Of course, the problem is independent of the operating system you want
to install. The problem is not the standard label written on the tape
but barcode label on the cartridge. The library does not check the
written magnetic SL on the tape when importing it. In my case the
customer has opened in parallel a pmr on the hardware and they gave the
same explanation that I gave here on the list. The local IBM service guy
will give the customer some barcode labels which he can stick on the
cartridge and everything is fine. The easiest way for IBM to solve the
problem is to put a barcode label on each cartridge per default like
ZVM531, 532 and so on or VSE411, 412 ...., ZOS191, 192, ... At the worst
case the customer has such a label in his library, - which I don't
really believe -, and he has to eject these cartridges, import the
installation cartridges, copy these cartridges to own ones and reimport
the original ZVM-, VSE- or ZOS- labeled cartridges. The other
possibility is to give the library the functionality in the microcode to
import unlabeled cartridges like it was on the 3494. If IBM doesn't give
the customer one of these possibilities they can soon begin to stop
creating cartridges as the 3584/3953 libraries will more and more
replace the 3494 installations and deliver the software only on CD/DVD.
As this is currently possible on z/VM and z/VSE it is not on the
self-defined "Mercedes" of IBM, z/OS. This has surely something to do
with the amount of data (at least 6 3390-3) and the lack of a kind of
virtual tape server as in VSE to read directly from AWS simulated tape
files.
kind regards
Franz Josef Pohlen
Alan Altmark schrieb:
On Friday, 08/24/2007 at 07:44 EDT, "[EMAIL PROTECTED]"
<[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
Thank you to all who have responded. Let's hope, that IBM will either
put labels on future installation cartridges or make it possible to
mount unlabeled cartridges on the 3584 library.
What did the z/VSE Support Center say when you asked them? I can tell you
that z/VM does not ship SL tapes and so would not have a volser
machine-readable external label.
According to the brochure for 3592s, the barcode label is required to load
the tape in an IBM tape library.
Alan Altmark
z/VM Development
IBM Endicott
