[4766] in linux-scsi channel archive
Re: SCSI Changer Driver
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (Brian Geisel)
Wed Sep 30 16:06:49 1998
From: Brian Geisel <briang@microlite.com>
To: "Allison, Bob (LCI)" <bob.d.allison@qwest.net>,
"'linux-scsi@vger.rutgers.edu'" <linux-scsi@vger.rutgers.edu>
Date: Wed, 30 Sep 1998 15:38:48 -0400
> From: Allison, Bob (LCI) <bob.d.allison@qwest.net>
> Date: Tuesday, September 22, 1998 9:41 AM
>
> I "inherited" a MO jukebox. I need to write a driver to make the
jukebox's
> robot insert and remove disks. I was wondering if anyone has written a
> driver for a jukebox robot.
>
> My ideal solution would be a series of devices called /dev/mo/xxy, where
xx
> is the disk number and y is the side (a or b). Accessing the mo device
> would then cause the jukebox robot to insert the disk in the drive; then
the
> device would act just like /dev/sdc (hopefully including partition
tables).
>
> What I'm not sure of is:
> -- How to make /dev/mo/xxy act in the place of /dev/sdc
> -- How to make sure that the disk isn't removed until it is not in use
>
> I am hoping someone has written a driver that I can use as a starting
point
> to hopefully reduce the number of iterations of banging my head on
something
> because the driver doesn't work.
>
If you wanted to write a daemon and attach it to your specified devices via
a set of FIFOs. Your daemon could then redirect any messages to those into
the appropriate messages to the generic SCSI driver (i.e.. /dev/sg?).
You could also get a MAJOR number and write your own device driver to
handle access to those devices, but for what you're trying to do, it seems
a little overzealous.
I'm afraid I'm not entirely familiar with "MO" jukeboxes, but it sounds
like it's swapping disk drives. While it was written with intention for
tape drives, you may want to check out Microlite's edge.changer binary in
their new linux EDGE distribution. It would probably do what you were
looking for, although it has no support for the multiple device nodes you
could interface your daemon to that.
Brian Geisel
Software Engineer
Microlite Corporation
EDGE is a *IX backup utility with a very simple, easy-to-use set of text
menus. It is distributed with edge.changer and edge.tape which are direct
SCSI changer medium and tape drive manipulators, respectively. EDGE has
not been available on Linux until recently and can now be downloaded as a
60 day demo from our web site.
Microlite Corporation has been in the backup industry for over 10 years and
is well renowned in the SCO market. Their award-winning BackupEDGE product
is now available on SCO Opensever, SCO UNIX, SCO UnixWare, SUN Solaris,
Digital UNIX, IBM AIX, HP-UX, and Linux!
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