HP StorageWorks Ultrium LTO-4 SCSI half-height tape drives W25D Firmware release notes (EH921-90918, December 2008)

Description
This document outlines the main changes for the W25D firmware maintenance release version. These
changes are a combination of customer reported issues and enhancem ents found via HP internal testing.
This firmware release is fully c ompatible with all previously released versions of HP Ultrium LTO-4
hardware. The encryption algorithm used in the HP Ultrium LTO-4 tape drive is unaffected by this
firmware release.
HP StorageW
orks Library a nd Tape Tools (HP L&TT) must be used to download firmware to the tape drive.
Update recommendation Recommended
Supersedes W24D
Product models
HP StorageWorks LTO–4 Ultrium 1760 internal tape drive EH921A
HP StorageWorks LTO–4 Ultrium 1760 external tape drive EH922A
Operating s
ystems
Cross operating system (BIOS, Firmware, Diagnostics, etc.)
Enhancements
• Buffer fl ushing performance is improved because only those Tape Directory wrap entries that
need it are updated, and not the whole page.
• Tape lifter capabilities have been introduced in preparation for LTO-4 half-height drives with a
tape lif ter me chanism (not yet shipping).
Fixes
Drive hangs
This code introduces improvements for hangs which could occur during reading and writing operation.
Write/read/space enhancements
• Improve
ments in the firmware decompression algorithm improve reading performance.
• Improvements in the read retry process when reading tapes written by non-HP drives
• Data associated wi th attributes written to MAM is now read correctly.
• Data is
now read correctly after power cycling a drive.
Encryption enhancements
• The first encrypted object field is now always set correctly.
Prere
quisites
None
LTO–4 SCSI half-height tape drives W25D Firmware release notes
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