HP Tape Changer and Linux

[Mark A. Hoover]

I've got a friend of mine offering me an HP C1553A 24/48
Autoloading Tape Drive.  I've done a few Google searches
concerning this device.

HP says it's Linux compatible.

Most mailing list references (rather dated) says it's not
supported by the kernel (although these are mostly 2.2.x
references).

The Amanda website references tapes for the device, but
I didn't see anything referencing the device itself.

It's possible I'm not searching on the right terms, but I
figured I'd ask the list and see if anybody is currently
using one of these things and with what sort of
configuration.

[Alan Cox]

On Mon, Aug 02, 2004 at 10:41:42AM -0400, Mark A. Hoover wrote:
> The Amanda website references tapes for the device, but
> I didn't see anything referencing the device itself.

Its a scsi tape, works like any other scsi tape. You might also need a
tape changer app Im not sure if it autochanges

[Jos Vos]

On Mon, Aug 02, 2004 at 10:42:34AM -0400, Alan Cox wrote:
> Its a scsi tape, works like any other scsi tape. You might also need a
> tape changer app Im not sure if it autochanges

You need "mtx" to load/unload tapes, see that status, etc. and that
should work fine.

[Bruce Ferrell]

for amanda to use it you'll need mtx installed.  Other than that, it 
works just fine.  I've used it myself.

May I suggest that you have a look at bacula vs amanda?  I have no 
connection to either, but having used both packages, I found bacula more 
"controllable"

Mark A. Hoover wrote:
> I've got a friend of mine offering me an HP C1553A 24/48
> Autoloading Tape Drive.  I've done a few Google searches
> concerning this device.
>
> HP says it's Linux compatible.
>
> Most mailing list references (rather dated) says it's not
> supported by the kernel (although these are mostly 2.2.x
> references).
>
> The Amanda website references tapes for the device, but
> I didn't see anything referencing the device itself.
>
> It's possible I'm not searching on the right terms, but I
> figured I'd ask the list and see if anybody is currently
> using one of these things and with what sort of
> configuration.