Allen, You are recalling correctly as I have done the exact same thing. We are currently migrating from our 3494 library with 3592 E05 drives to a 3584 library with 3592 E07 drives. I have removed some of our old scratch 3952 E05 JB tapes from our 3494 to use in the 3584 without incident. They are working fine using the 3592-4C format. The 3592 E07 drives will only read tapes written with the 3592-2C format but as you pointed out when the tapes go through a scratch cycle and then are written to using the 3592-4C format you will realize the increase in storage capacity.
Here is a 3592 format matrix from IBM: https://www.ibm.com/developerworks/mydeveloperworks/wikis/home/wiki/IBM%20Removable%20Media%20on%20IBM%20i/page/3592%20Cartridges%20and%20Drives%20compatibility%20on%20IBM%20i?lang=en Hope this helps, Bill On 2/27/2013 4:00 PM, Allen S. Rout wrote:
Way back when, when I updated my 3592 drives, I seem to recall I was able to write the higher density format to the old tapes, once they went through a scratch cycle... We just went through a long period in which space got ... easy. :) I'm contemplating updating from the E05s to the E07s now, and I want to double-check that this is the case at this transition, too. Or am I insane and remembering incorrectly? Any war stories about drive hardware updates? - Allen S. Rout
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