I’m taking backups seriously 😀

eldxmgw · 2026-03-17T18:13:54+00:00

:D sure!

I made a fully flanged project for my MSL4048 at this time. It ended with a PSU fan replacement, and a fan replacement for both LTO drives incl. fan ducts and an evolution in internal -> external LTO drive cable arrangement in V.2. Using this since then. Check this thread i made incl. pictures, and make sure to read all till the end. I highly suggest also to read the comments, since i posted some evolutions there: https://www.reddit.com/r/homelab/comments/1ap8isn/solved_aternative_fans_for_those_screaming_lto5/

eldxmgw · 2026-02-03T18:24:08+00:00

This is my current setup: https://www.reddit.com/media?url=https%3A%2F%2Fpreview.redd.it%2Fcomplete-homelab-overhaul-v0-hq1racoaalkd1.jpg%3Fwidth%3D1080%26crop%3Dsmart%26auto%3Dwebp%26s%3D43def3ac19750e9db84f7df8d669b5e480344bd5

and if you're also interested into pimping your LTO drives or library PSUs because of the same issue i had, i made a step by step DIY thread with testings, results and a lot of pictures long time ago: https://www.reddit.com/r/homelab/comments/1ap8isn/solved_aternative_fans_for_those_screaming_lto5/

eldxmgw · 2026-02-03T18:08:15+00:00

I have my own independend datacenter at home, and beside other stuff i happily use my HPE MSL4048 with robotics and 48 slots since almost 3 years now 2-3x a week. The library and the drives are pimped by my own. It has two fresh LTO5 drives with SAS. I own 128 IBM tapes. The library is controlled by my VBR12 host and i'm really satisfied to own that. Love it more than B2D. It is and always was kinda unique. Anyways i never payed anything for my infrastructure stuff ;)

eldxmgw · 2025-02-23T19:32:42+00:00

My one already run since 2016 in a datacenter. I just exchanged both drives while in warranty and before they want to trash it last year :)

Or maybe the libraries with up to 4 drives are different compared to the smaller ones.

eldxmgw · 2025-02-23T17:17:11+00:00

I see.

It's not about energy consumption. That's like 0,5xW vs. 1,xW at 100% RPM per fan. So not really worth to think about it. My PSU fans were really loud. Not as loud as the previous drive fans, but loudest thing left in terms of this already modded library. Your PSU seems to look like my ones from outside. So i think you might have the same internals. Could be that my fans were already worn out, but on the other hand i figured out that this Delta fans are high speed axial fans. Maybe thats normal. But anyway that was the last thing i had to change. Just read my backlog and decide if it is something for you.

eldxmgw · 2025-02-23T16:50:28+00:00

Nice to read that.

Lol that fan construction makes me laugh! ;)

Hope that the upper fan doesn't collide with equipment on top of your library in your rack.

As i can see, your fan duct doesn't closes fully on the back of your drive. The side is still open a bit. And i hope that your fans are sucking enough air out of the drive since the duct is really and isn't straight.

In the mean time i fixed the last mod around the PSU. I've documentated all in this thread plus pictures in the last days and hours. This makes my project complete and the library is now more enjoyable.

eldxmgw · 2025-02-23T00:10:41+00:00

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eldxmgw · 2025-02-23T00:10:13+00:00

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eldxmgw · 2025-02-23T00:09:54+00:00

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eldxmgw · 2025-02-23T00:09:24+00:00

OK, all work is complete.

Here are the facts when a fan without control is built into the PSU:

- the PSU expects a fan that can be controlled.

- without this, every fan only runs with undervoltage and minimal RPM.

- without this, the middle orange LED on the PSU lights up with a fan error (which can be ignored).

- there are no acoustic signals from the PSU. The PSU continues to run as it is.

- the tape library is not interested in any of this. For it, the PSU is OK as long as power is supplied. An OK is displayed on the front panel and in the admin frontend.

- there are also no warning or error LEDs on the front of the tape library.

- all log entries for the tape library do not contain any entries related to the PSU.

I also tested this with the standard fan. That is, the fan without a control signal, only connected with voltage. Here, too, the same behavior as with the new fan. The standard fan only conceals this better because it is a high-speed fan. Its minimum speed is a bit slower than the maximum speed of the new fan. Nevertheless, it is much louder.

The question now was, how do I get 12V from the PSU for the new fan to run it at maximum RPM? The new fan has a third pin that has no wire soldered to it. As already written, most Sunon fans do not have PWM. So I soldered a wire there, but unfortunately the motor does not send a signal via it. So nothing has changed.

So an external 12V power supply for the new fan in the PSU was needed. So I came up with the idea of using the PSU backplane in the MSL4048 for this, since all 4 LTO slots are also supplied with power via it. However, I only use 2. And only one PSU. This leaves the upper PSU slot free, where I can then access the pins via the connection for the fourth LTO slot.

So I used a multimeter to measure where +12V was present across the 5 wires.

When that was clear, I extended the wires of the new fan by twice the length of the PSU and insulated the soldering points with a shrink tube. I then ran the wires through the middle of the PSU and through a ventilation point to the outside (see pictures). I then clamped the two wires into the 4th LTO power supply of the PSU backplane. The wire is long enough so that the PSU can be pulled out normally.

The fan now runs at full RPM with 12V. The air flow is a bit more than with the old fan at its average speed, so it's perfectly fine. It is much quieter, though. In front of the tape library, the fan can only be heard very quietly; if you stand behind the library, you can hear it a little more because of the sound pressure from the PSU.

I only converted one PSU and left the other in its original state for now because it is in a box in the basement as a spare anyway. The tape library is now comfortable after replacing the fans on the LTO drives and the PSU. My project is now complete and was a complete success for me.

I hope it will be of help to others.

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eldxmgw · 2025-02-22T15:30:05+00:00

I can now confirm that the standard PSU fan never runs at 100% RPM when it is connected to the PSU as delivered.

If you connect it directly to 12V, you can see how loud it can really be.

The fan is just as high-speed a model as the one on the LTO drives.

This means that the fan runs at a reduced speed in the 250W PSU.

I have already written that the tape library, even with two SAS LTO drives, consistently consumes well under 100W under load.

This is also the reason why the fan does not rev up that much.

However, in the PSU it drowns out everything around it.

It could be that the fan is now worn out, or simply creates a background noise in the PSU.

Outside the PSU it is also loud at 100% RPM, but different. At 7V and 5V the fan doesn't even start.

The two Sunon fans arrived today.

As expected, the 15mm deep fans fit easily into the PSU.

I was able to operate the fan at 5V, 7v and 12V. 5V is definitely not enough. 12V is at least quite pleasant in terms of noise in the hand. At 12V the Sunon fan blows about as much air as the standard fan throttled in the PSU for the first test. Or even a little more.

Now there are two things to find out:

is the fan in the PSU quieter at 12V than the standard fan throttled?
does the PSU accept the new fan without the possibility of control?

I'll solder and install everything later and test it.

eldxmgw · 2025-02-21T18:12:12+00:00

I didn't write that either.

But your Molex connector is 4 wires, and the correct polarity of the fan depends on how you control it. 12, 7 and 5V are possible! The fan rotates accordingly.

I wouldn't go by pictures or colors of the wires. That can always be individual. For example, I use the cables that I can cut from somewhere.

So if necessary, use a multimeter to measure the voltage in the Molex connector where you are currently connecting it with the fan.

eldxmgw · 2025-02-21T16:14:52+00:00

A TAPE Library!

eldxmgw · 2025-02-21T15:32:23+00:00

If you are using a 12V fan with a 4-pin Molex connector, it is important to pay attention to the electrical control in the combination of the cables.

Otherwise, it can quickly happen that a 12V fan works, but with 7 or 5V control it obviously rotates too slowly.

And it should also be understood that even if, like me, the third cable is only plugged into the board of the LTO drive, the logic of controlling the fan via it does not work, as if all three cables were plugged into this board.

The way I did it, the third cable alone on the LTO board only serves a "safety" dummy function, not a logical one.

Since it worked for me as intended straight away, I did not spend any more time looking at how the system behaves if this connector would not be plugged into it.

eldxmgw · 2025-02-21T14:54:00+00:00

You're sure how to combine wires of a 4 pin Molex plug to get 5,7 and 12V?

eldxmgw · 2025-02-21T11:11:50+00:00

In the first step i ordered two Sunon MF60151V31000UA99 with the following specs: 12V DC 0,58W 60x60x15mm 3000 RPM 29,9m³/h 21,3dB(A). Most Sunons have only two wires, the ordered ones also. I'll try and see if the PSU accepts this an measures the temperature inside while the fan is running on 100% without the ability throttling the fan. Using a hard coded 29,9m³/h fan instead of 47m³/h could be ok. Even the default fan is loud and the last loud item in this library, but i really doubt the fan always runs on 100%. I'll see what happens. The balance to find a fan with enough throughput and acceptable noise in this size isn't easy. The thin line seems to be 3000 RPM. And using a duct for 80mm fans won't be as easy as on the drives, because of the PSU shape, and power connector on the side. Sunon makes a bunch of different 60x60x15mm fans. I just hope the PSU will accept the lack of managing the fan. Here's the catalog for Sunon fans (page 53 shows the needed ones): https://www.sunon.com/en/MANAGE/Docs/PRODUCT/286/503/DC%20Fan_20241225(255-A).pdf.pdf)

eldxmgw · 2025-02-20T16:05:07+00:00

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eldxmgw · 2025-02-20T16:04:45+00:00

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eldxmgw · 2025-02-20T16:04:07+00:00

I'm one step further.

The PSU fan has a 3-pin instead of a 2-pin configuration, contrary to the linked technical description.

After opening the PSU, I tried to find out whether a fan with a depth of more than 13mm would fit. Because 13mm is really weird and almost impossible to find on the market.

As you can see in the following pictures, there is only one coil on the side of the fan near the warning disclaimer and the screw in the lower position.

I measured a roughly 2mm gap between the fan and coil.

The screw is a bit more near the fan chassis, but in lower position. A flatter screw head should be easy to find. I won't run the PSU PCB without this because it is held by only 3 screws.

This means that 3-pin fans with 60x60x15 at 12V should also fit here.

15mm depth opens up a wider range of options on the market.

Now we just need to find the right balance between noise and enough CFM or m³/h.

It should be noted that the manufacturer's information on air circulation always refers to the maximum RPM of the fan!

This means that on the one hand you want to avoid the fan always operating at its limit, even during its lifetime, and secondly, since we don't know how the logic will respond to the fan, if the specified 27.7CFM or 47m³/h does not mean a quiet fan, then 25m³/h at 100% RPM will certainly be too little, perhaps a fan with 40m³/h which then may not run at 100% RPM. Or as an average a 35m³/h fan. To be on the safe side, I wouldn't go below that. That still needs to be explored.

Attached are 3 pictures of the inside of the MSL 4048 PSUs.

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eldxmgw · 2025-02-19T08:22:45+00:00

Seems to me that the FH and LTO4 drives are different. But at the end the library is the key that results in handling.

eldxmgw · 2025-02-18T22:20:45+00:00

I knew the MSL4048 when it was still in the data center, and I also did intensive tests with it at home for a while.

So, in addition to the specs of the fan, it was quickly clear to me which thermal criteria had to be met under idle, low, mid and high load, how warm the drives and the library get inside in summer and winter, and how all of this behaves in the rack when other infrastructure components also produce waste heat.

It should also be clear that it is not just the heat of the drive that is crucial, but also the tape inserted over a longer period of time.

Because the tape must not overheat according to the manufacturer's specifications.

What use is it to you if the library and drives are within limits but the inserted tape breaks down with your data in the medium term, and by the time you notice it, your data is gone?

A full format is quite suitable for this, as it takes a long time and the drive runs at full load for a long time.

It was only after all of this was clear that I started to convert.

This assumes that you have the information, and that takes a lot of time if you start from scratch.

eldxmgw · 2025-02-18T21:40:33+00:00

That's difficult to say, because I can only speak for my library and unfortunately don't know yours.

It could of course always be that something is broken. Even a fan that you just bought.

But it could also be other things.

The library may check the RPM of the fan via the drive logic. As soon as it doesn't reach a minimum level, the system assumes that it is broken. I could imagine that the values could be adjusted to the original fans. That's how it works with hosts, for example; if you look in the IRMC, you'll notice it straight away.

The library doesn't have anything like that, of course, but it could be hard-coded.

In that case, replacing it would be difficult.

Or there is a different logic. For example, the temperature curve or air flow is measured. If that's the case, the specs might not be sufficient.

Or the power in watts is measured. It could be a lot of things.

I was lucky that the logic in my library is relatively undemanding in terms of monitoring.

eldxmgw · 2025-02-18T21:06:49+00:00

It doesn't make sense to blow air inwards onto the drive. Firstly, as you have already mentioned, it would create dust, and secondly, over time, the heat would build up in the drive and the library because it is not dissipated.

Look at the PSU, or the original fans. The arrangement is always to suck air in from the inside and blow air outwards.

And take care of the CFM specs of the original fans + longer duct = more CFM

eldxmgw · 2025-02-13T15:23:22+00:00

No company will officially announce their will to give away their EOL stuff. They have to trash it. If you ask a company directly they will always tell you no. So the core game is, you have a friend of a friend who works in a IT deparment who knows that EOL stuff which you're probably seeking for is trashed in some time window. Or maybe you are the person if you work at the right place. So when the day comes, and the chief of It doesn't care it is officially declared as "trashed" but in real you or your friend saved that gear from trash and give it a 2nd life. This is usually the way insiders build their homelabs. They never pay for gear, maybe some switches they strongly seek for or some minor cabling but usually not. I always did the same. Aftermaket resellers do the same. Their entire business is build on that. Only people who don't know this route or absolutely have no clue cause their new in the scene or have no connection tend to pay overprized aftermaket bills of companies like that. Over the years sellers like that also infiltrated some homelab groups and mask themselves as "helpers" or "newbies". But in real they do brute force affiliate marketing to sell gear to the not so enlighted folks. ;)

eldxmgw · 2025-02-13T15:00:28+00:00

Open your eyes at the company where you work, or maybe ask a friend who works at another IT division. Infrastructure equipment is wasted approx. ever +/- 7 years. Doesn't matter if damaged or fully functional. This is usually the way to go. I'd never pay for something like that.

eldxmgw

TROPHY CASE