1 AT CENTRAL.SSD.JHUAPL DOT EDU'
> Subject:      RE: DLT reliability
>
> 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.