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# 5 Tape drives

Contributed by Jonathan M. Bresler `<jmb@FreeBSD.org>`. 2 July 1996.

## 5.1 General tape access commands

mt(1) provides generic access to the tape drives. Some of the more common commands are `rewind`, `erase`, and `status`. See the mt(1) manual page for a detailed description.

## 5.2 Controller Interfaces

There are several different interfaces that support tape drives. The interfaces are SCSI, IDE, Floppy and Parallel Port. A wide variety of tape drives are available for these interfaces. Controllers are discussed in Disk/tape controllers.

## 5.3 SCSI drives

The st(4) driver provides support for 8mm (Exabyte), 4mm (DAT: Digital Audio Tape), QIC (Quarter-Inch Cartridge), DLT (Digital Linear Tape), QIC Mini cartridge and 9-track (remember the big reels that you see spinning in Hollywood computer rooms) tape drives. See the st(4) manual page for a detailed description.

The drives listed below are currently being used by members of the FreeBSD community. They are not the only drives that will work with FreeBSD. They just happen to be the ones that we use.

### 5.3.1 4mm (DAT: Digital Audio Tape)

Archive Python 28454

Archive Python 04687

HP C1533A

HP C1534A

HP 35450A

HP 35470A

HP 35480A

SDT-5000

Wangtek 6200

### 5.3.2 8mm (Exabyte)

EXB-8200

EXB-8500

EXB-8505

### 5.3.3 QIC (Quarter-Inch Cartridge)

Archive Anaconda 2750

Archive Viper 60

Archive Viper 150

Archive Viper 2525

Tandberg TDC 3600

Tandberg TDC 3620

Tandberg TDC 3800

Tandberg TDC 4222

Wangtek 5525ES

### 5.3.4 DLT (Digital Linear Tape)

Digital TZ87

### 5.3.5 Mini-Cartridge

Conner CTMS 3200

Exabyte 2501

### 5.3.6 Autoloaders/Changers

Hewlett-Packard HP C1553A Autoloading DDS2

## 5.4 * IDE drives

## 5.5 Floppy drives

Conner 420R

## 5.6 * Parallel port drives

## 5.7 Detailed Information

### 5.7.1 Archive Anaconda 2750

The boot message identifier for this drive is `ARCHIVE ANCDA 2750 28077 -003 type 1 removable SCSI 2`

This is a QIC tape drive.

Native capacity is 1.35GB when using QIC-1350 tapes. This drive will read and write QIC-150 (DC6150), QIC-250 (DC6250), and QIC-525 (DC6525) tapes as well.

Data transfer rate is 350kB/s using dump(8). Rates of 530kB/s have been reported when using Amanda

Production of this drive has been discontinued.

The SCSI bus connector on this tape drive is reversed from that on most other SCSI devices. Make sure that you have enough SCSI cable to twist the cable one-half turn before and after the Archive Anaconda tape drive, or turn your other SCSI devices upside-down.

Two kernel code changes are required to use this drive. This drive will not work as delivered.

If you have a SCSI-2 controller, short jumper 6. Otherwise, the drive behaves are a SCSI-1 device. When operating as a SCSI-1 device, this drive, “locks” the SCSI bus during some tape operations, including: fsf, rewind, and rewoffl.

If you are using the NCR SCSI controllers, patch the file `/usr/src/sys/pci/ncr.c` (as shown below). Build and install a new kernel.

    *** 4831,4835 ****
                    };

    !               if (np->latetime>4) {
                            /*
                            **      Although we tried to wake it up,
    --- 4831,4836 ----
                    };

    !               if (np->latetime>1200) {
                            /*
                            **      Although we tried to wake it up,

Reported by: Jonathan M. Bresler `<jmb@FreeBSD.org>`

### 5.7.2 Archive Python 28454

The boot message identifier for this drive is `ARCHIVE Python 28454-XXX4ASB` `type 1 removable SCSI 2` `density code 0x8c, 512-byte blocks`

This is a DDS-1 tape drive.

Native capacity is 2.5GB on 90m tapes.

Data transfer rate is XXX.

This drive was repackaged by Sun Microsystems as model 595-3067.

Reported by: Bob Bishop `<rb@gid.co.uk>`

Throughput is in the 1.5 MByte/sec range, however this will drop if the disks and tape drive are on the same SCSI controller.

Reported by: Robert E. Seastrom `<rs@seastrom.com>`

### 5.7.3 Archive Python 04687

The boot message identifier for this drive is `ARCHIVE Python 04687-XXX 6580` `Removable Sequential Access SCSI-2 device`

This is a DAT-DDS-2 drive.

Native capacity is 4GB when using 120m tapes.

This drive supports hardware data compression. Switch 4 controls MRS (Media Recognition System). MRS tapes have stripes on the transparent leader. Switch 4 off enables MRS, on disables MRS.

Parity is controlled by switch 5. Switch 5 on to enable parity control. Compression is enabled with Switch 6 off. It is possible to override compression with the `SCSI MODE SELECT` command (see mt(1)).

Data transfer rate is 800kB/s.

### 5.7.4 Archive Viper 60

The boot message identifier for this drive is `ARCHIVE VIPER 60 21116 -007` `type 1 removable SCSI 1`

This is a QIC tape drive.

Native capacity is 60MB.

Data transfer rate is XXX.

Production of this drive has been discontinued.

Reported by: Philippe Regnauld `<regnauld@hsc.fr>`

### 5.7.5 Archive Viper 150

The boot message identifier for this drive is `ARCHIVE VIPER 150 21531 -004` `Archive Viper 150 is a known rogue` `type 1 removable SCSI 1`. A multitude of firmware revisions exist for this drive. Your drive may report different numbers (e.g `21247 -005`.

This is a QIC tape drive.

Native capacity is 150/250MB. Both 150MB (DC6150) and 250MB (DC6250) tapes have the recording format. The 250MB tapes are approximately 67% longer than the 150MB tapes. This drive can read 120MB tapes as well. It can not write 120MB tapes.

Data transfer rate is 100kB/s

This drive reads and writes DC6150 (150MB) and DC6250 (250MB) tapes.

This drives quirks are known and pre-compiled into the SCSI tape device driver (st(4)).

Under FreeBSD 2.2-CURRENT, use `mt blocksize 512` to set the blocksize. (The particular drive had firmware revision 21247 -005. Other firmware revisions may behave differently) Previous versions of FreeBSD did not have this problem.

Production of this drive has been discontinued.

Reported by: Pedro A M Vazquez `<vazquez@IQM.Unicamp.BR>`

Michael Smith `<msmith@FreeBSD.org>`

### 5.7.6 Archive Viper 2525

The boot message identifier for this drive is `ARCHIVE VIPER 2525 25462 -011` `type 1 removable SCSI 1`

This is a QIC tape drive.

Native capacity is 525MB.

Data transfer rate is 180kB/s at 90 inches/sec.

The drive reads QIC-525, QIC-150, QIC-120 and QIC-24 tapes. Writes QIC-525, QIC-150, and QIC-120.

Firmware revisions prior to `25462 -011` are bug ridden and will not function properly.

Production of this drive has been discontinued.

### 5.7.7 Conner 420R

The boot message identifier for this drive is `Conner tape`.

This is a floppy controller, mini cartridge tape drive.

Native capacity is XXXX

Data transfer rate is XXX

The drive uses QIC-80 tape cartridges.

Reported by: Mark Hannon `<mark@seeware.DIALix.oz.au>`

### 5.7.8 Conner CTMS 3200

The boot message identifier for this drive is `CONNER CTMS 3200 7.00` `type 1 removable SCSI 2`.

This is a mini cartridge tape drive.

Native capacity is XXXX

Data transfer rate is XXX

The drive uses QIC-3080 tape cartridges.

Reported by: Thomas S. Traylor `<tst@titan.cs.mci.com>`

### 5.7.9 DEC TZ87

The boot message identifier for this drive is `DEC TZ87 (C) DEC 9206` `type 1 removable SCSI 2` `density code 0x19`

This is a DLT tape drive.

Native capacity is 10GB.

This drive supports hardware data compression.

Data transfer rate is 1.2MB/s.

This drive is identical to the Quantum DLT2000. The drive firmware can be set to emulate several well-known drives, including an Exabyte 8mm drive.

Reported by: Wilko Bulte `<wilko@FreeBSD.org>`

### 5.7.10 Exabyte EXB-2501

The boot message identifier for this drive is `EXABYTE EXB-2501`

This is a mini-cartridge tape drive.

Native capacity is 1GB when using MC3000XL mini cartridges.

Data transfer rate is XXX

This drive can read and write DC2300 (550MB), DC2750 (750MB), MC3000 (750MB), and MC3000XL (1GB) mini cartridges.

WARNING: This drive does not meet the SCSI-2 specifications. The drive locks up completely in response to a SCSI MODE_SELECT command unless there is a formatted tape in the drive. Before using this drive, set the tape blocksize with

    # mt -f /dev/st0ctl.0 blocksize 1024

Before using a mini cartridge for the first time, the mini cartridge must be formatted. FreeBSD 2.1.0-RELEASE and earlier:

    # /sbin/scsi -f /dev/rst0.ctl -s 600 -c "4 0 0 0 0 0"

(Alternatively, fetch a copy of the `scsiformat` shell script from FreeBSD 2.1.5/2.2.) FreeBSD 2.1.5 and later:

    # /sbin/scsiformat -q -w /dev/rst0.ctl

Right now, this drive cannot really be recommended for FreeBSD.

Reported by: Bob Beaulieu `<ez@eztravel.com>`

### 5.7.11 Exabyte EXB-8200

The boot message identifier for this drive is `EXABYTE EXB-8200 252X` `type 1 removable SCSI 1`

This is an 8mm tape drive.

Native capacity is 2.3GB.

Data transfer rate is 270kB/s.

This drive is fairly slow in responding to the SCSI bus during boot. A custom kernel may be required (set SCSI_DELAY to 10 seconds).

There are a large number of firmware configurations for this drive, some have been customized to a particular vendor's hardware. The firmware can be changed via EPROM replacement.

Production of this drive has been discontinued.

Reported by: Michael Smith `<msmith@FreeBSD.org>`

### 5.7.12 Exabyte EXB-8500

The boot message identifier for this drive is `EXABYTE EXB-8500-85Qanx0 0415` `type 1 removable SCSI 2`

This is an 8mm tape drive.

Native capacity is 5GB.

Data transfer rate is 300kB/s.

Reported by: Greg Lehey `<grog@lemis.de>`

### 5.7.13 Exabyte EXB-8505

The boot message identifier for this drive is `EXABYTE EXB-85058SQANXR1 05B0` `type 1 removable SCSI 2`

This is an 8mm tape drive which supports compression, and is upward compatible with the EXB-5200 and EXB-8500.

Native capacity is 5GB.

The drive supports hardware data compression.

Data transfer rate is 300kB/s.

Reported by: Glen Foster `<gfoster@gfoster.com>`

### 5.7.14 Hewlett-Packard HP C1533A

The boot message identifier for this drive is `HP C1533A 9503` `type 1 removable SCSI 2`.

This is a DDS-2 tape drive. DDS-2 means hardware data compression and narrower tracks for increased data capacity.

Native capacity is 4GB when using 120m tapes. This drive supports hardware data compression.

Data transfer rate is 510kB/s.

This drive is used in Hewlett-Packard's SureStore 6000eU and 6000i tape drives and C1533A DDS-2 DAT drive.

The drive has a block of 8 dip switches. The proper settings for FreeBSD are: 1 ON; 2 ON; 3 OFF; 4 ON; 5 ON; 6 ON; 7 ON; 8 ON.

switch 1 | switch 2 | Result
--- | --- | ---
On | On | Compression enabled at power-on, with host control
On | Off | Compression enabled at power-on, no host control
Off | On | Compression disabled at power-on, with host control
Off | Off | Compression disabled at power-on, no host control

Switch 3 controls MRS (Media Recognition System). MRS tapes have stripes on the transparent leader. These identify the tape as DDS (Digital Data Storage) grade media. Tapes that do not have the stripes will be treated as write-protected. Switch 3 OFF enables MRS. Switch 3 ON disables MRS.

See HP SureStore Tape Products and Hewlett-Packard Disk and Tape Technical Information for more information on configuring this drive.

Warning: Quality control on these drives varies greatly. One FreeBSD core-team member has returned 2 of these drives. Neither lasted more than 5 months.

Reported by: Stefan Esser `<se@FreeBSD.org>`

### 5.7.15 Hewlett-Packard HP 1534A

The boot message identifier for this drive is `HP HP35470A T503` `type 1 removable SCSI 2` `Sequential-Access density code 0x13, variable blocks`.

This is a DDS-1 tape drive. DDS-1 is the original DAT tape format.

Native capacity is 2GB when using 90m tapes.

Data transfer rate is 183kB/s.

The same mechanism is used in Hewlett-Packard's SureStore 2000i tape drive, C35470A DDS format DAT drive, C1534A DDS format DAT drive and HP C1536A DDS format DAT drive.

The HP C1534A DDS format DAT drive has two indicator lights, one green and one amber. The green one indicates tape action: slow flash during load, steady when loaded, fast flash during read/write operations. The amber one indicates warnings: slow flash when cleaning is required or tape is nearing the end of its useful life, steady indicates an hard fault. (factory service required?)

Reported by Gary Crutcher `<gcrutchr@nightflight.com>`

### 5.7.16 Hewlett-Packard HP C1553A Autoloading DDS2

The boot message identifier for this drive is "".

This is a DDS-2 tape drive with a tape changer. DDS-2 means hardware data compression and narrower tracks for increased data capacity.

Native capacity is 24GB when using 120m tapes. This drive supports hardware data compression.

Data transfer rate is 510kB/s (native).

This drive is used in Hewlett-Packard's SureStore 12000e tape drive.

The drive has two selectors on the rear panel. The selector closer to the fan is SCSI id. The other selector should be set to 7.

There are four internal switches. These should be set: 1 ON; 2 ON; 3 ON; 4 OFF.

At present the kernel drivers do not automatically change tapes at the end of a volume. This shell script can be used to change tapes:

    #!/bin/sh
    PATH="/sbin:/usr/sbin:/bin:/usr/bin"; export PATH

    usage()
    {
            echo "Usage: dds_changer [123456ne] raw-device-name
            echo "1..6 = Select cartridge"
            echo "next cartridge"
            echo "eject magazine"
            exit 2
    }

    if [ $# -ne 2 ] ; then
            usage
    fi

    cdb3=0
    cdb4=0
    cdb5=0

    case $1 in
            [123456])
                    cdb3=$1
                    cdb4=1
                    ;;
            n)
                    ;;
            e)
                    cdb5=0x80
                    ;;
            ?)
                    usage
                    ;;
    esac

    scsi -f $2 -s 100 -c "1b 0 0 $cdb3 $cdb4 $cdb5"

### 5.7.17 Hewlett-Packard HP 35450A

The boot message identifier for this drive is `HP HP35450A -A C620` `type 1 removable SCSI 2` `Sequential-Access density code 0x13`

This is a DDS-1 tape drive. DDS-1 is the original DAT tape format.

Native capacity is 1.2GB.

Data transfer rate is 160kB/s.

Reported by: Mark Thompson `<mark.a.thompson@pobox.com>`

### 5.7.18 Hewlett-Packard HP 35470A

The boot message identifier for this drive is `HP HP35470A 9 09` `type 1 removable SCSI 2`

This is a DDS-1 tape drive. DDS-1 is the original DAT tape format.

Native capacity is 2GB when using 90m tapes.

Data transfer rate is 183kB/s.

The same mechanism is used in Hewlett-Packard's SureStore 2000i tape drive, C35470A DDS format DAT drive, C1534A DDS format DAT drive, and HP C1536A DDS format DAT drive.

Warning: Quality control on these drives varies greatly. One FreeBSD core-team member has returned 5 of these drives. None lasted more than 9 months.

Reported by: David Dawes `<dawes@rf900.physics.usyd.edu.au>` (9 09)

### 5.7.19 Hewlett-Packard HP 35480A

The boot message identifier for this drive is `HP HP35480A 1009` `type 1 removable SCSI 2` `Sequential-Access density code 0x13`.

This is a DDS-DC tape drive. DDS-DC is DDS-1 with hardware data compression. DDS-1 is the original DAT tape format.

Native capacity is 2GB when using 90m tapes. It cannot handle 120m tapes. This drive supports hardware data compression. Please refer to the section on HP C1533A for the proper switch settings.

Data transfer rate is 183kB/s.

This drive is used in Hewlett-Packard's SureStore 5000eU and 5000i tape drives and C35480A DDS format DAT drive..

This drive will occasionally hang during a tape eject operation (`mt offline`). Pressing the front panel button will eject the tape and bring the tape drive back to life.

WARNING: HP 35480-03110 only. On at least two occasions this tape drive when used with FreeBSD 2.1.0, an IBM Server 320 and an 2940W SCSI controller resulted in all SCSI disk partitions being lost. The problem has not be analyzed or resolved at this time.

### 5.7.20 Sony SDT-5000

There are at least two significantly different models: one is a DDS-1 and the other DDS-2. The DDS-1 version is `SDT-5000 3.02`. The DDS-2 version is `SONY SDT-5000 327M`. The DDS-2 version has a 1MB cache. This cache is able to keep the tape streaming in almost any circumstances.

The boot message identifier for this drive is `SONY SDT-5000 3.02` `type 1 removable SCSI 2` `Sequential-Access density code 0x13`

Native capacity is 4GB when using 120m tapes. This drive supports hardware data compression.

Data transfer rate is depends upon the model or the drive. The rate is 630kB/s for the `SONY SDT-5000 327M` while compressing the data. For the `SONY SDT-5000 3.02`, the data transfer rate is 225kB/s.

In order to get this drive to stream, set the blocksize to 512 bytes (`mt blocksize 512`) reported by Kenneth Merry `<ken@ulc199.residence.gatech.edu>`.

`SONY SDT-5000 327M` information reported by Charles Henrich `<henrich@msu.edu>`.

Reported by: Jean-Marc Zucconi `<jmz@FreeBSD.org>`

### 5.7.21 Tandberg TDC 3600

The boot message identifier for this drive is `TANDBERG TDC 3600 =08:` `type 1 removable SCSI 2`

This is a QIC tape drive.

Native capacity is 150/250MB.

This drive has quirks which are known and work around code is present in the SCSI tape device driver (st(4)). Upgrading the firmware to XXX version will fix the quirks and provide SCSI 2 capabilities.

Data transfer rate is 80kB/s.

IBM and Emerald units will not work. Replacing the firmware EPROM of these units will solve the problem.

Reported by: Michael Smith `<msmith@FreeBSD.org>`

### 5.7.22 Tandberg TDC 3620

This is very similar to the Tandberg TDC 3600 drive.

Reported by: Jörg Wunsch `<joerg@FreeBSD.org>`

### 5.7.23 Tandberg TDC 3800

The boot message identifier for this drive is `TANDBERG TDC 3800 =04Y` `Removable Sequential Access SCSI-2 device`

This is a QIC tape drive.

Native capacity is 525MB.

Reported by: Julian Stacey `<jhs@FreeBSD.org>`

### 5.7.24 Tandberg TDC 4222

The boot message identifier for this drive is `TANDBERG TDC 4222 =07` `type 1 removable SCSI 2`

This is a QIC tape drive.

Native capacity is 2.5GB. The drive will read all cartridges from the 60 MB (DC600A) upwards, and write 150 MB (DC6150) upwards. Hardware compression is optionally supported for the 2.5 GB cartridges.

This drives quirks are known and pre-compiled into the SCSI tape device driver (st(4)) beginning with FreeBSD 2.2-CURRENT. For previous versions of FreeBSD, use `mt` to read one block from the tape, rewind the tape, and then execute the backup program (`mt fsr 1; mt rewind; dump ...`)

Data transfer rate is 600kB/s (vendor claim with compression), 350 KB/s can even be reached in start/stop mode. The rate decreases for smaller cartridges.

Reported by: Jörg Wunsch `<joerg@FreeBSD.org>`

### 5.7.25 Wangtek 5525ES

The boot message identifier for this drive is `WANGTEK 5525ES SCSI REV7 3R1` `type 1 removable SCSI 1` `density code 0x11, 1024-byte blocks`

This is a QIC tape drive.

Native capacity is 525MB.

Data transfer rate is 180kB/s.

The drive reads 60, 120, 150, and 525MB tapes. The drive will not write 60MB (DC600 cartridge) tapes. In order to overwrite 120 and 150 tapes reliably, first erase (`mt erase`) the tape. 120 and 150 tapes used a wider track (fewer tracks per tape) than 525MB tapes. The “extra” width of the previous tracks is not overwritten, as a result the new data lies in a band surrounded on both sides by the previous data unless the tape have been erased.

This drives quirks are known and pre-compiled into the SCSI tape device driver (st(4)).

Other firmware revisions that are known to work are: M75D

Reported by: Marc van Kempen `<marc@bowtie.nl>` `REV73R1` Andrew Gordon `<Andrew.Gordon@net-tel.co.uk>` `M75D`

### 5.7.26 Wangtek 6200

The boot message identifier for this drive is `WANGTEK 6200-HS 4B18` `type 1 removable SCSI 2` `Sequential-Access density code 0x13`

This is a DDS-1 tape drive.

Native capacity is 2GB using 90m tapes.

Data transfer rate is 150kB/s.

Reported by: Tony Kimball `<alk@Think.COM>`

## 5.8 * Problem drives

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