> -----Original Message-----
> From: Jeremy Wadsack [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]]
> Sent: Wednesday, September 05, 2001 4:02 PM
> To: Bort, Paul
> Cc: '[EMAIL PROTECTED]'
> Subject: Re: Configuring an Exabute 10h
>
>
>
> Bort, Paul ([EMAIL PROTECTED]):
>
> > I just re-posted the "hack" you mention below for Steve Vitale, and
> > I don't think it's that bad, certainly no worse than the worst of
> > the rest of the changer hacks. :)
>
> There are no searchable archives after Jul 11th on egroups (and no
> other links to searchable archives) so I didn't see it. Thanks for
> sending it.
>
>
> > Before you start on the changer, is AMANDA working
> correctly with the tape
> > drive and no changer (i.e., chg-manual, the human tape changer)?
>
> Unfortunately I'm about 1300 miles from the changer. So I can't do the
> human tape changer test. I could try it with just one tape if I
> understood enough about Amanda to make that work.
>
> I suppose I need to setup tapedev to point to the sequential tape
> device and run a backup hoping that it actually hits a tape (and that
> the changer isn't docked or something)?
>
tapedev should point to the tape drive regardless of the type of changer. If
it's the only SCSI tape on the machine, it's probably /dev/nst0, and a
command like `mt -f /dev/nst0 status` should return something meaningful
about the tape drive in the changer. If there is a tape in the drive, or you
can convince someone to put a tape in the drive, it would be a good idea to
make sure AMANDA can label that tape.
>
> > The next step after that is to get the changer up and
> running outside of
> > AMANDA, and I remember three steps to that:
>
> > 1. Find or create a device for the changer. My tape drive
> is /dev/nst0, and
> > my changer is /dev/sch0. If you don't know what device controls your
> > changer, you might not have a device. The changer software at
> > http://bytesex.org/changer.html provides some explanation
> and examples for
> > creating device nodes.
>
> Wow! The README for that is probably the best bit of documentation
> I've found yet. Simple and to the point. I'll install and test this
> next.
>
>
> > 2. Get a kernel module loaded that will 'talk' to the
> device. The link above
> > includes source code for such a device, and is part of how
> I solved the
> > problem.
>
> > 3. Use a utility to tell the kernel module what to do with
> the device. Now
> > you should be able to move tapes around from the command
> line. The only
> > problem I ran into with this is the lack of communication
> between the
> > changer and the tape drive requires that you eject a tape
> from the drive
> > before the changer can pick it up. (The changer won't tell
> the drive to
> > eject.)
>
> > Once all of that is together, you can try using any
> combination of mtx,
> > zd-mtx, or any other utility and changer script to get the
> desired results.
> > I don't have a sure-fire recipe, just notes on what worked for me.
>
> Ok, how do I use the glue script and the changer? Is it something like
> this?
>
> tpchanger "chg-userland"
> changerfile "/usr/local/etc/amanda/daily/chg-userland.conf"
>
You should skip the changerfile. You can edit the location of
chg-userland.conf inside chg-userland. (I know this is wrong, and it should
read that from amanda.conf.) All it does with the .conf file is store the
current slot number. It overwrites it every time it moves a tape, so there's
no need to create it. I suspect that if you specify it in amanda.conf,
AMANDA will try to use it to keep track of tapes when the changer can't
(like a gravity feeder.)
I also have
changerdev "/dev/sch0"
but I don't think it matters, because chg-userland (and userland) don't
refer to the changer by device name. I suspect that we would run into
problems in a multiple-changer configuration.
> If so, what goes in the .conf file. If not, where does the
> chg-userland fit into the picture.
>
>
> Thanks,
>
> --
>
> Jeremy Wadsack
> Wadsack-Allen Digital Group
>
