With (most) IBM "compatible" 3480s/3490s ... yes. One exception I can think of is Memorex which have a "setting" which enables its own proprietary hardware compression that can not be read by any other vendor's tape drive.
With IBM's 3590 drives ... only in one direction ... meaning that higher density drives can only read their own density, and densities in the same "family" that are lower. For example, an IBM 3590H (384trk) can *read* tapes created on and IBM (base) 3590 (128trk) or 3590E (256trk). But the reverse is not true, a 3590 or 3590E can *not* read any data recorded by a 3590H ... including the VOL1 label! IBM 3592s (model Js) can't accept the MEDIA that 3590x tape drives use, so therefore can not do anything with data created on a 3590x drives. IBM 3592Es (model E05) are better and can not only read data from 3592s ... but also write/append data. The reverse is not true, a 3592 can not read or write anything that was written by a 3592E ... including the VOL1 label. With STK 9840s (9840, 9840B, 9840C), 9940s (9940A, 9940B) ... the IBM 3590x type logic is supposed to work for reading data, but we've found that you can't always rely on this. For example we changed from STK 9840Bs to 9840Cs based on the promise that the 9840Cs could always *read* the data written by the 9840Bs. We found this usually worked, but not always (I can't recall the exact percentage). We were told the "problem" occurred at *recording time", that is was/is not a problem with the 9840C drives trying to read the data. Consequently, we had to re-install a bank of 9840Bs to read those tapes written by 9840Bs which for some reason can not be read by the 9840Cs. Between STK drive "families" the MEDIA is not compatible, so you can't mix/match those ... 9840 vs. 9940. Anyway, as you can see, the answer to Jim's question today is a very iffy *maybe*. The moral of this story is that you really need to do your homework before you wholesale switch from one type of tape drive to another. JR (Steven) Imler CA Senior Software Engineer Tel: +1 703 708 3479 Fax: +1 703 708 3267 [EMAIL PROTECTED] -----Original Message----- From: The IBM z/VM Operating System [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Jim Bohnsack Sent: Friday, June 09, 2006 09:56 PM To: IBMVM@LISTSERV.UARK.EDU Subject: Re: Tape Modeset for 3480 XF Aren't tape labels written at the "least common denominator" that a drive is capable of writing? If the density of a written tape is only checked by looking at the labels, that would explain what you are seeing. Jim At 03:45 PM 6/9/2006, you wrote: >Wow, it really is Friday if JR appears to have problems with a TAPE >command! ;-) > > From z/VM 5.1 HELP (and the manual), George seems to have it right. > > >>--TAPE--.-| DUMP >|-------------.------------------------------------------>< > |-| LOAD |-------------| > |-| SCAN or SKIP |-----| > |-| DVOL1 |------------| > |-| WVOL1 |------------| > |-| MODESET or QUERY |-| > '-| tapecmd |----------' > >blah, blah, blah > >MODESET or QUERY: >|--MODESET or >QUERY--.---------------------.---------------------------------| > '-(--| Opt D |--.---.-' > '-)-' > >blah, blah, blah > >Opt D: > (1) > .-181----. (2) >|--+--------+--.----------.-------------------------------------------- ------| > > > |-TAPn---| |-9TRACK---| > '-vdev---' |-18TRACK--| > |-3490B----| > |-3490C----| > |-3590B----| > |-3590C----| > |-DEN 38K--| > |-DEN 800--| > |-DEN 1600-| > |-DEN 6250-| > |-COMP-----| > |-NOCOMP---| > '-XF-------' > >UofKs TAPEMAP command is great, but badly out of date. Rich's TAPINFO >modules may fall into the same bucket? >Do you have a z/OS system around running FATS or FATAR? Those, being >current and supported products, are likely to produce reliable results. > >Once you find out, you can develop and distribute updates to TAPEMAP and >TAPINFO, right? ;-) > >What does TAPE QUERY show before and after "TAPE MODESET (XF"? > >Mike Walter >Hewitt Associates >The opinions expressed herein are mine alone, not my employer's. > > > > >"Imler, Steven J" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > >Sent by: "The IBM z/VM Operating System" <IBMVM@LISTSERV.UARK.EDU> >06/09/2006 02:32 PM >Please respond to >"The IBM z/VM Operating System" <IBMVM@LISTSERV.UARK.EDU> > > > >To >IBMVM@LISTSERV.UARK.EDU >cc > >Subject >Re: Tape Modeset for 3480 XF > > > > > > >George, > >Use HELP CMS TAPE ... > >It's TAPE MODESET ( DEN 38K > >JR (Steven) Imler >CA >Senior Software Engineer >Tel: +1 703 708 3479 >Fax: +1 703 708 3267 >[EMAIL PROTECTED] > > >-----Original Message----- >From: The IBM z/VM Operating System [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On >Behalf Of George Haddad >Sent: Friday, June 09, 2006 03:12 PM >To: IBMVM@LISTSERV.UARK.EDU >Subject: Tape Modeset for 3480 XF > >Maybe I'm missing something obvious, but I'm trying to write to a 3480 >cart using TAPE MODESET (XF. The TAPE QUERY command confirms that the >drive is capable of writing mode XF. But whatever I do, the data is >apparently being written as 38k bpi, according to both the UofK TAPEMAP >and Rich Greenberg's TAPINFO Modules. > >I've tried issuing TAPE MODESET (XF, writing a VOL1 hdr with the (XF >option, issuing a MODESET then doing a TAPE DUMP (XF w/o a label, but >in each case the utils report that my density is 38k, not XF. > >The carts I'm using are Imation Royal Guard 210MB. Are these not >capable of the higher density? I thought this was a function of the >drives, not the media. > >What am I missing here? > > > > > >The information contained in this e-mail and any accompanying documents >may contain information that is confidential or otherwise protected from >disclosure. If you are not the intended recipient of this message, or if >this message has been addressed to you in error, please immediately alert >the sender by reply e-mail and then delete this message, including any >attachments. Any dissemination, distribution or other use of the contents >of this message by anyone other than the intended recipient is strictly >prohibited. Jim Bohnsack Cornell Univ. (607) 255-1760
