4" tape drives

bala@Synopsys.COM (Bala Vasireddi) (03/16/91)

Can anybody tell me if the 1/4" tar tapes made on Suns (QIC-24) should be 
readable on Apollo 1/4" tape drives?

In our case we are having mixed success reading the Sun tapes on Apollos.
In somecases we are able to successfully read the Sun tapes on DN4000 and
DN4500's only, but not on our DN10k's. All our Apollos are running SR10.1 and 
above.

 *  Does anybody have any experience in this regard? 

 *  Does Apollo claim that their tape drives and tar are compatible with 
    other Unix (Sun) systems in anyway?

 *  Is there anyway we can successfully be able to read the same tape on 
    both Apollo and Sun architectures?

We are trying to release our product on a single tape that should be readable
on the Apollo and Sun architectures. Is this possible?

Any experiences or advice is appreciated.

Thanks.

-- 
Bala Vasireddi,            Phone: (415)962-5036
Synopsys, Inc.             FAX:   (415)965-8637
1098 Alta Ave              DDN:   bala@Synopsys.COM
Mountain View, CA 94043    UUCP:  ..!fernwood.mpk.ca.us!synopsys!bala

rees@pisa.citi.umich.edu (Jim Rees) (03/19/91)

In article <9103152325.AA06289@pebbles.rd>, bala@Synopsys.COM (Bala Vasireddi) writes:

  Can anybody tell me if the 1/4" tar tapes made on Suns (QIC-24) should be 
  readable on Apollo 1/4" tape drives?

I do this all the time and never have any trouble (except for the time the
Sun pulled the tape off the end of the reel).

Some old Suns write QIC-11, which the Apollo can't read.  Some new Suns
write QIC-150 (?), which the Apollo can't read.  Read your Sun manual (man 4
mt).

I think the official word from Apollo is that cartridge tape is intended for
backup and distribution, and isn't guaranteed to interchange with anyone
else's cartridge tape.

I haven't tried ct on a 10k but wouldn't be surprised it didn't work.

randall@bcstec.boeing.com (Michael Randall) (03/20/91)

>> Can anybody tell me if the 1/4" tar tapes made on Suns (QIC-24) should be 
>> readable on Apollo 1/4" tape drives?
>> 
> I do this all the time and never have any trouble (except for the time the
> Sun pulled the tape off the end of the reel).

I have found some trouble with tapes between systems. However some SUN
release tapes read BETTER on my Apollo's than on my SUN's. I attribute
this to head alignment  problems of the drives. I don't remember the #'s
but you might make sure that you are using the same density of drive &
tapes. Also make sure you are using a blocking factor which works for
both systems. I once had to install software on my SUN's using the
Apollo as a remote tape device. It works for me! ;)
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