DDS Tape problems

[Alex Zbyslaw]

Pavel Duda wrote:

> Hi,
> I have problem with my DDS-3 type drive. I'm able to write on it but 
> not read data back. If I try to read them I get card dump and tape 
> drive hangs up. I have tried to upgrade firmware but problem remains. 
> Does somebody have experience with this ?
>
> My specs :
> FreeBSD 5.2.1, generic kernel, x86 (P3), SCSI card is Adaptec AHA2940 
> and tape drive Python 04106.

Not terribly helpful, but I have a DAT2 working with an Adaptec 2940A.  
It's worked since forever and is fine with 5.4 though I never ran 
5.1/2/3.  Is the machine it's attached to dual-boot?  I.e. can you test 
the tape drive in Windows, or Linux for example?  (Well, they have to be 
good for something :-))   Is this a recent problem or is this the first 
time you've tried using this drive?  Can you try another SCSI adapter?  
I've run mine (for testing only) off the cheapest rubbish I got free 
with a SCSI CDRW and it was fine.

The only other guess would be termination.  Has anything else on your 
SCSI chain changed?  Is the terminator properly plugged in?

--Alex