1/8 G2 Autoloader constantly reboots after firmware upgrade

[rchoo14]

Hello All,

is 

I'm hoping someone can shed some light on my issue.

I have an HP 1/8 Autoloader G2 with an Ultrium 920 drive, connected via SCSI to a Windows 2003 server.

Recently, we started having issues with BackupExec 12.5 detecting the Ultrium drive as OFFLINE.  Occasionally a reboot of server and autoloader would bring it back online, but backups would still never complete.

Since no one has touched the backup environment in some time (if it ain't broke...) until the issue came up, I decided that an upgrade of all the components and software was in order.

I started with the firmware upgrade.

The autoloader had firmware 3.00, which I tried to upgrade to 4.20.  It SEEMED to work (I did it through the remote web console), but I soon lost remote access to the unit.  When I went onsite, I noticed that the autoloader is now in a reboot loop of sorts.

From a cold boot, it starts up the fan and eventually brings up a blank front panel.  It will say "Connecting drive, drive offline" followed by "Initializing Drive RDY", followed by all 4 LED lights blinking.  Then the unit appears to reboot, with the cycle repeating itself.

So, did the firmware upgrade totally fail and brick the autoloader..?  Can I still downgrade it somehow..?  I do not have access to the front panel controls.  There is no response from any of the buttons, and I cannot ping the device.

I have just installed LTT, but I am not hopeful it will detect the unit.  I cannot run it yet since the backup software is still running a B2D job.

Any ideas on what I can do next, especially if LTT does not detect the autoloader?

Thanks in advance.

RC

[Torsten. · Accepted solution]

I would try to remove the drive and power on the loader. Does it come up?

[rchoo14]

Hi Torsten,

Thanks for the suggestion.  I wasn't sure I could do so, but I believe I found the instructions online on how to remove the drive.  I'll try it out and see what happens.

RC

[Torsten.]

Just power of the loader, pull the drive and power on again. Check if you can get the web interface.

[rchoo14]

I finally got a chance to go to the remote site.

I re-seated the tape drive (just pulled it out of the chassis and put it back in).

The unit powered back up and the front console indicated that indeed, it was running version 4.2 of the firmware.  So I guess it took.

The only problem is, the console also indicated that the power supply was faulty..... @%$%^$!!

I guess one problem is fixed, but another appeared.  I can't find out anywhere if the power supply can be replaced in the same manner as the drive, so I am guessing it cannot be.

If someone can tell me if the power supply can be replaced that would be great.  Otherwise, I will accept Torsten's suggestion as the fix for my original problem.

Thanks,

RC