Allen,

You are recalling correctly as I have done the exact same thing. We are
currently migrating from our 3494 library with 3592 E05 drives to a 3584
library with 3592 E07 drives. I have removed some of our old scratch
3952 E05 JB tapes from our 3494 to use in the 3584 without incident.
They are working fine using the 3592-4C format. The 3592 E07 drives will
only read tapes written with the 3592-2C format but as you pointed out
when the tapes go through a scratch cycle and then are written to using
the 3592-4C format you will realize the increase in storage capacity.

Here is a 3592 format matrix from IBM:
https://www.ibm.com/developerworks/mydeveloperworks/wikis/home/wiki/IBM%20Removable%20Media%20on%20IBM%20i/page/3592%20Cartridges%20and%20Drives%20compatibility%20on%20IBM%20i?lang=en

Hope this helps,
Bill

On 2/27/2013 4:00 PM, Allen S. Rout wrote:

Way back when, when I updated my 3592 drives, I seem to recall I was
able to write the higher density format to the old tapes, once they went
through a scratch cycle...  We just went through a long period in which
space got ... easy. :)

I'm contemplating updating from the E05s to the E07s now, and I want to
double-check that this is the case at this transition, too.  Or am I
insane and remembering incorrectly?

Any war stories about drive hardware updates?

- Allen S. Rout

--
William Sefranek
University at Buffalo
Enterprise Infrastructure Services
(716)645-5116