This has probably been asked before. How should the tpsc entr for an HP35480A/HP35470A DAT tape look like for IRIX? I have the following examples, but when I try them, I get "disconnect on nonword boundary" errors on my Indy. You need to set the dip switches on the HP drive correctly, so that they don't disconnect during data phase. This is also the reason you need to set the recommended block size to 128*512, as that is small enough that it will fit in the drive buffer. Our DMA hardware won't work on non-word boundaries for most of our systems (it works in one direction but not the other for some h/w, but that's too hard to explain to people). | { DATTAPE, TPDAT, 2, 8, "HP", "HP35480A", 0, 0, {0, 0, 0, 0}, | MTCAN_BSF|MTCAN_BSR|MTCAN_APPEND|MTCAN_SETMK|MTCAN_PART|MTCAN_PREV| | MTCAN_SYNC|MTCAN_SPEOD|MTCAN_CHKRDY|MTCAN_VAR|MTCAN_SETSZ| | MTCAN_SILI|MTCAN_AUDIO|MTCAN_SEEK|MTCAN_CHTYPEANY, | /* minimum delay on i/o is 4 minutes, because when a retry is | * performed, the drive retries a number of times, and then | * rewinds to BOT, repositions, and tries again. */ | 40, 4*60, 4*60, 5*60, 1024, 128*512 }, | | { DATTAPE, TPDAT, 2, 8, "HP", "HP35470A", 0, 0, {0, 0, 0, 0}, | MTCAN_BSF|MTCAN_BSR|MTCAN_APPEND|MTCAN_SETMK|MTCAN_PART|MTCAN_PREV| | MTCAN_SYNC|MTCAN_SPEOD|MTCAN_CHKRDY|MTCAN_VAR|MTCAN_SETSZ| | MTCAN_SILI|MTCAN_AUDIO|MTCAN_SEEK|MTCAN_CHTYPEANY, | /* minimum delay on i/o is 4 minutes, because when a retry is | * performed, the drive retries a number of times, and then | * rewinds to BOT, repositions, and tries again. */ | 80, 4*60, 4*60, 5*60, 1024, 128*512 }, These are mostly fine, although I'm not sure if the HP drives actually support multiple partitions (MTCAN_PART). You should definitely remove MTCAN_AUDIO, as these drives have no audio over scsi support. Here are the switch settings to use, along with various explanations. ====================== I tried re-enabling synchronous mode with the "Host connectivity options" (DIP switches 7 and 8) set to 0 (=SUN). This apparently makes a difference as things are now working correctly. To summarize, I've got the DIP switches set as follows: switch 1 1 = compression enabled 2 1 = compression host controllable 3 0 = data phase disconnect disabled 4 1 = parity enabled 5 1 = default to variable block mode 6 1 = enable non-immediate file marks 7&8 00= Sun mode (11=hp, 10=dec) ======================= : I'm trying to install a new HP 35480A SCSI DAT Drive on an R4000. : However, the system doesn't recognize it as an DAT. What steps : should be taken to make it work? I couldn't find any pointers : from the manual nor the FAQ. Eventually I've managed to have the HP35480A DAT drive working. The following is the summary: 1. Set the dip switches (from olson@anchor.esd.sgi.com) on the bottom of the drive: 1 1 = compression enabled 2 1 = compression host controllable 3 0 = data phase disconnect disabled 4 1 = parity enabled 5 1 = default to variable block mode 6 1 = enable non-immediate file marks 7&8 00 = Sun mode (11=HP, 10=Dec) 2. Update /usr/sysgen/master.d/tpsc such that the system will recognize the drive as a "DAT" instead of an "unknown" scsi device by inserting an entry after the SGI DAT drive ("ARCHIVE", "Python"): { DATTAPE, TPDAT, 2, 8, "HP", "HP35480A", 0, 0, {0, 0, 0, 0}, MTCAN_BSF|MTCAN_BSR|MTCAN_APPEND|MTCAN_SETMK|MTCAN_PART|MTCAN_PREV| MTCAN_SYNC|MTCAN_SPEOD|MTCAN_CHKRDY|MTCAN_VAR|MTCAN_SETSZ| MTCAN_SILI|MTCAN_SEEK|MTCAN_CHTYPEANY, /* minimum delay on i/o is 4 minutes, because when a retry is * performed, the drive retries a number of times, and then * rewinds to BOT, repositions, and tries again. */ 40, 4*60, 4*60, 5*60, 512, 128*512 }, N.B. According to idx009@cck.coventry.ac.uk, the maximum block transfer size is only 128*512 because of SGI's DMA boundary restriction. 3. Issue "autoconfig" and reboot the system to have the drive properly recognized. 4. Issue "/dev/MAKEDEV tps". 5. If you like, "ln /dev/mt/tpsSdDnsv /dev/dat" etc. where S is the SCSI controller id and D is the SCSI address of the drive. 6. To complete the picture, the SCSI address selection jumpers of the HP 35480A DAT drive is used to differentiate dual density. From the info sheet from my vendor: Desired SCSI addr Desired density Enter setting ----------------- --------------- ------------- 4 hi 0 4 lo 1 5 hi 2 5 lo 3 6 hi 4 6 lo 5 7 hi 6 7 lo 7 Credit to jcpearso@ps.ucl.ac.uk, idx009@cck.coventry.ac.uk, greendog@insti.physics.sunysb.edu and greendog@insti.physics.sunysb.edu. ======================= Due to numerous email messages questioning about the jumper settings above, I have to explain more details. The complete text of the fax obtained from the vendor (not HP): Due to a lack of software on Unix based systems to support dual density DAT tape drives, it is necessary to modify the SCSI address wiring. Consequently, you will have to identify the desired SCSI address and density, (high or low), using the table provided below to compensate. [Table above inserted here.] Specifically, the modification consists of re-mapping the three address select lines such that one of the three can be used to designate density, (high or low). Please refer to the diagram below. The remaining two lines while still used for address selection have been reassigned to accomodate the change. In particular, of the three lines bit0 is now assigned as density select. Bit1 and bit2 have been re-mapped as bit0 and 1 respectively, with the actual bit2 wired "high". Therefore, with the address select lines thus modified it is necessary to use the table above to obtain the correct address. bit 2 1 0 +----+----+----+ +----+ | 1 | | | | | density +----+----+----+ +----+ ^ ^ ^ | | | +---+ +--+ +---------- | | | +----+----+----+ | 1 | | | +----+----+----+ bit 2 1 0 Further notes: At first I thought all the 35480A DAT drives sold for SGIs (or other Unix boxes) were modified as above. However, it might not be the case owing to the number of inquiries I received. We have an external unit with a SCSI address selector on the enclosure. I've experimented with various settings and it did conform to the data sheet above. Hope the picture is clearer now. =======================