Hey everyone! I've got this old Fujitsu M2488e tape drive and an equally ancient Windows 7 machine with a SCSI card ready to go. The idea is to retrieve some historic data from these tapes, which apparently someone thinks is valuable. But I'm seriously struggling to find the drivers needed for this setup. I've Googled a lot but can only find references on outdated computer company websites. Fujitsu's page doesn't seem to have anything useful either, even though it looks ancient. I also tried getting advice from ChatGPT, which suggested Linux and searching for OEM drivers for Windows. Anyone know where I can find the proper drivers or how to approach this?
6 Answers
Tape drivers can be tricky since they typically come with backup software like Backup Exec. I’d recommend checking there first, especially if you’re using Windows. That’s where you might find what you need!
Yeah, Windows 7 really needs those drivers to communicate with older tape drives. Just make sure you’ve got the right ones installed from either a DLL or the specific software for your drive.
Absolutely, it’s a pain getting those drivers for vintage hardware.
Just a word of caution though: sites like DriverGuide have a mixed reputation, but you might find something useful there. Here’s a link to a potential driver, but proceed carefully! [Driver Guide Link](https://contents.driverguide.com/content.php?id=737438&path=Disk1%2FData.Cab%2FF168727_acdevice.inf)
Running Linux on your PC might be your best bet. There's usually no special driver needed for the tape drive itself. You can use the 'mt' and 'dd' commands to read the tapes. Just a heads up - if the data is from a mainframe, it could be in EBCDIC, so look into the 'conv=ascii' option for dd. We used to handle those kinds of tapes back in the day using similar methods!
Have you checked the device manager? You might see some detail there about the drivers you need. Also, have you looked through the user manual? It could provide some clues. Here are some links I found that might help: [User Guide](https://silo.tips/download/m2488-cartridge-tape-drive-user-s-guide), [Product Guide](https://ia802300.us.archive.org/35/items/SCSISpecificationDocumentsSCSIDocuments/Vendor%20SCSI%20documents/Fujitsu/M2488%20Cartridge%20Tape%20Drive%20Product%20Guide.pdf)
Nice resources! That might just help him get started.
Linux is likely your answer here! Unlike Windows, Linux has a lot of built-in drivers that support older hardware for a long time. Just boot from a live Linux version and check if your tape drive shows up as an attached device. It might just make things a lot easier!
Ah, Backup Exec! That takes me back. Worth a shot for sure.