How to change your tape library device driver to utilize the Unknown Medium Changer driver for DataCenter. The NovaStor DataCenter software requires tape library devices to utilize the "Unknown Medium Changer" device driver instead of the OEM / Manufacturer drivers that are already in place for your tape library devices. This guide is a how-to on how to change those tape library device(s) drivers to the compatible tape library driver that DataCenter can utilize for interfacing with your tape library.
- Install the latest tape library device driver and the tape drive(s) device drivers available from the manufacturer (OEM) on the computer that you will be utilizing as a DataCenter backup server (the DataCenter client software will be installed on this same machine and this node will be configured on the DataCenter Command Server as a backup server node.)
- Log in to the machine with the tape library installed on it as a local administrator or a domain administrator. These actions require admin rights on the system.
- Verify in Device Manager that there are no tape library or tape drive devices that are showing warnings within the Device Manager. If there are you will have to resolve those first, possibly by installing the latest tape library and tape drive drivers from the manufacturer.
- When in Device Manager.
- Go to "Medium Changer devices" category and expand the list.
- If it shows any branded devices in the list (such as "Dell PowerVault (TM) 132T Tape Library" or "IBM 3584 Tape Library") then the device's driver has to be changed to "Unknown Medium Changer", which is a driver that is provided by Windows itself as a generic driver that DataCenter is compatible with for tape libraries.
- Right-click on each of the branded device(s) in the list and do an Update driver.
- Select “Browse my computer for driver software”
- Click on "Let me pick from a list of device drivers on my computer" or "Use the Generic Device Driver", make sure the checkbox is enabled for "Show compatible hardware" here.
- Select, “Unknown Medium Changer” and then click Next.
- When in Device Manager.
**OEM Drivers will NOT work. DataCenter requires "Unknown Medium Changer" as the device driver for tape library devices**
Here is a visual overview of the steps to change the Drivers:
To install the correct driver, right-click on each of the existing Medium Changer / Tape Library devices and select "Properties", then select the "Driver" tab and click the "Update Driver" button:
In the "Update Driver Software" dialog box, select "Browse my computer for driver software":
Click on "Let me pick from a list of drivers on my computer":
Select "Unknown Medium Changer" and click "Next":
The system is now ready for the library to be configured in NovaStor DataCenter.
