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Re: Backup tapes compatability?

 
Fredrik.eriksson
Valued Contributor

Backup tapes compatability?

Hi,

I've just started getting error that the medium for our backup station (tz89) is offline and after abit of googling I've found out that this can be because of the tapes.
Since we got a new shipment just a month or 2 ago I'm starting to guess this is where it might reside.

We have a TZ89 (DLT7000) magtape drive and my question is if HP 40/80GB TK88 DLT IV tapes are compatible with it?

The default density value on the drive seems to be TK89 and I'm guessing this is a newer format then TK88?

UTV>init/system utv$mke500: imautv/media_format=compaction
%SYSTEM-F-MEDOFL, medium is offline

UTV>sh dev mke500/full
Magtape UTV$MKE500:, device type TZ89, is online, file-oriented device,

UTV>sh dev mke500/full

Density TK89 Format Normal-11


Best regards
Fredrik Eriksson
11 REPLIES 11
Ian Miller.
Honored Contributor

Re: Backup tapes compatability?

DLT IV are compatible with that drive. Have you used a cleaning tape recently?

You may have a hardware problem.
____________________
Purely Personal Opinion
Fredrik.eriksson
Valued Contributor

Re: Backup tapes compatability?

Hardware problem seems to be another likely option.
It seems I cannot manage to get the cartridge out of my tapedrive.
The indicator "Tape in Use" starts blinking and then the indicator light "operate handle" lights up.
I open the release hatch to remove the tape, but it seems to be stuck.
When I close the hatch, "Tape in Use" starts blinking again and then goes to "operate handle" again. Rince and repeat.

I'm going to try to get the tape out as much as I can and then restart the device.
Hopefully it's just in a jiffy state of some sort.

If I get the tape out I'll try running the cleaning tape also.

Best regards
Fredrik Eriksson
Jan van den Ende
Honored Contributor

Re: Backup tapes compatability?

Fredrik,

if you cannot get the tape out, _sometimes_ it may be helpful to have the device powered off (not just switch off, but disconnect from mains), and wait a minute or so.
If powered up again, sometimes it is reset to a state that releases the tape.

No guarantee, but worth trying.

Proost.

Have one on me

jpe
Don't rust yours pelled jacker to fine doll missed aches.
marsh_1
Honored Contributor

Re: Backup tapes compatability?

fredrik,

also sometimes there is a small timing window between the tape in use and operate release that you can press the unload button pull the handle quickly and it will let it out - as jan's suggestion - sometimes works sometimes does'nt.

Fredrik.eriksson
Valued Contributor

Re: Backup tapes compatability?

Well I was down there just a moment ago and when I got down there the operate handle was lit up and the rest was blinking. According to the manual it's some kind of error. I restarted it by turning of the power button (and I pulled the cord just to be sure). When it started up again the in use light is blinking (and again) according to the manual it's supposed to load/unload/rewind the tape. The unload button isn't doing anything and after 5 minutes of just watching it blink I decided to go back up and see what my OpenVMS machine said about it. Which just said the medium is offline.

Going back down to check on it again in a moment. I'll try the "cold boot" method if I get a moment where it doesn't blink Tape in Use.

And I really do want to get the tape out of the drive. Might just be that the tape is damaged in some way?

Best regards
Fredrik Eriksson
marsh_1
Honored Contributor

Re: Backup tapes compatability?

quite often with these tapes/drive combo the tape leader has come off.
if it's covered under contract get an engineer down to get it out, if it's not screwed up he should be able to manually wind it off.
Fredrik.eriksson
Valued Contributor

Re: Backup tapes compatability?

Okey, this is really wierd.

Now that I restarted it, it boots up fine, the first part of the POST seems to work. After the POST and after about 1-2 minutes (unsure how long actually, quite boring to sit there and just watch some blinking lights) during the init of the media it blinks the top 3 lights and operator handle is fully lit, and then it goes back to trying to init the media. This in the manual says that an drive error has occured but and they recommend pushing the unload button.
The unload button does nothing, even after failure or if I press when it fails.

I still can't get the tape out of drive even when it's turned off.

I think I'll have to check up on our deals with HP and see if I can get a maintenance guy over here.

Best regards
Fredrik Eriksson
Hoff
Honored Contributor

Re: Backup tapes compatability?

This could certainly be a batch of bad media. Or a bad drive. (Dirty drives and mis-rated media usually don't through these sorts of errors. They tend to have problems reading and writing. Not positioning.)

As reliable as these DLT widgets are, this drive could also reaching its design life. I'd be looking to roll your archives forward and would consider acquiring a spare drive or an upgraded drive that can read your present media. And I'd get a different batch of media from another vendor.

For the value of this drive (when considering whether to replace it) on the used-equipment, I've received functional DLT8000 tape drives for free; for the cost of carting the hardware off.

And yes, the hammerhead or the tape leader on a DLT drive does occasionally fail. (It's particularly impressive on a TK50-class drive when the hammerhead frags in mid-load or when the pick-up misses the leader. It sounds like a saw. But I digress.)

While on the subject, I'd look at the age of the disks and the rest of the gear in use here too, as those also tend to have a finite lifetime. If the disks are as old as the TZ here, I'd ensure my backups (when I get the TK/TZ/DLT working or replaced) are current, RAID, and/or disk upgrades are in progress,

cnb
Honored Contributor

Re: Backup tapes compatability?

"And I really do want to get the tape out of the drive. Might just be that the tape is damaged in some way?"

Possible or the drive has malfunctioned. To remove the tape this link may help:
http://h20000.www2.hp.com/bizsupport/TechSupport/Document.jsp?objectID=lpg50246

HTH,