Compaq 326817-003 manual Cassette Formats, Compaq Approved Cassettes

Overview 1-5

The DAT AutoLoader uses jumper pins and/or dip switches for settings. Some hardware settings may be overridden by way of software. Consult your backup application software documentation for the data compression enabling and disabling procedure.

For information on jumper pin settings for data compression, see “Configuring the AutoLoader” in Chapter 2.

Cassette Formats

The Compaq 20/40 GB DAT 8-Cassette AutoLoader supports industry-standard Digital Data Storage (DDS), Digital Data Storage Data Compression (DDS-DC), Digital Data Storage-2 (DDS-2), Digital Data Storage-3 (DDS-3), and Digital Data Storage-4 (DDS-4) formats.

IMPORTANT: For product reliability Compaq recommends using only cassettes purchased from vendors that have been approved by Compaq (See Table 1-2 for list of approved cassettes).

These formats were introduced by the DDS Manufacturers’ Group and are approved by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) and the European Computer Manufacturers’ Association (ECMA). The DDS-DC format is a superset of the DDS format, ensuring backward compatibility with uncompressed cassettes.

To use the full potential of a DDS-format drive, you should use matching cassettes, that is, DDS-4 cassettes for DDS-4 drives. This allows the drives to store the maximum amount of data on a cassette. Refer to Table 1-2 for a list of Compaq approved cassettes.

Table 1-2

Compaq Approved Cassettes

DDS1	DDS2	DDS3	DDS4
Sony 60m (DG-60M)		Sony 125m, (DGD-125m)
Fuji 90m, (DG-90M)	Fuji 120m, (DG-120M)	Fuji 125m, (DG3-125m)	Fuji 150m, (DG4-150m)
	Maxell 120m, HS 4/120s	Maxell 125m, HS 4/125s	Maxell 150m, HS 4/150s

Note: A DDS-4 drive can read and write to DDS-3, DDS-2, or DDS-1 cassettes.