Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!sdd.hp.com!decwrl!fernwood!portal!cup.portal.com!DrBob
From: DrBob@cup.portal.com (Robert A Rethemeyer)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga.hardware
Subject: Re: The Hardframe 2000, BTNTape, and Everything
Message-ID: <40214@cup.portal.com>
Date: 16 Mar 91 10:07:29 GMT
References: <53122@cornell.UUCP>
Organization: The Portal System (TM)
Lines: 36

John Lee writes...
>  Thanks--at least it works for somebody.  The drive is the same model
>  described in the docs for the BTNTape driver.  After a little more
>  investigation and a little programming, I discovered that the tape drive
>  may be faulty--it always reports a media error after formatting.  The

Before you give up on your drive, let me make a couple suggestions.
First, make sure the CHASSIS of the MCD40 is WELL GROUNDED.  The ground
wire from the drive's power connector is insufficient for grounding the
chassis.  If the drive is screwed to the 2000's chassis, that is
probably ok.  But if you are running it outside, it will be VERY susceptible
to noise, resulting in media errors.   Run a thick wire from a side-plate
to the power supply ground.

Second, make sure that byte 5 (sixth byte) of the formattape file is
set to "80", so that the drive will retry errors during formatting.
I had a couple tapes that wouldn't format unless I allowed retries.
Or, as 3M recommends, bulk-erase the tape before attempting another format.

>  BTNTape driver doesn't seem to handle faults very well.

True, but there is not much you can do with a medium error.  The 3M
drive is pretty smart about remapping bad blocks and recovering data.
If it can't do that, there is nothing that the handler can do to
make it all better.

BTW, I have a new version of BTN that should be ready to send out soon.
It handles errors a little better, supports many other types of drives
(as well as the 3M), and has some new features.  I'll post a note when
it becomes available.  This new version has been used on a HardFrame
with success.

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
  Bob Rethemeyer                     // "My Sneaker-Phone keeps kicking my
    DrBob@cup.portal.com   -or-     //   Football-Phone off the hook."
..!sun!portal!cup.portal.com!DrBob //                      - Jay Leno