MBF COMPANY CONFIDENTIAL FIELD INFORMATION BULLETIN SERVICE GROUP(S): MINI MFG: D.E.I. NACS TYPE(S): 4401 MFG. MODEL(S): CMTD-3400S2 CATEGORY: MAGNETIC TAPE I/O DESC: MTC (MAG TAPE CARTRIDGE) *** TABLE OF CONTENTS AS OF 12/20/90 *** FIB 00001.General Information.........................................10/16/86 FIB 00002.Powering up/down with cartridge inserted damages tape.......03/20/80 FIB 00003.System hangs/halts, tasks(s) hangs running *MTC on BOSS 3.7H08/24/82 FIB 00004.ERROR 5, closing out tracks early on levels 3.7H and 4.3B...12/16/82 FIB 00005.Patch to fix *MTC verify problem on levels 3.7H and 4.3B....01/20/83 FIB 00006.Slowdown in Release 4.4A AND 4.4B *MTC systems..............07/19/83 FIB 00007.ECN for signal cable retrofit with clamp....................10/11/83 FIB 00008.Definition of "soft error" counts in *MTC...................12/01/83 FIB 00009.Coating on PCBAs can cause adjustment problems..............12/16/83 FIB 00010.Patch to prevent error reporting problem in *MTC............07/13/84 FIB 00011.Read Reverse Failures on BASS MTC Tests - Fails on *MTC.....03/21/86 MAGNETIC TAPE I/O-D.E.I.-CMTD-3400S2----------------Table Of Contents Pg01 of 01 FIB 00001 10/16/86 *** General Information *** Features: * 4 tracks, serial recording * 6400 bits per inch * 30 inches per second * MFM encoding *** NACS MACHINE TYPES AND FEATURE NUMBERS *** 4269,4289 *** AVAILABLE DOCUMENTATION *** Basic Four M6400 Tape Drive Maintenance Manual BFC 8015 - S-HDBK-237 Magnetic Tape Cartridge Model 6400 Handbook - S-HDBK-B98 *** AVAILABLE TRAINING *** Formal training is a part of Basic Four BBIII/BBIV Classes *** SPECIAL TOOLS *** Strobe Speed Cartridge - MM617100 Scratch Cartridge - YY006483 Cartridge Tape Exerciser - 0R997772 *** SPECIAL ADMINISTRATIVE PROCEEDURES *** None ORIGINATOR: JOHN ROGERS MAGNETIC TAPE I/O-D.E.I.-CMTD-3400S2----------------FIB001 Pg001 FIB 00002 03/20/80 *** Powering up/down with cartridge inserted damages tape *** CAUTION Do not turn system or cartridge drive power off or on while a tape cartridge is inserted in the drive. This could make the tapes unreadable. Always remove cartridges from the drives immediately after using to avoid the risk of damage to them. ORIGINATOR: J. VANDER HEYDEN MAGNETIC TAPE I/O-D.E.I.-CMTD-3400S2----------------FIB002 Pg001 FIB 00003 08/24/82 *** System hangs/halts, tasks(s) hangs running *MTC on BOSS 3.7H *** A.problem has been reported and confirmed with the *MTC utilities on Level 3.7H. Symptoms of the problem may appear as hung tasts, system hangs or even red light halts. The problem stems from a bank shuffling porblem on 3.7H. If *MTC is running and excessive starts and releases occurs the problem may occur. If the task running the *MTC utility is dedicated to a bank (started with 128 pages in a single bank) less than Bank 6, the problems do not occur. MBF is currently working on a fix for this problem. Release level for this fix is unknown at this time. The problem has not been reported on Level 4. ORIGINATOR: TIC CENTER MAGNETIC TAPE I/O-D.E.I.-CMTD-3400S2----------------FIB003 Pg001 FIB 00004 12/16/82 *** ERROR 5, closing out tracks early on levels 3.7H and 4.3B *** Apparently the new Tape Cartridge Driver used on Boss levels starting with 3.7H and 4.3B does a more thorough job of error checking than earlier releases. Error 5s, verify Errors, closing out tracts early are some of the symptoms that have occurred on tape units that were properly set up and worked without error error on releases prior to the new software driver. To correct this condition raise the read gain adjustment to 1.5 V. The signal may begin to distort as the amplitude is raised but this has not created any any problems; Ignore any "GRASS" on the signal and set using the sine wave portion of the signal. This adjustment may be made using the procedure in Section VII of the Sorbus 6400 Exerciser Handbook, S-HDBK-B98. The Tape The Tape Cartridge Exerciser, P/N OR997772, may be used to do this adjustment. There will be an update to the Tape Cartridge Drive Handbook, S-HDBK-B98 to reflect this and any other adjustment changes. ORIGINATOR: NORM JONES MAGNETIC TAPE I/O-D.E.I.-CMTD-3400S2----------------FIB004 Pg001 FIB 00005 01/20/83 *** Patch to fix *MTC verify problem on levels 3.7H and 4.3B *** There is a problem with the *MTC verify option on Systems 3.7H and 4.3B. The problem is that a particular backup/verify procedure will always fail, but a backup/non-verify will successfully complete a procedure. The problem surfaces only when a file that is being backed up spans tracks, and can therefore appear to be procedure related. When a file track-span occurs, the *MTC programs cause the tape to perform a rewind. The problem is that the program fails to increment the tape block counter on the special condition of a file continuation occurring at the same time as a track change. To correct the utility, install the following changes and line additions. 3.7H "*MTCBE" Change the ERR= clause in the write record statement from ERR=8800 to ERR=8790 in Line #1070. Add Line #8790: 8790 IF ERR=72 THEN LET F1=F1+1 4.3B "*MTCBE" Change the ERR= clause in the write record statement C from ERR=8800 to ERR=8790 in Line #1080. D Add Line #8790: 8790 IF ERR=72 AND T=T1 THEN LET F1=F1+1 After installing the changes and additions, remember to save the program "*MTCBE". ORIGINATOR: DAVE FRATER MAGNETIC TAPE I/O-D.E.I.-CMTD-3400S2----------------FIB005 Pg001 FIB 00006 07/19/83 *** Slowdown in Release 4.4A AND 4.4B *MTC systems *** The release of the 4.4A Operating System includes an enhancement to the *MTC Utility Set. This allows the user to recover when a tape procedure is aborted or interrupted. This is a safety feature designed to help users expedite their overall system throughput. However, like all safety features, (such as verify), there is a certain degree of system overhead associated with it's execution. Some users may have noticed an apparent "slowdown" of 4.4A and 4.4B *MTC systems. Their observations are directly tied to the overhead of the added safety feature with the abort recovery logic. If the added overhead of the abort recovery logic greatly strains a particular customer, then two minor changes can be made to bypass the logic and increase the *MTC speeds by 15 to 40 percent. The changes are as follows: 1. LOAD "*MTCBE" Delete line #1162 1162: WRITE(6,IND=0)P0$,C0$,I6,S,T,V,T9,S9; WRITE(6,IND=1);WRITE(6,IND=2)I$(4,6); WRITE(6,IND=3)L$:WRITE(6,IND=4)T(0),T(0), T(1),T(2),T(3),T(4),T(5),T(6),T(7),T(8), F,F1;WRITE(6,IND=5)B$+C4+V$+S$,S1$;WRITE(6,IND+6)K9$ SAVE"MTCBE" 2. LOAD "*MTCEX" Create Line #0015 0015 CALL "*ERAS",ERR=0020,"-MTCRS" SAVE "*MTCEX" The next scheduled Level 4 release, Level 4.5A, will contain a new feature in the *MTC Utilities that will allow the user to select whether to have the abort recovery active or inactive prior to the execution of any tape procedure. ORIGINATOR: DAVE FRATER MAGNETIC TAPE I/O-D.E.I.-CMTD-3400S2----------------FIB006 Pg001 FIB 00007 10/11/83 *** ECN for signal cable retrofit with clamp *** A number of MTC problems have been traced to damaged 50-pin signal cables. One cause of damage is the clip used to crimp the ground wire to the cable shield, which digs into the insulation when the cable jams between the case top and bottom. Basic Four has released a cable clamp which secures the ribbon cable just outside the MTC case. It mounts in the cable opening and requires no cabinet modification. The cable-clamp components can be ordered from NACS Materials under separate part numbers. When installing the clamp, please inspect the ribbon cable under the ground-wire crimp. If the insulation is still intact, install a 3-inch strip of abrasion-resistant tape or other suitable insulating material along the length of the cable under the crimp to protect it from the crimp connector. Nylon filament tape used for shipping is excellent for this purpose. District Product Support Specialists: Please order the following parts for your areas. Multiply the quantities shown by the number of drives in your District and submit one Code 'B' order for the entire District if possible to minimize order processing cost. Service Code 11 is to be used. This ECN is NOT Billable. NACS ICN QTY U/M BFISD P/N DESCRIPTION YY012183 1 ea. 907426-001 Clamp, Plate YY012184 1 ea. 907427-001 Clamp, Bracket YY006153 2 ea. 200222 Screw, 6-32 X .25 none 3 in. none Tape, Abrasion-Resistant (procure locally) ORIGINATOR: J. VANDERHEYDEN MAGNETIC TAPE I/O-D.E.I.-CMTD-3400S2----------------FIB007 Pg001 FIB 00008 12/01/83 *** Definition of "soft error" counts in *MTC *** Soft errors are READ/WRITE errors from a tape device. The soft error count, displayed when writing to a tape in *MTC, is the number of write retries. A soft error count of 15 or more is unacceptable and the tape should be re-written. If a soft error count of 15 or more persists, the following is recommended prior to parts replacement: 1. Clean the tape drive heads 2. Try different tapes ORIGINATOR: TONY TIANGCO MAGNETIC TAPE I/O-D.E.I.-CMTD-3400S2----------------FIB008 Pg001 FIB 00009 12/16/83 *** Coating on PCBAs can cause adjustment problems *** Be aware that some of the MTC PCBAs manufactured by DEI were coated with a clear laquer called "conformal-coating" which can prevent contact between the 'scope probes, "DIP-CLIPs", or calibration jumpers. This was recently found to cause great difficulty adjusting the single-shots on the Encode/Decode PCBA, by preventing reliable contact on the CAL1, 2, and 3 JUMPERS. The coating was required by military and aviation applications for which a large number of the DEI drives were supplied. It appears that the Calibration Jumper Pins were considered factory adjustments, and not masked when the coating was applied. If the PCBAs you are adjusting appear to have an unnatural gloss on the surface of the board and components, before attempting any checks or adjustments, you are advised to scrape all IC, Test Point, and Calibration Jumper Pins that you will be using. ORIGINATOR: J. VANDERHEYDEN MAGNETIC TAPE I/O-D.E.I.-CMTD-3400S2----------------FIB009 Pg001 FIB 00010 07/13/84 *** Patch to prevent error reporting problem in *MTC *** The *MTC tape read check routine, of all level 4.4 and 4.5 systems, *MTCTR contains a logical error in line number 0290 that can cause the utility to bypass reporting a tape read error to the screen. A simple patch to line 290 of *MTCTR will eliminate the problem entirely: In console mode, LOAD "*MTCTR", and LIST 0290 0290 PRINT(0,ERR=2900)@(10,21),"TAPE READ ERROR =",ERR," STATUS = ",A0$,; INPUT(0,TIM=30,ERR=0300),"ENTER 'CR' TO SKIP FILE, MBIII TO CHANGE TRACKS, MBIV TO ABORT - ",*@(0,21),'CL',@(0,22),'CL',;ON CTL-2 GOTO 0100,039,0,0460 EDIT 0290. EDIT 0290 C[,21),],['RB',],C[TIM=30,ERR=],R[0290] The resultant will be: 0290 PRINT(0,ERR=2900)@(10,21),'RB',"TAPE READ ERROR =",ERR," STATUS =",A0$,;INPUT(0,TIM=30,ERR=0290),"ENTER 'CR' TO SKIP FILE, MBIII TO CHANGE TRACKS, MBIV TO ABORT - ",*,@(0,21),'CL',@(0,22),'CL',;ON CTL-2 GOTO 0100,039,0,0460 ORIGINATOR: DAVE FRATER MAGNETIC TAPE I/O-D.E.I.-CMTD-3400S2----------------FIB010 Pg001 FIB 00011 03/21/86 *** Read Reverse Failures on BASS MTC Tests - Fails on *MTC *** SYMPTOM: Solid failures on read reverse commands in BASS MTC tests, customer probably cannot complete a verified backup. PROBLEM DETERMINATION: Reload the Operating System and run BASS tests again. FIX: There is no hardware problem if the failure is cleared by reloading the Operating System. NOTE: This failure has occurred on O. S. releases 4.4B & 4.5A. ORIGINATOR: N. Jones MAGNETIC TAPE I/O-D.E.I.-CMTD-3400S2----------------FIB011 Pg001