Irwin 185 on 386sx (120 meg tape drive)
W. Paul Zola
paulz at sco.COM
Thu Mar 14 09:11:54 AEST 1991
In article <1991Feb27.224544.3419 at holos0.uucp>
wdh at holos0.uucp (Weaver Hickerson) writes:
}I've talked with our local SCO distributor on this problem. I have an
}irwin model 185 on an NCR 386sx running xenix386GT, 2 user.
}
}Is there a driver that will do something besides go out to lunch when I
}access this drive? It is installed as drive B on the floppy controller,
}and works fine when the DOS partition is booted.
}
}Any hints appreciated.
The following article from the SCO Information Tools database should help
with your problem. I'm posting because I think this may be of general
interest. Note that even though the Irwin model 185 is not explicitly
listed in this document, it is reported to work with xnx146c (the
latest version of xnx146). In fact, the driver provided with this SLS
should work with *any* Irwin drive ever manufactured.
################## cut here ################ cut here ##################
How do I use an Irwin tape drive with SCO XENIX Operating System?
RELEASE: SCO XENIX System V Operating System Release 2.2.3, 2.3.1 or 2.3.2
PROBLEM: I want to use an Irwin tape drive with my SCO XENIX Operating
System Release 2.2.3, 2.3.1, or 2.3.2.
SOLUTION: You need Support Level Supplement (SLS) xnx146, the Irwin tape
device driver.
The letter that comes with SLS xnx146 follows:
Dear SCO Customer,
Enclosed is Support Level Supplement (SLS) xnx146. This floppy contains a
device driver for the following Irwin tape drives running under the SCO XENIX
(AT/GT/MC) Operating System Release 2.2.3, 2.3.1 and 2.3.2:
Supported Irwin Tape Drives
===========================
110 225 2020
125 245 2040
145 285 2080
787 2120
Supported Controllers
=====================
Primary floppy disk controller
Irwin 4251 drive multiplexor board
Irwin 4100 bus controller card (For use with the 787 and 2120 drives)
[ details of installation & building a boot/root floppy deleted
to save net bandwith]
The "mcart" Utility
===================
The new Irwin utility "/bin/mcart" has also been added to your system. It
enables you to perform a number of useful functions on your Irwin tape drive.
They are summarized below:
h - This is a help command which allows you to view a list of
available "mcart" commands.
drive - This command provides information about drive type, controller
type and unit select.
info - This command provides information about cartridge state, format
and write protect slider position.
capacity - This command shows the total cartridge capacity in 512 byte
blocks after formatting.
kapacity - This command shows the total cartridge capacity in 1024 byte
blocks after formatting.
format - This command enables you to prepare unformatted tape cartridges
for use with your Irwin tape drive. If you are using Accutrak
pre-formatted tape cartridges, you will not need to use this
command.
To use the "format" command, you need to make sure you are
using either brand new, unformatted tapes, or bulk
(magnetically) erased tapes.
rewind - This command is used to rewind a tape after a backup or restore
has been interrupted. Normally, the tape is rewound
automatically.
reten - This command is used to align a tape that has not been used
for a long time, or has been exposed to temperature extremes.
The command syntax is:
mcart command
For example, using the "format" option, the command would be:
mcart format
Notes
=====
(1) It is highly recommended that you use Accutrak (or equivalent)
pre-formatted tapes to avoid the necessity of bulk erasing and
formatting your tapes.
(2) The device you write to should be "/dev/rctmini". This device needs
to be specified regardless of whether you are writing to the drive
with "tar", "backup", "cpio", or some other utility.
(3) Also, regardless of which utility you use to write to the drive, you
MUST specify a blocking factor. The recommended blocking factor is "20".
(4) Before you issue the "mcart format" command, to servo/format a tape, you
MUST BULK ERASE the tape to be formatted. If you do not bulk erase your
tape, you will not be able to format it.
(5) While installing your hardware, please refer to the hardware guide
shipped with your Irwin tape backup unit. If you have questions
regarding the installation of your Irwin hardware, contact Irwin
Technical Support.
We appreciate your business.
SCO Support Services
################## cut here ################ cut here ##################
I hope this helps you with your problem.
}
}Say, has there ever been a contest for slowest tape drive?
}
Not that I know of. Did you have a particular contestant in mind? :-)
(Although I think any such contest would be won handily by a broken
drive).
-
Paul Zola Software Support Engineer
paulz at sco.COM
Gotta tend the earth if you want a rose. - Emily Saliers
DISCLAIMER: I speak for myself, and not for SCO.
}--
}-Weaver Hickerson Voice (404) 496-1358 : ..!edu!gatech!holos0!wdh
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