Chapter 1
About This Release


Introduction

These release notes support ptx®/SPDRIVERS (Storage Products Drivers) V2.4.0 for systems running DYNIX/ptx® V4.4.10. ptx/SPDRIVERS enables NUMA-Q® and Symmetry® systems to communicate with various storage devices. Read this document before you install or run this release of ptx/SPDRIVERS.


Changes in ptx/SPDRIVERS V2.4.0

ptx/SPDRIVERS V2.4.0 contains problem fixes only.


Changes in ptx/SPDRIVERS V2.3.0

ptx/SPDRIVERS V2.3.0 contains an updated fwdl utility which corrects the following problem:


System Requirements


Software Requirements

ptx/SPDRIVERS V2.4.0 runs on DYNIX/ptx V4.4.10.


Disk Space Requirements

Installing ptx/SPDRIVERS requires approximately 80 KB in the root filesystem and 700 KB in the /usr filesystem. If /usr is not on a separate partition, than approximately 780 KB is required in the root filesystem. No run-time disk space is required for ptx/SPDRIVERS.


Software Compatibility


Custom Miniroot Support

ptx/SPDRIVERS V2.x.x designates that the /etc/mctab file, the mc command, the mcbuild command, and the rc2 script that executes mcbuild at boot time be placed on the custom miniroot on a DYNIX/ptx V4.4.9 (or later) host. (The device drivers are part of the kernel and do not have to be explicitly placed on the custom miniroot.) Additionally, for Alexandria® and Backup Toolkit users, the Backup Toolkit systeminfo script, which is run during daily Alexandria housekeeping, copies the /etc/mctab file under the name mctab in the /usr/alexbkup/disaster_recovery directory.


Software Compatibility with Alexandria

Alexandria servers running DYNIX/ptx V4.4.9 or later must install ptx/SPDRIVERS. ptx/SPDRIVERS includes all the tape and library device drivers required for the devices supported by DYNIX/ptx for use with Alexandria. If you are upgrading a host from DYNIX/ptx V4.4.1 or later, no changes are required in the Alexandria hardware configuration as the device names will remain the same after the upgrade to DYNIX/ptx V4.4.5 and ptx/SPDRIVERS V2.3.0.

If the host is running DYNIX/ptx V4.4.5, ensure that ptx/SPDRIVERS is already installed before you install Alexandria.


Install ptx/SPDRIVERS

Before you install the ptx/SPDRIVERS software, you should familiarize yourself with the hardware installation requirements for the tape drives and libraries you plan to use. For more information, refer to the applicable hardware documentation. You should also determine the hardware connections you plan to use for each library before software installation.


ATTENTION

ptx/SPDRIVERS replaces ptx/DLT and ptx/tc_3590 on systems running DYNIX/ptx V4.4.x. If ptx/DLT or ptx/tc_3590 are installed, you must deinstall them before you upgrade to DYNIX/ptx V4.4.5. Additionally, if your site is using Fastpatch 239062, 232382, or 237212 on DYNIX/ptx V4.4.2 or earlier, all of which provided DLT7000 support, you must deinstall the applicable fastpatch before upgrading to DYNIX/ptx V4.4.5 and ptx/SPDRIVERS V2.3.0.


Use ptx/INSTALL to install ptx/SPDRIVERS V2.4.0 from the DYNIX/ptx V4.4.x Operating System and Layered Products Software CD-ROM. Refer to the correct version of the DYNIX/ptx V4.4.x and Layered Products Software Installation Release Notes to use this process to install all DYNIX/ptx software. This document also describes how to use the mcbuild utility to associate tape drives with media changers and how to verify hardware detection of configured devices.

Since ptx/SPDRIVERS contains kernel components, you must compile the kernel and reboot with that new kernel before you can use ptx/SPDRIVERS. If you try to compile the kernel and ptx/SPDRIVERS is not installed, DYNIX/ptx will output a warning message during the compile. Note, however, that the kernel can be built without ptx/SPDRIVERS.

The default system configuration file for ptx/SPDRIVERS is called /etc/conf/uts/symmetry/spd.std.


Deinstall ptx/SPDRIVERS

You can deinstall ptx/SPDRIVERS by using the Software Management option on the System Administration menu in the ptx/ADMIN menu system. If you are not familiar with the steps to deinstall a product, refer to the ptx/INSTALL Software Installation Guide. The deinstallation of ptx/SPDRIVERS does not delete the /etc/mctab file since this file was not created by the installation of ptx/SPDRIVERS.


ATTENTION

ptx/SPDRIVERS is tightly coupled with DYNIX/ptx and must not be deinstalled unless you no longer need to use the devices supported by ptx/SPDRIVERS. Once you deinstall ptx/SPDRIVERS, those devices are no longer accessible. Refer to "Media and Driver Support for ptx/SPDRIVERS Devices" later in this release note for the supported devices.


Once ptx/SPDRIVERS is deinstalled, you must rebuild the kernel and reboot the operating system.


Media and Driver Support for ptx/SPDRIVERS Devices

Table 1-1 summarizes the tape drives, media types, capacities, and device files that are supported by ptx/SPDRIVERS V2.4.0.

Table 1-1. Tape Drives and Media Types Supported by ptx/SPDRIVERS

Native Mode

Compressed Mode

Tape Drive

Media Type

Capacity

Device Filea

Capacity

Device Filea

DDS-2TM tape drive

4-mm DAT

4 GB

/dev/rmt/td0

8 GBb

/dev/rmt/td0c

DDS-3 tape drive

4-mm DAT

12 GB

/dev/rmt/td0

24 GBb

/dev/rmt/td0c

DLT4000 tape drive

DLTtape IIIxt

15 GB

/dev/rmt/tl0d15

30 GBb

/dev/rmt/tl0d15c

DLTtape IV

20 GB

/dev/rmt/tl0d20

40 GBb

/dev/rmt/tl0d20c

DLTtape IIIxt or IV

variablec

/dev/rmt/tl0

variablec

/dev/rmt/tl0c

DLT7000 / DLT7000E tape drives

DLTtape IIIxt

15 GB

/dev/rmt/tl0d15

30 GBb

/dev/rmt/tl0d15c

DLTtape IV

20 GB

/dev/rmt/tl0d20

40 GB

/dev/rmt/tl0d20c

DLTtape IV

35 GB

/dev/rmt/tl0d35

70 GBb

/dev/rmt/tl0d35c

DLTtape IIIxt or IV

variablec

/dev/rmt/tl0

variablec

/dev/rmt/tl0c

Magstar® tape drive

IBM 3590 High Performance Tape Cartridge

10 GB

/dev/rmt/tc0d

30 GBe

/dev/rmt/tc0cd


a. The device file names shown in this table are for devices assigned a unit number of zero, for example, /dev/rmt/tl0d15. Devices assigned a unit number of one are named /dev/rmt/tl1d15, and so on.

b. The compression amounts listed are based on a 2:1 compression rate. The actual capacity of a tape when used with hardware compression format varies with the type of data being backed up.

c. See the notes following this table for information about the capacity.

d. The tc device driver provides support for both the Magstar tape drive and the ACF of the IBM 3590 High Performance Tape Subsystem. The tc device driver is not supported for use with Magstar tape drives in IBM 3494 Tape Libraries.

e. According to the Magstar and IBM 3590 High Performance Tape Subsystem Technical Guide produced by IBM, the Magstar tape drive uses a new compaction algorithm which can increase the storage capacity of these cartridges to 30 GB when using compression.

Note the following additional information:

Table 1-2 describes the libraries that are supported by the drivers in ptx/SPDRIVERS V2.4.0. Table 1-3 describes the libraries that are supported by DYNIX/ptx and do not require device drivers in ptx/SPDRIVERS.

Table 1-2. Libraries Supported by ptx/SPDRIVERS Device Drivers

Library

Internal Tape Drive

Number of Tape Drives

Number of Tape Slots

Device Filea

EXB®-10h Autoloader/ Stacker

EXB-8505XL tape driveb

1

10-cartridge magazine

/dev/mch/mx0

DDS-2 Library

DDS-2 tape drive

2

4

22 or 60

20 or 58

/dev/mch/ms0

DDS-3 Library

DDS-3 tape drive

2

4

20

60

/dev/mch/ms0

HP® DLT4000 Library

DLT4000 tape drive

2

4

48

48

/dev/mch/ml0

STK 9730 Library Storage Module (directly-connected)

DLT4000 tape drive

DLT7000 / DLT7000E tape drives

1 to 4

18 or 30

/dev/mch/mw0

IBM 3590 High Performance Tape Subsystemc

IBM Magstar Tape Drived

1

10-cartridge magazine

/dev/mch/tc0e


a. The device file names shown in this table are for devices assigned a unit number of zero, for example, /dev/rmt/mx0. Devices assigned a unit number of one are named /dev/rmt/mx0, and so on.

b. The EXB-8505XL tape drive uses 8-mm tapes and uses the tx device driver, which is provided by DYNIX/ptx, not ptx/SPDRIVERS.

c. For connection to a NUMA system, you must obtain the IBM Automated Tape Library Software, which contains the lmcpd daemon and some additional files. For details, refer to Backup Toolkit V4.4.4 Release Notes for SAMS:Alexandria, "Configure IBM 3494 Tape Libraries."

d. For more information about using the IBM 3590 Tape Subsystem with a DYNIX/ptx system, refer to Appendix A, " IBM 3590 High Performance Tape Subsystem," later in these release notes. This appendix contains discussions of important configuration and usage considerations. It is strongly recommended that you read this appendix carefully before attempting to use the tc driver and this device

e. The tc device driver provides support for both the Magstar tape drive and the ACF of the IBM 3590 High Performance Tape Subsystem. The tc device driver is not supported for use with Magstar tape drives in IBM 3494 Tape Libraries.

Table 1-3. Libraries Supported by DYNIX/ptx

Library

Internal Tape Drive

Number of Tape Drives

Number of Tape Slots

Device File

STK 9710 Library Storage Module (ACSLS-connected)ab

DLT4000 tape drive

DLT7000 / DLT7000E tape drives

1 to 10

252 or 420 or 588

not applicable

STK 9740 Library Storage Module (ACSLS-connected)b

DLT7000 / DLT7000E tape drives

1 to 10

318-486 per LSM

not applicable


a. This library is supported as a directly-connected library on xSeries 430 hosts and NUMA-Q 2000 hosts running DYNIX/ptx V4.5.x or V4.6.x. It is supported as an ACSLS-connected library on Symmetry hosts running DYNIX/ptx V4.5.x and all hosts running DYNIX/ptx V4.4.4 or later maintenance releases.

b. The library robotics of an ACSLS-connected library are controlled by STK's Automated Cartridge System Library Software (ACSLS) and not a device driver.

Note the following additional information:


ptx/SPDRIVERS Commands and Utilities

ptx/SPDRIVERS includes the following commands and utilities:


ATTENTION

The infodev SCSI inquiry utility that was previously provided by ptx/DLT has been incorporated into DYNIX/ptx. This utility is not provided with ptx/SPDRIVERS. For more information, refer to the infodev(1M) man page.



Associate Tape Drives with Media Changers By Using the mcbuild Utility

When using directly-connected libraries, you should use the mcbuild utility to associate tape drives with each media changer or library device. You can create or update these associations at any time-a system reboot is not required. This task is not applicable to ACSLS-connected libraries.

When mcbuild is not used, a media changer driver tries to determine the names of its connected tape drives the first time the media changer device is opened. The media changer driver then keeps those tape drive names until the system is rebooted. This method works most of the time, especially when there is only one media changer on the host and all the tape drives connected to the host are in the media changer. However, because the media changer device cannot return unique identifiers for the tape drives connected to it, the media changer driver has no way of positively associating a tape drive with that media changer device. Also, if you rename a tape device with the devctl command, the output from the mc command does not reflect the current device configuration until the system is rebooted.

To prevent these problems, you should use the mcbuild utility to explicitly associate tape drives with every media changer on the host. Even if you only have one media changer on the host, it is a good system administration practice to use the mcbuild utility.

Complete the following steps to use the mcbuild utility to associate tape drives to directly-connected media changer devices:

  1. Create or edit the /etc/mctab file to contain one line for each media changer device and its associated tape drives.


    ATTENTION

    Any time you add, remove, or rename media changers or tape drives in these media changers on a host, you must ensure that the /etc/mctab file is updated to reflect the current device configuration. Otherwise, the output from the mc command will not reflect those changes.


    Each line in the /etc/mctab file should be of the following format:

    mc_device_name drive1 drive2 drive3 ...

    The order given for the tape drives must correspond to their order as storage elements in the library. This is important because the naming order of tape drives may not correspond directly to their order in a library. For example, a library may have four tape drives with SCSI ID's 0, 1, 2, and 3. Because of the way they are cabled to the system, the system may probe them in a different order (such as 2, 3, 0, 1). The system will assign drive names in probe order, but mc(1) will erroneously assume that the drive name sequence follows its own ordering. mcbuild must be used to rectify this situation by listing the drive names in the correct order with respect to the library.

    For example, to associate the tape drives tl0 through tl3 with the HP DLT4000 library /dev/mch/ml0 and to associate the tape drives tl4 through tl8 with the STK 9710 library /dev/mch/mw0, you would add the following lines to the /etc/mctab file:

    /dev/mch/ml0 tl0 tl1 tl2 tl3 tl4
    /dev/mch/mw0 tl5 tl6 tl7 tl8 tl9

    If you do not know which tape drives belong to which library, you can determine this information as follows:

  2. Run the mcbuild utility to associate the tape drives and media changers that are defined in the /etc/mctab file.

    # mcbuild

ptx/SPDRIVERS Man Pages

ptx/SPDRIVERS includes online man pages that describe various components of this product. To view the ml(7) man page, for example, enter the following command:

# man 7 ml

The following man pages are included with ptx/SPDRIVERS:

dltutil(1)
Performs miscellaneous service tasks for DLT tape drives and libraries, including downloading new firmware. dltutil is a service utility intended for use only by Customer Support personnel.
fcinfo(1)
Uses a combination of mode and log sense commands to obtain and display statistical information obtained from the FC Bridge(s) installed in a system. fcinfo is a utility intended for use only by Customer Support personnel.
ffutil(1)
Displays firmware versions for each FC Host Adapter and downloads firmware for FC Host Adapters.
fwdl(1)
Downloads firmware to SCSI and Fibre Channel devices that can be updated via the SCSI "Write Buffer" command. fwdl is a utility intended for use only by Customer Support personnel.
mc(1)
Manipulates media changer devices and displays their status.
mcbuild(1)
Associates tape drives with media changer devices.
scsilog(1)
Displays statistical information for a SCSI device by using the SCSI log sense command.
ml(7)
Device driver that supports the SCSI media changer for HP DLT4000 libraries.
ms(7)
Device driver that supports the SCSI media changer for DDS-2 libraries, DDS-3 libraries, and DDS-2 Autoloaders. Provided with ptx/SPDRIVERS V2.x.x only. (ptx/SLPT includes the ms device driver for DYNIX/ptx V4.2.x.)
mw(7)
Device driver that supports the SCSI media changer for direct-connect STK 9710/9730 libraries.
mx(7)
Device driver that supports the SCSI media changer for the EXB-10h Autoloader/Stacker.
spdrivers(7)
Overview of the device drivers and commands provided by ptx/SPDRIVERS.
tc(7)
Device driver that supports Magstar tape drives in IBM 3590 High Performance Tape Subsystems.
td(7)
Device driver that supports DDS-2 tape drives and DDS-3 tape drives.
tl(7)
Device driver that supports DLT4000, DLT7000, and DLT7000E tape drives.

Fixed Problem Summary

This section describes problems fixed in ptx/SPDRIVERS V2.x. The numbers in parentheses identify the problems in the problem-tracking system.


Problems Fixed in ptx/SPDRIVERS V2.4.0

The following problem was fixed in ptx/SPDRIVERS V2.4.0:


Problems Fixed in ptx/SPDRIVERS V2.3.0

The following problem was fixed in ptx/SPDRIVERS V2.3.0:


Problems Fixed in ptx/SPDRIVERS V2.2.0

The following problems have been fixed in ptx/SPDRIVERS V2.2.0:


Problems Fixed in ptx/SPDRIVERS V2.1.0

The following problems were fixed in ptx/SPDRIVERS V2.1.0:


Problems Fixed in ptx/SPDRIVERS V2.0.0

The following problems were fixed in ptx/SPDRIVERS V2.0.0:


Open Problem Summary

This section describes open problems in this release of ptx/SPDRIVERS. The numbers in parentheses identify the problems in the problem-tracking system.

Request Sense Data Handling in scsimc Does Not Print Raw Sense Data (236516)

The media changer drivers all invoke the same code (scsimc) to handle request sense data; this code tries to interpret the sense data and return in text what the problem is. However, when an error occurs, scsimc does not return the raw sense data, so none of the media changer drivers can output this information to /usr/adm/ktlog. The raw sense data should be output because it frequently contains diagnostic information that can help isolate the source of the error.

Workaround: None.

Information Device Reports Are Incorrect for IBM 3590 Tape Subsystems (237218)

Because of existing problems with the firmware for the IBM 3590 Tape Subsystem, when you use the i suffix in the device file name, some information is reported incorrectly. This problem also causes the infodev -a command to display some incorrect values.

Workaround: None.

mc Command Returns Invalid Status (242201)

When a move media command fails, the mc command does not report a reasonable error message if the device in question is in the "unit attention" state.

Workaround: None.

mcbuild(1) Man Page Needs Additional Information (238064)

The mcbuild(1) man page should explain that the order given for the drives corresponds to their order as storage elements in the library.

This is important, because the naming order of tape drives may not correspond directly to their order in a library. For example, a library may have four tape drives with SCSI ID's 0, 1, 2, and 3. Because of the way they are cabled to the system, the system may probe them in a different order (such as 2, 3, 0, 1). The system will assign drive names in probe order, but mc(1) will erroneously assume that the drive name sequence follows its own ordering. mcbuild must be used to rectify this situation by listing the drive names in the correct order with respect to the library.

Also, the man page does not describe the output of the mcbuild command.

Workaround: None.

mt clearerr Does Not Work with the 3590 Device (242799)

The mt clearerr command does not work with the 3590 tape device.

Workaround: None.