asked on

IDE/ATAPI Tape Drive not recognized by BIOS

I have purchased a used Seagate Hornet STT38000N TR-4 Tape Drive. I am having trouble with the BIOS recognizing the drive.

Things I have tried:
Checked the cable. Worked fine with a CD-ROM drive
Checked power. Drive light blinks which I assume would mean that it is getting power
Tried different settings on the jumper. Master and Cable select when the drive is on cable by itself. Set to slave in combination with the CD-ROM drive.
Changed BIOS settings to None and Auto. Neither made a difference.

I am trying this on a Dell Optiplex Gxa with the BIOS upgraded to A10

Tape Drive is a Seagate Hornet STT38000N.

I didn't pay much for the drive, so I don't know if it is really any good, but I would hate to give up on it, if I was missing something simple. I have never installed a tape drive before, but have experience with HDD, internal zip drives and CD-R/RW.

Any thoughts would be appreciated.

Thanks

ASKER CERTIFIED SOLUTION

PhilElder

membership

This solution is only available to members.

To access this solution, you must be a member of Experts Exchange.

Start Free Trial

gooddeni

ASKER

I'll try your suggestions. I was getting a blinking light on the drive and I double checked that the red on the cable was pointing towards the power connector. It also has the notch, that would not let me install the cable backwards.

Earlier today I had tried a couple of diagnostic tools from Seagate and they couldn't see the drive. I'll try the websites you suggested and see they offer.

Thanks,
D.

gooddeni

ASKER

Purchased another tape drive and it worked. Must be the tape drive was bad.

D