Owner`s manual
Page A-4 Appendix A
A.1.2AM-645 8mm Magnetic Tape Subsystem
In order for the Exabyte tape drive to work with the Roadrunner hardware, new firmware
must be installed in the drive. The updated firmware is available from Alpha Micro under
part number PDB-00645-90. Once the new firmware is installed, the Exabyte tape drive
will operate in SCSI-1 mode only. The ability to span tapes is not supported on the
Exabyte tape drive.
A.1.3AM-647 (2GB) DAT Magnetic Tape Subsystems
The AM-647 DAT tape drive is SCSI-2 ready and does not require any firmware updates
to be compatible with Roadrunner hardware. However, on the back of the DAT drive a
change may need to be made to one of the configuration switches. Switch S4 must be
placed in the "ON" position in order for the drive to operate in SCSI-2 mode.
After making the configuration switch change, you must turn the drive off and then
power the drive back on in order for the switch change to take affect.
A.1.4AM-648 (2/4GB) DAT Magnetic Tape Subsystems
The AM-648 DAT tape drive is SCSI-2 ready and does not require any firmware updates
to be compatible with Roadrunner hardware. However, on the back of the DAT drive a
change may need to be made to one of the configuration jumper blocks.
When looking at the tape drive from the rear, the SCSI-1/SCSI-2 jumper is located in the
far upper left corner, next to the drive I.D. jumpers. This jumper block must be removed
for SCSI-2 operation, or installed for SCSI-1 operation. The normal Eagle/Roadrunner
operating mode is SCSI-2.
After making the configuration jumper change, you must turn the drive off and then
power the drive back on in order for the configuration change to take affect.
Additionally, the AM-648 DAT drive can operate in two data modes: standard or
compressed data. When operating in the standard mode the drive capacity is
approximately 2 gigabytes. When operating in the compressed mode the capacity is
approximately doubled, or 4 gigabytes.
The AMOS command called TMODE allows you to switch between compressed and
non-compressed tape writing modes. Tapes written in standard (non-compressed)
mode can also be read by AM-647 Archive Python DAT drives.
PDI-03500-50, Rev. B00