Firestreamer - Release Notes

Release Notes

Changes from Firestreamer 3.3 (the stand-alone tape drive):

ADDED: Support for multiple tape libraries with multiple tape drives.
CHANGED: Firestreamer is completely redesigned. See Upgrading from Firestreamer 3.x.

Changes from Firestreamer 3.95.9 (Firestreamer 4.0 Release Candidate):

ADDED: The new Advanced tab of the Properties form allows configuring tape libraries.
ADDED: The Unload All command allows forcibly unloading all tapes even if they are locked by the backup software.
ADDED: The Media Layout Editor allows clipboard operations on multiple cells.
ADDED: The performance of the Media Layout Editor with a large number of tapes is significantly improved.
ADDED: The Substitute Drive Letters command of the Media Layout Editor replaces drive letters with volume names.
ADDED: A workaround for the bug in LG GH22NP20 and GH22LP20 firmware (at least up to rev1.04) that prevented the drives from being recognized.
ADDED: Support for SCSI RESERVE and RELEASE commands.
ADDED: The file medium name can have a volume name instead of a drive letter.
CHANGED: Applying a media layout preserves the state of the current matching media, instead of unloading all current media first.
CHANGED: If the volume of a drive medium is locked by another software, the volume is forcibly dismounted, and the tape operation proceeds instead of failing.
CHANGED: The media layout cannot contain duplicate media.
CHANGED: The SCSI Target ID for the changers is changed from 0 to 2.
FIXED: The Add Drive Media dialog uses the correct "\??\" prefix for interface names.
FIXED: The system error on accessing the license key under Driver Verifier.

ADDED: Support for Microsoft Windows Server 2008.
CHANGED: Removed the obsolete Tape is ready indicator from the Media tab of the Firestreamer Control Panel. Firestreamer reports the tape presence to the backup software, if queried, immediately once connected to a media drive.
FIXED: Autorenaming of file media on network shares not working.
FIXED: The system error on the removal of a recording device.

FIXED: The Firestreamer Control Panel may quit unexpectedly when a folder name (instead of a file name) is entered in the new file medium text box.
FIXED: Microsoft DPM may display multiple Firestreamer virtual tape drives after the rescan operation.

CHANGED: Updated the safety checks and the preparation procedure for HDD media.
CHANGED: Enabled the support for fixed hard disk drives by default. The FixedHddBusMask registry setting is no longer used.
FIXED: Prevented the appearance of multiple Firestreamer virtual tape drives in Microsoft DPM due to the changed serial number of the tape drive when Firestreamer is uninstalled and reinstalled again.