IBM AS400 questions

[devin davison]

I looked up some of the scsi card specs and it is compatible, connected and
working good. I actually picked up two of the same tape drive, so that
should be a good backup in case one should fail. I am doing a complete
system backup now.

--Devin

On Tue, Apr 11, 2017 at 6:21 PM, Paul Berger <phb.hfx at gmail.com> wrote:

> Devin,
>
> The 7208-222 is a high voltage differential device you will likely need a
> tape IOP for that.  Earlier you indicated that there was a SCSI like
> connector on the back, was that on a PCI card?  If so is there a 4 digit
> number on the back of the card?
>
> Paul.
>
>
>
> On 2017-04-11 6:57 PM, devin davison via cctalk wrote:
>
>>   I picked up a IBM 7208 222 8mm drive today. I got a bunch of tapes with
>> it. Going to wire it up and power up the machine. Do I need to do any
>> special config or commandsto make the drive available, or will it just
>> show
>> up as tap02?
>>
>> I want to perform a complete system backup, is there any way to find how
>> big that will be so i can predict how many tapes I will need? How about
>> just listing files on the system and see how much space is taken up. I
>> have
>> not been able to figure out how to list files yet...
>>
>> Slow going, but progress. Thankful this drive and tapes were still there
>> at
>> the scrapyard.
>>
>> --Devin
>>
>> On Tue, Apr 11, 2017 at 6:20 AM, Mazzini Alessandro <mazzinia at tin.it>
>> wrote:
>>
>>  From an experience with an older model ( so it may not be significant ,
>>> I've just a 9401-p03 ), the only way to know if it likes another scsi
>>> tape
>>> unit is to try it... one may be liked and another no, depending on the
>>> tape
>>> firmware. Same consideration goes for booting from such tape drive.
>>>
>>> -----Messaggio originale-----
>>> Da: cctalk [mailto:cctalk-bounces at classiccmp.org] Per conto di devin
>>> davison via cctalk
>>> Inviato: martedì 11 aprile 2017 05:13
>>> A: Pontus Pihlgren
>>> Cc: General Discussion: On-Topic and Off-Topic Posts; General Discussion:
>>> On-Topic Posts
>>> Oggetto: Re: IBM AS400 questions
>>>
>>> Made some progress with the AS400. Looks like one of the hard drives has
>>> failed, it stated that if another disk fails then there could be a loss
>>> of
>>> data.
>>>
>>> Plan was to back up the system to a couple of 8GB QIC tapes, however
>>> looking at my tapes they turned out to be only QIC525 MB tapes, and are
>>> not
>>> enough to back up the entire machine.  Shopping around, i am not seeing
>>> 8GB
>>> tapes for less than $40, which is kinda costly. I do not know how to
>>> determine the total size of files on the system, or how many tapes the
>>> completed backup will be. There is a scsi port on the back of the
>>> machine.
>>> If i pick up an ibm branded drive, can i connect just any ibm branded
>>> tape
>>> drive, or do i need a specific model? I recall seeing a 8MM drive at the
>>> place where i got it , and possibly an external dat drive as well. I have
>>> plenty of dat tapes, I am trying to get a drive where the media has a
>>> higher capacity / lower cost.
>>>
>>> I read that there is a printer port on the back of my Infowindow II
>>> terminal, do i need a special ibm printer? if not, i have a good dot
>>> matrix
>>> printer here with a box of paper that should do the job.
>>>
>>> Leaving it powered down after tonight until i can make a complete save.
>>> Thanks to all for the advice so far. Really steep learning curve but
>>> quite
>>> an interesting machine.
>>>
>>> --Devin
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> On Mon, Apr 10, 2017 at 2:33 AM, Pontus Pihlgren <pontus at update.uu.se>
>>> wrote:
>>>
>>> Hi Devin
>>>>
>>>> Have you subscribed to MIDRANGE-L ? http://lists.midrange.com/
>>>>
>>>> They might help you out. Also, if you would document your findings I
>>>> would be very greatful. I have a model 170 on my todo-list.
>>>>
>>>> /P
>>>>
>>>> On Sun, Apr 09, 2017 at 12:21:17PM -0400, devin davison via cctalk
>>>> wrote:
>>>>
>>>>> Alright, it was quite a while back that I picked up my ibm AS400
>>>>> model
>>>>>
>>>> 170.
>>>>
>>>>> I had asked some questions on the list, it was locked with a
>>>>> password
>>>>>
>>>> and i
>>>>
>>>>> could not get into the machine. I finally got around to getting into
>>>>> the machine and am at the main menu. Before i do anything, I want to
>>>>> back up the machine. I have a couple of tapes.
>>>>>
>>>>> I am not familiar with os/400 at all, the intention is to backup the
>>>>> machine so in the event of a hardware failure I will be able to
>>>>> reinstall and still have a licenced install.
>>>>>
>>>>> I come from the sgi land, usually from the prom there is the HINV
>>>>> command to give a nice hardware inventory of the machine, is there a
>>>>> similar command in the ibm world? I want to find what options are
>>>>> installed, cpu and memory details, etc.
>>>>>
>>>>> Any advice on what to do from here is much appreciated. I just want
>>>>> to
>>>>>
>>>> get
>>>>
>>>>> the thing backed up and rest assured that if the drives fail i can
>>>>> reinstall the os and it have its license.
>>>>>
>>>>> --Devin
>>>>>
>>>>
>>> On Tue, Apr 11, 2017 at 6:20 AM, Mazzini Alessandro <mazzinia at tin.it>
>> wrote:
>>
>>  From an experience with an older model ( so it may not be significant ,
>>> I've just a 9401-p03 ), the only way to know if it likes another scsi
>>> tape
>>> unit is to try it... one may be liked and another no, depending on the
>>> tape
>>> firmware. Same consideration goes for booting from such tape drive.
>>>
>>> -----Messaggio originale-----
>>> Da: cctalk [mailto:cctalk-bounces at classiccmp.org] Per conto di devin
>>> davison via cctalk
>>> Inviato: martedì 11 aprile 2017 05:13
>>> A: Pontus Pihlgren
>>> Cc: General Discussion: On-Topic and Off-Topic Posts; General Discussion:
>>> On-Topic Posts
>>> Oggetto: Re: IBM AS400 questions
>>>
>>> Made some progress with the AS400. Looks like one of the hard drives has
>>> failed, it stated that if another disk fails then there could be a loss
>>> of
>>> data.
>>>
>>> Plan was to back up the system to a couple of 8GB QIC tapes, however
>>> looking at my tapes they turned out to be only QIC525 MB tapes, and are
>>> not
>>> enough to back up the entire machine.  Shopping around, i am not seeing
>>> 8GB
>>> tapes for less than $40, which is kinda costly. I do not know how to
>>> determine the total size of files on the system, or how many tapes the
>>> completed backup will be. There is a scsi port on the back of the
>>> machine.
>>> If i pick up an ibm branded drive, can i connect just any ibm branded
>>> tape
>>> drive, or do i need a specific model? I recall seeing a 8MM drive at the
>>> place where i got it , and possibly an external dat drive as well. I have
>>> plenty of dat tapes, I am trying to get a drive where the media has a
>>> higher capacity / lower cost.
>>>
>>> I read that there is a printer port on the back of my Infowindow II
>>> terminal, do i need a special ibm printer? if not, i have a good dot
>>> matrix
>>> printer here with a box of paper that should do the job.
>>>
>>> Leaving it powered down after tonight until i can make a complete save.
>>> Thanks to all for the advice so far. Really steep learning curve but
>>> quite
>>> an interesting machine.
>>>
>>> --Devin
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> On Mon, Apr 10, 2017 at 2:33 AM, Pontus Pihlgren <pontus at update.uu.se>
>>> wrote:
>>>
>>> Hi Devin
>>>>
>>>> Have you subscribed to MIDRANGE-L ? http://lists.midrange.com/
>>>>
>>>> They might help you out. Also, if you would document your findings I
>>>> would be very greatful. I have a model 170 on my todo-list.
>>>>
>>>> /P
>>>>
>>>> On Sun, Apr 09, 2017 at 12:21:17PM -0400, devin davison via cctalk
>>>> wrote:
>>>>
>>>>> Alright, it was quite a while back that I picked up my ibm AS400
>>>>> model
>>>>>
>>>> 170.
>>>>
>>>>> I had asked some questions on the list, it was locked with a
>>>>> password
>>>>>
>>>> and i
>>>>
>>>>> could not get into the machine. I finally got around to getting into
>>>>> the machine and am at the main menu. Before i do anything, I want to
>>>>> back up the machine. I have a couple of tapes.
>>>>>
>>>>> I am not familiar with os/400 at all, the intention is to backup the
>>>>> machine so in the event of a hardware failure I will be able to
>>>>> reinstall and still have a licenced install.
>>>>>
>>>>> I come from the sgi land, usually from the prom there is the HINV
>>>>> command to give a nice hardware inventory of the machine, is there a
>>>>> similar command in the ibm world? I want to find what options are
>>>>> installed, cpu and memory details, etc.
>>>>>
>>>>> Any advice on what to do from here is much appreciated. I just want
>>>>> to
>>>>>
>>>> get
>>>>
>>>>> the thing backed up and rest assured that if the drives fail i can
>>>>> reinstall the os and it have its license.
>>>>>
>>>>> --Devin
>>>>>
>>>>
>>>
>