Welcome to the SymplyATOM pre-release software

TABLE OF CONTENTS

• Welcome to the SymplyATOM pre-release V1 (1.9) for macOS 12 (or higher) macOS Installation guide
  1. Hardware support drivers
  2. IBM ITDT download
  3. LTFS Software downloads
  4. SymplyATOM pre-release download
• Installing SymplyATOM 
• Initial Setup
• Known Issues / Limitations

This is a limited pre-release trial with a number of known issues and limitations.

This pre-release is offered as an early access to the SymplyATOM software for working with LTFS formatted media and troubleshooting diagnostic testing.

It is necessary to install the following supporting software and drivers before you are able to begin testing SymplyATOM.

The pre-release of SymplyATOM is not a signed application and therefore will require the macOS gatekeeper to be bypassed.  While this is inconvenient, it does not indicate the App is not trustworthy.  It is common that pre-release Applications are not signed.

Pay careful attention to which drivers you download and install, ONLY install the drivers for the LTO drive you have.

macOS Installation

There are a number of installers to run, and it is important that they are installed in the correct order:

1. ATTO Hardware support driver(s)
2. macFUSE
3. IBM ITDT
4. IBM SDE (LTFS)
   1. ICU Framework (ICUFramework-4.8.1.1.pkg)
   2. LTFS SDE (ltfssde-2.4.4.0-10470-OSX10.8.pkg)
5. SymplyATOM pre-release

1. Hardware support drivers

2. IBM ITDT download

3. LTFS-related software downloads

4. SymplyATOM pre-release download

Installing SymplyATOM

• Double-click the SymplyAtom-v1.0b1.9.pkg.zip file, this will unpack the SymplyAtom-v1.0b1.9.pkg
• Double-clicking the SymplyAtom-v1.0b1.9.pkgopens the Installer.app
  • As a beta we've yet to sign this release, therefore when you double-click the installer package you'll see Gatekeeper's generic "possibly malicious software" warning, it is safe to click OK
  • Open System Preferences > Security & Privacy > General and click Open Anyway
  • Gatekeeper checks again that you want to open the package, it's again safe to click Open
• Follow the on-screen prompts to install the application
• Quit the Installer app
• Double-click SymplyATOM.app in /Applications/ to open the app and begin [Initial Setup].

IMPORTANT:  Before using the pre-release version of SymplyATOM, please read our [Symply Pre-release Software Agreement].

Initial Setup

The first thing to do upon first launching SymplyATOM is to set the preferences. The main application window will display the following message:

Open the Preferences from the Menu Bar SymplyAtom > Preferences

1. Click the Choose button next to ITDT Path and browse to where you extracted the ITDT zip file.
2. Only change LTFS Path & MKLTFS Path if you moved those items manually (not recommended).
3. Click the Choose button next to Output Path and select a location you would like SymplyATOM to use for storing logs and any other output.
4. Click Save.

Perform your first SymplyATOM scan, with a SymplyLTO drive connected and powered on, click the SCAN FOR DRIVES button in SymplyATOM.

If you have a new, blank tape inserted in your drive you can choose to format it for use as a LTFS tape by clicking FORMAT TAPE, you'll be asked for a 6 character, alphanumeric label for your tape (we recommend using the barcode of the tape for ease of locating the tape at a later date) and click OK.

To mount a tape for read/write operations simply click on the MOUNT TAPE button (having inserted a LTFS formatted tape of a generation supported by the drive).

For more detail on using SymplyATOM, please refer to the Help in the App.

Known Issues / Limitations

1. Multiple drive operations are not yet supported.  The pre-release only support single tape drive operations, some multiple drive operations may cause the application to fail or display incorrect information.
2. When re-formatting a tape for LTFS, the confirmation dialog remains in place for the duration of the format process. The application may appear unresponsive, but is still working; as noted by the progress wheel in the main application window
3. Clicking UNMOUNT may cause the application to become temporarily unresponsive whilst it waits for feedback from the drive which may be spooling the tape to the correct position ready to be ejected
4. After performing a RUN TEST or HOST VALIDATION it is recommended that SymplyATOM is quit and restarted before performing any further operations

If you have any questions please submit a [support ticket]