dawes@suphys.physics.su.OZ.AU (David Dawes) (12/11/90)
I recently bought a Wangtek 5125EN tape drive and PC-36 controller. The drive is supposedly a 60MB unit. The documentation that came with it seems to be somewhat out of date, and looks like it would be more applicable to a 5099EN drive. The controller documentation also doesn't match the controller. I got the drive from a warehouse sale, so I can't really get much help from them. I am running Esix 3.2 rev D, and it recognises the controller OK, and I can even write and read tapes. There are however a few things I haven't been able to sort out. With the drive and controller setting at their defaults, I am able to write and read DC600A tapes. I can't read these tapes back on a 5099 drive (or any other QIC-24 drive), but I can read them on our QIC-150 drives (Archive drives running on Suns). I can write DC300XL/P tapes, but can't read them on anything (including the drive that wrote them). I also found that I can fit 80MB on the DC600A tape. The drive seems to be writing 9-track serpentine. I can also read both DC600A and DC300XL/P tapes writen on other QIC-24 drives. There is a jumper on the drive labeled 9/15, which is not installed by default. I tried installing a jumper, and I could then write and read both DC600A and DC300XL/P tapes (on which I could fit 60MB and 45MB respectively). I can not read these tapes on any other drives (QIC-24 or QIC-150). The drive still seems to be writing 9-track serpentine. In this mode I cannot read any tapes written by other drives. The only difference in drive operation that I notice that is dependent on the jumper setting is the speed the tape moves at when reading/writing. It is slower when the jumper is not installed (which probably accounts for fitting 80MB rather than 60MB on a DC600A). Does anyone know if the 5125 drive is really a QIC-24 drive? I'm getting the impression that it might be a 15-track (QIC-120?) except that it only writing 9 tracks. Any information about the drive (and its configuration) would be much appreciated. BTW, I've noticed that the Esix `mt' command doesn't work with this controller. There is no mention of this command in their release notes. The manual entry for et(7) lists some ioctls for the Everex/Wangtek/Archive interfaces, but I cannot find them in any of the header files. Also, none of the `portable' rewind methods some people have been posting seem to with this OS/controller combination. David -- ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ David Dawes (dawes@suphys.physics.su.oz.au) DoD#210 | Phone: +612 692 2639 School of Physics, University of Sydney, Australia | Fax: +612 660 2903 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
duc@mport.COM (Richard Ducoty) (12/13/90)
dawes@suphys.physics.su.OZ.AU (David Dawes) writes: >I recently bought a Wangtek 5125EN tape drive and PC-36 controller. The >drive is supposedly a 60MB unit. The documentation that came with it seems >to be somewhat out of date, and looks like it would be more applicable to >a 5099EN drive. The controller documentation also doesn't match the >controller. I got the drive from a warehouse sale, so I can't really get >much help from them. ==================================================== Wangtek Tech support will help you - You can buy a technical manual from them for $30. Sorry, I don't have the phone # offhand. They are in southern California. The 5125EN is a 125MB tape if my memory serves me. The 5099EN is a 60MB and the 5150EN a 150MB drive. That explains why the 5099EN couldn't read a 5125EN tape, but the 5150EN could. You should be able to read QIC-24 tapes. Call Wangtek - Richard Ducoty \\\\\\\ Microport Inc. (.)(.) root@mport.com voice=> (408) 438-8649 > duc@mport.com fax=> (408) 438-7560 - uunet!mport!duc " militiae species amor est "
aland@informix.com (Colonel Panic) (12/13/90)
In article <1990Dec11.055408.21520@metro.ucc.su.OZ.AU> dawes@suphys.physics.su.OZ.AU (David Dawes) writes: >I recently bought a Wangtek 5125EN tape drive and PC-36 controller. The >drive is supposedly a 60MB unit. The documentation that came with it seems >to be somewhat out of date, and looks like it would be more applicable to >a 5099EN drive. The controller documentation also doesn't match the The 5125EN is a QIC-120 drive; the AT&T 120/125 MB Streaming Tape Unit that they sell with the 6386s uses this drive with a 30850-412 controller (don't know what PC-36 means). >With the drive and controller setting at their defaults, I am able to >write and read DC600A tapes. I can't read these tapes back on a 5099 >drive (or any other QIC-24 drive), but I can read them on our QIC-150 >drives (Archive drives running on Suns). I can write DC300XL/P tapes, Makes sense. Many QIC-150 can read (but not write) QIC-120 tapes. >David -- Alan Denney aland@informix.com {pyramid|uunet}!infmx!aland "When will Apple get socially responsible and offer separate trash can icons for glass, aluminum, and paper?" - Lincoln Spector