Tape barcode label length reported by platform

Resolving The Problem

The number of characters returned by the IBM device driver to Tivoli Storage Manager will vary from platform to platform and depending on the driver version and library firmware. The table below shows the various length reported.

Tivoli Storage Manager Barcode length reporting for IBM tapes by platform

Platform	Media Barcode Length	Media Type Barcode 7 and 8	Device Driver Default Length	TSM Barcode Length	TSM media type
AIX See Notes (1) (2) and (6)	6 8	n/a J [ABCJK] J [RWXY] L1 L2 L3 LT L4 LU L5 LV	6 6 6 6 6 8 8 8 8 8 8	6 6 6 6 6 8 8 8 8 8 8	Unknown 3592 R/W 3592 WO ULTRIUM ULTRIUM2 ULTRIUM3 ULTRIUM3 WO ULTRIUM4 ULTRIUM4 WO ULTRIUM5 ULTRIUM5 WO
Solaris See Notes (1) (3)	6 8	n/a J [ABCJK] J [RWXY] L1 L2 L3 LT L4 LU L5 LV	6 6 6 6 6 8 8 8 8 8 8	6 6 6 6 6 8 8 8 8 8 8	Unknown 3592 R/W 3592 WO ULTRIUM ULTRIUM2 ULTRIUM3 ULTRIUM3 WO ULTRIUM4 ULTRIUM4 WO ULTRIUM5 ULTRIUM5 WO
Linux See Notes (1) (4)	6 8	n/a J [ABCJK] J [RWXY] L1 L2 L3 LT L4 LU L5 LV	6 6 6 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8	6 6 6 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8	Unknown 3592 R/W 3592 WO ULTRIUM ULTRIUM2 ULTRIUM3 ULTRIUM3 WO ULTRIUM4 ULTRIUM4 WO ULTRIUM5 ULTRIUM5 WO
HPUX See Notes (1) (5)	6 8	n/a J [ABCJK] J [RWXY] L1 L2 L3 LT L4 LU L5 LV	6 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8	6 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8	Unknown 3592 R/W 3592 WO ULTRIUM ULTRIUM2 ULTRIUM3 ULTRIUM3 WO ULTRIUM4 ULTRIUM4 WO ULTRIUM5 ULTRIUM5 WO
Windows	6 8	n/a J [ABCJK] J [RWXY] L1 L2 L3 LT L4 LU L5 LV	6 6 6 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8	6 6 6 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8	Unknown 3592 R/W 3592 WO ULTRIUM ULTRIUM2 ULTRIUM3 ULTRIUM3 WO ULTRIUM4 ULTRIUM4 WO ULTRIUM5 ULTRIUM5 WO

Notes :

(1) The 358x libraries must be enabled to return the "extended" barcode length to be able to return a barcode of 8 characters to an IBM Tivoli Storage Manager server.
For a 3584 library, this can be done using the IBM TotalStorage UltraScalable Tape Library Specialist interface. From the old navigation menu, the option can be enabled/disabled via Settings/6-character Volser Reporting. From the new navigation menu, the option can be enabled/disabled via Manage Library/6-character Volser Reporting.
For the 3582 and 3583 libraries, this is done using the front panel of the library. For a 3582 library, the BAR CODE SCANNER MODE must be set to EXTENDED. For a 3583 library, the MEDIA VOLSER must be set to EXTENDED. For example, for the 3583, the shortcut menu would be :
Main Menu (initial screen) —> More —> Setup —> Library —> MEDIA and select the EXTENDED value for VOLSER.

(2) On AIX, with Atape device driver at 9.2.9.0 level, it is possible to return 8 characters for LTO1 & LTO2 media for a 3584 library. For the 3582 library, this same option is now available with Atape device driver 9.5.8.0 level. Assuming the device name for the library is /dev/smc0, the following command can be used :
chdev -l 'smc0' -a tsm_barcode_len='8'
Although the smit entry is named "TSM Barcode Length for Ultrium 1/Ultrium 2 Media", it also applies to 3592 media. The smit menu entry will be modified in later level of Atape driver.

(3) On Solaris, with IBMtape device driver at 4.1.2.4 level, the driver can be configured to return 8 characters instead of 6 for LTO Gen 1 (L1) and LTO Gen 2 (L2) media in 358x libraries. This can be done as follow :
a) To return 8 characters of barcode for all of 358x libraries on the system, setting
the flag of "TSM_barcode_length" at the beginning of /usr/kernel/drv/IBMtape.conf.
TSM_barcode_length=8;
b) To add the option for a particular 358x library, entering the flag in the entry
for the device in /usr/kernel/drv/IBMtape.conf. For example,
name="IBMtape" class="scsi" target=0 lun=1 TSM_barcode_length=8;
c) Reload IBMtape driver or reboot the system to active the setting. Running the follow commands to
reload IBMtape driver:
# /opt/IBMtape/tmd -s
# rem_drv IBMtape
# add_drv IBMtape
# /opt/IBMtape/tmd

(4) On Linux, with IBMtape device driver at 1.4.12 level, the driver can be configured to return 6 characters instead of 8 for LTO Gen 1 (L1) and LTO Gen 2 (L2) media.

(5) On HP-UX, with atdd driver at 3.5.0.5 level, the driver can be configured to return 6 characters instead of 8 for LTO Gen 1 (L1) and LTO Gen 2 (L2) media. 1. The acdd_adsmjbcode_len kernel parameter controls the barcode length that the ATDD driver returns to the TSM server. To configure this parameter to return 8 characeters, follow the steps below :
- From a shell prompt, type smh. For example :
/home/root/smh
- This brings up the main menu for HP-UX System Management Homepage.
Type k for tunable parameters.
- In the Kernel Configuration screen enter t for Tunables.
- All the tunables will be listed. Scroll down to acdd_adsmjbcode_len and press enter.
- Enter m for modify
- Enter 8 for new setting

(6) For 3592 media in a 3584 library on AIX, it is necessary to disable the "6-character Volser Reporting" option so that 8 characters are returned to the Atape driver. It allows the Atape driver to properly identify the 3592 media type. If only 6 characters are returned by the library to the Atape driver, a 3592 tape will be reported as an LTO tape to the Tivoli Storage Manager server.