HP StorageWorks DAT USB Tape Drives User Guide (DW049-90916, June 2010)

Verifying USB installation for optimum performance
To confirm that an HP StorageWorks USB DAT drive is installed correctly:
• Check that a USB 2.0 port is being used
• Ensure that the tape drive is the only device on a USB hub
• For DAT models prior to DAT 320 ensure that the HPUSBMSC.SYS driver is being used (DAT 320
tape drives use the Microsoft usbstor driver)
Check for USB 2.0 port (Windows)
It is important to ensure that you connect your drive to a USB 2.0 port. The drive will work on a USB
1.1 port but performance will be severely degraded.
To check the port on a Windows system:
1. Go to Device Manager and select Devices by connection from the View menu.
2. Expand Universal Serial Bus controllers and locate the tape drive.
3. If a USB driver is listed as Enhanced, the port is USB 2.0.
Ensure that the tape drive is the only device on a USB hub (Windows)
On some computers multiple physical USB 2.0 ports will be connected to the same master port, known
as a “root hub”. Connecting multiple devices to one root hub may degrade tape drive performance
degradation.
USB Mass Storage devices like HP DAT tape drives have the lowest priority of all device types on the
USB bus, so devices such as webcams should never be connected to the same root hub.
To check the devices connected to a root hub:
1. Go to Device Manager and select Devices by connection from the View menu.
2. Expand Universal Serial Bus controllers and locate the tape drive.
3. Trace the tree of devices back to the USB Root Hub and check that the only device connected is
the tape drive via the HP USB Mass Storage Device.
For models prior to DAT 320 ensure that the HPUSBMSC.SYS driver is being
used (Windows)
NOTE:
This section is not relevant for HP StorageWorks DAT 320 tape drives, because they use the Microsoft
USBSTOR driver.
For all models prior to DAT 320, the HP StorageWorks USB DAT drive will work with the Microsoft
USBSTOR driver, however, HP strongly recommends that you use the HPUSBMSC.SYS driver for
improved performance.
To check the driver being used:
1. Ensure that the USB DAT drive is attached to the system and switched on.
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