Cartridge tape driver hangs in open (SCO Unix). HELP!!!

[Niklas Hallqvist]

	Hello,

	We have severe problems with an installation of SCO Unix.
About every other open of the cartridge tape device hangs with a
status of B in ps(1) (i.e. "Waiting").  I've examined the process
who did the open with crash(1M) and found that it's stuck in
ctopen, which I suppose is the kernel open routine for the ct
device (I don't have the developer package, so I can't nm
/etc/conf/pack.d/ct/Driver.o to verify that).  By reverse-
engineering, I've found out that ctopen could be hanging in
getcpages (called from db_alloc), if the OS hasn't got the pages needed
to complete the operation, but then a message should be printed
somewhere (to the console or /usr/adm/messages, maybe?).  The
message should be something like: "getcpages, Waiting for xx
contignuous pages...".  Anyway, I can't find that message anywhere,
so I'm not sure that's the problem.

	Do anyone of you out there have a hint about what's happening?
Then don't hesitate to followup or reply immediately, even if your
guess is wrong.  We REALLY need help, our customer is getting quite
frustrated over this inability of backing up we've provided them with.
If my suspicion about getcpages is correct, what kernel parameter
should I change?  I couldn't get any help from SCO's agents in
Sweden, they just begged my to try cpio instead of tar, even though
assured them that the user mode process has nothing to do with what's
happening here.  FYI, I really did try cpio instead of tar, and the
result was still the same.

					Thanks
					Niklas

PS.
	My hardware setup is:

NCR 386 25MHZ
WD 7000 SCSI HOST ADAPTER
DIGICHANNEL PC/4
ARCHIVE VP402 (SC402) INTERFACE ADAPTER
ARCHIVE VP 150i TAPE STREAMER

	My software setup is:

SCO UNIX 3.2.0
	INSTALLATION Type 386GT (N1 - N5 3.2.0f)
	BASIC UTILITIES (B1 - B8 3.2.0e)
	EXTENDED UTILITIES (X1 - X10 3.2.0d)
	MAINTENANCE SUPPLEMENT (UFA1, UFA2 3.2.0d)
	INTERNATIONAL SUPPLEMENT (1.1.0d)
	SWEDISH CHARACTER-SET FOR SCO XENIX/UNIX
	unx162 revB 3.2.0
	unx205 3.2.0 (WD 7000 SLS)

This is what /usr/adm/hwconfig says:

%serial   0x3F8-0x3FF	04	-	unit=0 type=Standard nports=1
%serial   0x210-0x217	03	-	unit=1 type=DIGIBOARD nports=4
F2%floppy   0x3F2-0x3F7	06	2	unit=0 type=96ds15
F3F4%console  -		-	-	unit=vga type=0 12 screens=68k
F5%parallel 0x378-0x37A	07	-	unit=0
F6F7F8%tape     0x200-0x204	05	3	type=A
F9F10%adapter  0x350-0x352	14	6	type=wdha ha=0 id=7
F11GH0H1H2H3H4H5H6%disk     -		-	-	type=S ha=0 id=0 lun=0
%Sdsk     -		-	-	cyls=100 hds=64 secs=32


and this is what /usr/adm/messages says:

Fri Nov 23 7:13:35

		     UNIX is a registered trademark of AT&T
		       Portions Copyright 1976-1989 AT&T
		Portions Copyright 1980-89 Microsoft Corporation
	    Portions Copyright 1983-89 The Santa Cruz Operation, Inc
		   Portions Copyright 1988-89 SecureWare, Inc
			      All rights reserved

		 SCO System V/386 Release 3.2.0 Operating System
		kernel id 1.91 with Maint. Sup. A for i80386 Serial Number: omi550417

D10 bits of I/O address decoding
EF0F1device   address	vector	dma	comment
---------------------------------
Fri Nov 23 7:13:36
-------------------------------------------
%serial   0x3F8-0x3FF	04	-	unit=0 type=Standard nports=1
%serial   0x210-0x217	03	-	unit=1 type=DIGIBOARD nports=4
F2%floppy   0x3F2-0x3F7	06	2	unit=0 type=96ds15
F3F4%console  -		-	-	unit=vga type=0 12 screens=68k
F5%parallel 0x378-0x37A	07	-	unit=0
F6F7F8%tape     0x200-0x204	05	3	type=A
F9F10%adapter  0x350-0x352	14	6	type=wdha ha=0 id=7
F11GH0H1H2H3H4H5H6%disk     -		-	-	type=S ha=0 id=0 lun=0
%Sdsk     -		-	-	cyls=100 hds=64 secs=32
H7H8H9H10H11H12I0mem: tota
Fri Nov 23 7:13:38
l = 3968k, kernel = 1348k, user = 2620k
JKLAutoboot from rootdev = 1/40, swapdev = 1/41, pipedev = 1/40
nswap = 20000, swplo = 0, Hz = 100
kernel: i/o bufs = 494k

	
-- 
Niklas Hallqvist	Phone: +46-(0)31-40 75 00
Applitron Datasystem	Fax:   +46-(0)31-83 39 50
Molndalsvagen 95	Email: niklas at appli.se
S-412 63  GOTEBORG, Sweden     mcsun!sunic!chalmers!appli!niklas