IBM AS400 questions

Tue Apr 11 17:21:22 CDT 2017

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
>>