Richard - yesterday I was in Milan at the annual "IBM Storage Forum,
          there was a stand with a couple of English guys (well one
English and one Scottish!) they said that a microcode upgrade is
required.

Mauro, STM

> >IBM has released the Extended Length 3590s today
>
> According to the
http://www.storage.ibm.com/hardsoft/tape/announce/0229ann.html
> announcement, they need to be used on those drives supporting extended
length:
>
>   A new extended length media cartridge, the IBM Magstar 3590 Extended
High
>   Performance Cartridge Tape. The new cartridge has a native capacity
of 40 GB
>   (120 GB with 3:1 compression) for the Magstar 3590 Model E and 20 GB
(60 GB
>   with 3:1 compression) for the Model B. These capacities are double
that of
>   the current cartridge.
>
>   By using the new cartridges on tape drives that have the extended
media
>   support, customers can experience significant savings from less tape
>   cartridge handling, improved automation slot utilization, and a
reduction in
>   floor space requirements. Use of the new media will especially
benefit
>   customer applications such as system backup and restore which utilize
full
>   tape cartridges.
>
> Is "extended media support" a field upgradeable option for Model B
drives?
> Anyone have experience with such an upgrade?
>
>     Richard Sims, BU
>