Finding Out a Tape Drive's Status

To find out the status of a specific tape drive, enter: 
query rdev
where rdev is the real device number of the tape drive.
To find out the status of all the tape drives in your system, enter: 
query tapes all
Table 1 lists the keywords that appear in responses to QUERY commands for tape drives. It also shows:
  • The meaning of each keyword
  • Whether the keyword indicates an active, free, or offline tape drive
  • Whether the keyword indicates a dedicated tape drive or a tape drive in use by CP.
Table 1. Tape Drive Status
Device Status
Keyword
   Keyword Meaning Type of Status
ASSIGNED
SYSTEM
 The tape drive is processing a dump, an SPXTAPE function, or a TRSAVE function. Active (CP)
ATTACHED TO
 The tape drive is dedicated to the indicated virtual machine. Active (dedicated)
FREE
 The tape drive is available but is not in use. Free
INT REQUIRED
 The tape drive requires operator intervention. Active (CP or dedicated)
OFFLINE
 The tape drive is unavailable to CP. Offline
SUBCHOFF
 The subchannel for this device is disabled. Offline Disabled