Tape Drive Setup
7 messages in this thread
A friend of mine has an A3070 Tape Backup Unit. While moving from one
place to another he lost the manual. My questions is how do you set the
Tape Drive up? He is using a Xetec SCSI controller and according to its
book you just stick it into the chain with the hard drive being the
terminating device. We tried that but nothing happens. The system wont
autoboot from the hard drive it wont do anything. I think its some
conflict between the two units because the device numbers are probrally the
same. I seen that there are some dip switches inside the tape unit. If
you own a C= 3070 Tape Drive can you send me the info on how to set the dip
switches etc..
Thanks for any help.
Harold,
The first three switches set the SCSI ID. The order is reversed, so
that to set an ID of 1 would be switch 1 on (down), switch 2 off (up),
switch 3 off (up). They are set up in reverse order binary. Of course,
you first have to open up the chasis to get to the switches.
I hope that this makes sense. If you have any further questions feel
free to ask me. I have an A3070 on my system.
-RSL-
Thanks for the info. Another question … what are the other switch
settings for. Also, does that tape drive have an external terminator for
its SCSI bus or is it internal? He said something about it having a plug
but doesn't know where it is. There is a plug on the back of his CD-ROM
from Xetec .. and they said they required none that it was internally
terminated by switch setting.
Inquiring minds want to know!
What would your recommend for backup software?
Harold,
Switch 4 is for Parity Enable, the rest are for factory use only. The
unit comes with an external terminator (that's the extra plug). Obviously
if you plan to plug another SCSI device into the tape drive you shouldn't
use the terminator. The terminator is meant to be plugged into the last
external SCSI device on the chain. The tape drive does not have an
internal set of terminator resistors. If your last device has internal
termination you may not need to buy another DB25 terminator/connector.
Some people use SCSI devices without a terminator – it lessens noise
generated in the SCSI connection.
As far as back up software, I us Ami-Back from Moonlighter's Software.
Their software works very well and is aesthetic too. I've communicated
with them and they are very helpful and demonstrate a sincere effort to
help their customers. Presently it is able to do automatic backups, as well
as back up multiple devices at one time. They are working on compressing
backups (to increase the 150 MB limitation) as well as appending data to
tape (to enable incremental backups – which would save time). I wouldn't
hazard to guess when these features will be available, but they are still
working on improving their product (unlike QuarterBack, which seems to be
unchanging, without any sign that they are even considering updating the
product for tape drives).
If you have any other questions feel free to ask!
-RSL-
Hi,
What is a A3070???
Michael Davis //
\X/ AMIGA POWER
A3070 is a CBM 150 MB External SCSI Tape Drive
JohnB 76256,3436 – via Whap!
Michael,
Unless I have a memory lapse about the model number, it is Comodore's
150MB tape backup drive.
-RSL-