[rescue] Sun StorageTek SL48 Tape Library - H.70 - Firmware - Patch 128439-12

[Richard]

Hi Jean-Paul

Thanks for the heads up. My other LTO4 drive happens to be an HP so I reckon I should be good. Have ordered a drive sled.

Cheers

Richard

> On 18 Aug 2022, at 1:31 am, John-Paul Stewart <jpstewart at personalprojects.net> wrote:
> 
> On 2022-08-17 04:05, Thomas Pelki wrote:
>> Rich,
>> 
>> If you don't want to cross-flash you can always buy the controller board
>> that goes in the back from an IBM or Lenovo version and the front LCD
>> board (it has some logic on it too beyond the LCD and controller).
>> Though I would spend the time to figure out which one has open access to
>> firmware and doesn't have it behind a paywall (*COUGH* Oracle and HP
>> *COUGH) and then grab that controller board and LCD.
>> 
>> and I would avoid HP branded LTO drives if possible, getting firmware
>> for them is like pulling teeth as its behind a paywall.
> 
> Be forewarned that the HP and IBM drives are not interchangeable.  A
> library (such as the IBM TS3200 or Dell TL4000) that expects IBM drives
> will NOT recognize HP drives and an HP library will NOT work with IBM
> drives.  The library firmware will say something on the front panel
> about an unrecognized drive.  It looks like the SL48 expects HP drives,
> according to the FEH:
> 
> https://dogemicrosystems.ca/pub/Sun/System_Handbook/Sun_syshbk_V4.1/Systems/SL48/components.html#RemovableMedia
> 
> (Note the "HP" in the option numbers!)
> 
> Also be aware that, at least for the ones with the FC interface, the HP
> and IBM drives have their connectors in different physical locations so
> the sleds are not interchangeable between drive brands.  (I'm not sure
> about SCSI and SAS sleds;  I only use FC.)
> 
> However, that said, it is indeed trivially easy to swap the controller
> board to make the library match the drives, if necessary.  I bought an
> IBM TS3200 with no drives, then bought an HP drive only to learn all of
> the above the hard way.  Swapping in an HP controller board was cheaper
> for me than replacing the HP FC LTO5 drive with a comparable IBM model.
> 
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