🚀 go-pugleaf

jmelson@artsci.wustl.edu (Jonathan M. Elson) wrote:
>Steven Bridge (ccaasub@ucl.ac.uk) wrote:
>: We are using a Lago datawheel with two exabyte drives.
>: After a drive failure, one of these has been replaced with
>: a drive supplied by Lago Systems described on the box as
>: a 'DRIVE ASM,8500C'.
>: I believe this performs hardware compression.
>
>Nope!  it is the 8505 that has the extra compression processor added.
>The 8500 just has an empty slot where the compression board would go.
>You need to make them get you an 8505.  The 8500 will get massive
>errors and garble when it tries to read a tape written on an 8505
>when the compression was turned on.

Exabyte does make an 8500C. It is indeed an 8500 with compression. The 8500C
will read tapes written on 8200, 8500 and 8500C, at least. I've been told that
8505 and 8500C write/compress the same. Haven't verified it though.

As for the original question of turning compression off, the drive is capable.
How to do it on the IBM box I do not know.


				--Lee