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smithr52's avatar
smithr52
Level 2
10 years ago
Solved

Can an lto3 tape unit recognize an lto4 drive

I just upgraded from and lto4 tape unit to an lto6 unit.  Can I use my lto4 drives from my old tape library in an lto3 tape unit. I installed the lto4 drives

in the lto3 tape unit but the system does not recognize the lto4 drives.

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  • sdo's avatar
    sdo
    10 years ago

    One has to very carefully check firmware - there's all sorts of things to watch out for, like diffrent firmware doending upon interface, but also depending upon whether it's half height or full height, let alone model and brand, and occaisionally (but rarely thankfully) whether a drive will be used on specific operating systems or particular libraries. My advice is never flash the firmware on a drive unless you are 100% certain that it is the right thing to do.

    Please take this the right way... I am trying to help... but from this end of the wire, it would seem to me that you are quite unsure of where to turn to next. Lots of doubts about what's going on. Take your time, and check things carefully. It's not lego. It's engineering, and you are trying to make a gearbox fit a car engine, and if we don't have our facts straight before we start, sometimes we only discover late in the day that the two cannot be made to work together

    I'm sorry to say this, but you are probably not going be able to sort this out any time soon.  IMO, I think you have to spend more than several man hours, and probably a man day or two researching what it is that you need to do.

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  • sdo's avatar
    sdo
    Moderator
    10 years ago

    You should be able to assign a media type of hcart3 to the LTO4 drives, and then use them to read/write hcart3 (LTO3) media.

    When you say not recognising, do you mean that these two commands do not list the tape drives:

    scan -changer

scan -tape

    Show us the output from the above?

  • sdo's avatar
    sdo
    Moderator
    10 years ago

    You may need to update the old tape library firmware, and/or configure the tape library, and/or update OS drivers, and/or do some system/server OS configuration work, and/or update NetBackup's own device mappings file (if you have installed these LTO4 drives in an old NetBackup environment).

  • Marianne's avatar
    Marianne
    Level 6
    10 years ago
    So, we are talking here about tape drives and compatibility with tape library? If so - this is not a NetBackup issue. You need to check with your tape library vendor. As per sdo's post, this is normally a firmware issue on the library.
  • smithr52's avatar
    smithr52
    Level 2
    10 years ago

    The drive is connected to a server runnung Windows 2012.  When i run scan in device manager; the system did not recognize the Lto4 or any drive.  But if I reinstall the lto3 dive in  the system; and run scan in device manager, the system ahs no problem recognizing the lto3 drive

  • smithr52's avatar
    smithr52
    Level 2
    10 years ago

    Should i update my lto3 tape drive with lto3 firmware or lto 4 firmware?  Is the firmware for a lto4 drive compatible with the firmware for  an lto3 tape library unit.

  • sdo's avatar
    sdo
    Moderator
    10 years ago

    One has to very carefully check firmware - there's all sorts of things to watch out for, like diffrent firmware doending upon interface, but also depending upon whether it's half height or full height, let alone model and brand, and occaisionally (but rarely thankfully) whether a drive will be used on specific operating systems or particular libraries. My advice is never flash the firmware on a drive unless you are 100% certain that it is the right thing to do.

    Please take this the right way... I am trying to help... but from this end of the wire, it would seem to me that you are quite unsure of where to turn to next. Lots of doubts about what's going on. Take your time, and check things carefully. It's not lego. It's engineering, and you are trying to make a gearbox fit a car engine, and if we don't have our facts straight before we start, sometimes we only discover late in the day that the two cannot be made to work together

    I'm sorry to say this, but you are probably not going be able to sort this out any time soon.  IMO, I think you have to spend more than several man hours, and probably a man day or two researching what it is that you need to do.