<snip>

> Is this drive found at boot time?  If it is, then the ultimate 

No -- it's in another building at present. I'm trying to ascertain
whether there is a reasonable chance that it will work before I
reccommend that money be spent and effort be expended to acquire and
transport it.

> identity might be obtainable from a perusal of /var/log/dmesg or 
> its equivalent.
> 
> We'd need your os, and if the kernel is stock or custom too before 
> anybody can offer any real advice.  Lots of variables.

Well, I have a variety of PCs that I might connect it to. Generally they
are RedHat Linux 6.x or 7.x, though I'd happily upgrade to any other
version or distribution. These variables are all free to adapt to the
tape drive. The only thing that isn't is the existence of software to
drive it.

It appears, from responses I've had so far, that I can get an Adaptec
2944UW card for significantly under $A1000, which leaves room for buying
any cables I might need. It also appears as if Amanda relies on mtx to
control the robot, so I'm trying to find out more from the mtx people at
present. Unfortunately, getting more information on the robot itself is
hard, as the contact I have there is hard to get on to, and just wants
to get rid of this thing, not talk about it...

Anyway, Thanks muchly for the responses I've had so far.

Cheers

rr

-- 
Richard Russell
Yellow Goanna P/L
m: +61 412 827 805
e: richard AT yellowgoanna DOT com
w: http://www.yellowgoanna.com