The Dell PV132T tape library's changer apparently used to expect the SMS_DBD bit to be _set_ in Mode Sense requests, or it just sulks, see link [1] and dmesg excerpt [2] below. This was incorrect behaviour on its part, AFAIK.
So, I began to imagine some sort of a SDEV_MSDBDON SCSI quirk, but turns out it's fixed by latest firmware. Upgrading firmware of the tape library to the recently released 310D (Dell support file: R121419.EXE of 2006-06-20) fixes it [3]. Probably not worth worrying about to the extent of adding a quirk for now-obsolete firmware, but figured I should report it as someone else might well be trying to use the device with OpenBSD: OpenBSD after all is quite a likely choice for a trusted backup server. [1] http://www.webservertalk.com/archive110-2004-2-126606.html [2] Dell PV132T library firmware 227D doesn't work (dmesg excerpt) ... ch0 at scsibus1 targ 0 lun 0: <DELL, PV-132T, 227D> SCSI2 8/changer \ removable ... ch0(ahc0:0:0): Check Condition (error 0x70) on opcode 0x1a SENSE KEY: Illegal Request ASC/ASCQ: Illegal Field in CDB SKSV: Error in CDB, Offset 1, bit 3 ch0(ahc0:0:0): Check Condition (error 0x70) on opcode 0x5a SENSE KEY: Illegal Request ASC/ASCQ: Invalid Command Operation Code ch0: could not sense element address page ch0: offline [3] Dell PV132T library firmware 310D works (dmesg excerpt) ... ch0 at scsibus1 targ 0 lun 0: <DELL, PV-132T, 310D> SCSI2 8/changer \ removable ... ch0: 22 slots, 1 drive, 1 picker, 1 portal
