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Re: Daisychaining HP Surestore C9264CB

 
John Rowan_2
Regular Advisor

Re: Daisychaining HP Surestore C9264CB

Although both units appear identical there is a difference in the Manufactured date. The one that works shows a value of 29/02 the one that produces the error has a value of 10/02. I don't know what these numbers mean. The one that works has a product ID of VS640 and the one that fails C9264CB-VS80.

Someone suggested checking LUN scanning but the Proliant 6500 on board SCSI does not display CTRL-A or F8 to configure during POST. I booted with the Smart Start CD (v 5.4) this morning, went through the SCSI options, it had the correct drive information associated with the correct SCSI IDs but there is no options to turn on / off LUN checking on the onboard adapter.

I was running version 1.2.18 of mtx and 1.3.12 is the latest available. I installed that but /dev/sg1 still fails on a status command. Running mtx -f /dev/sg1 inventory communicates with the autoloader and spins the carousel.

Here's a side by side diff of what 1.3.12 shows when I request status:

diff --side-by-side sg0.log sg1.log
mtx: Request Sense: Long Report=yes mtx: Request Sense: Long Report=yes
mtx: Request Sense: Valid Residual=no mtx: Request Sense: Valid Residual=no
mtx: Request Sense: Error Code=70 (Current) mtx: Request Sense: Error Code=70 (Current)
mtx: Request Sense: Sense Key=Illegal Request mtx: Request Sense: Sense Key=Illegal Request
mtx: Request Sense: FileMark=no mtx: Request Sense: FileMark=no
mtx: Request Sense: EOM=no mtx: Request Sense: EOM=no
mtx: Request Sense: ILI=no mtx: Request Sense: ILI=no
mtx: Request Sense: Additional Sense Code = 24 mtx: Request Sense: Additional Sense Code = 24
mtx: Request Sense: Additional Sense Qualifier = 00 mtx: Request Sense: Additional Sense Qualifier = 00
mtx: Request Sense: Field in Error = 05 mtx: Request Sense: Field in Error = 05
mtx: Request Sense: BPV=yes mtx: Request Sense: BPV=yes
mtx: Request Sense: Error in CDB=yes mtx: Request Sense: Error in CDB=yes
mtx: Request Sense: SKSV=yes mtx: Request Sense: SKSV=yes
mtx: Request Sense: Field Pointer = 00 02 mtx: Request Sense: Field Pointer = 00 02
Mode sense (0x1A) for Page 0x1D failed Mode sense (0x1A) for Page 0x1D failed
Storage Changer /dev/sg0:1 Drives, 8 Slots ( 0 Import/Expor | mtx: Request Sense: Long Report=yes
Data Transfer Element 0:Full (Storage Element 1 Loaded) | mtx: Request Sense: Valid Residual=no
Storage Element 1:Empty | mtx: Request Sense: Error Code=70 (Current)
Storage Element 2:Full | mtx: Request Sense: Sense Key=Illegal Request
Storage Element 3:Full | mtx: Request Sense: FileMark=no
Storage Element 4:Full | mtx: Request Sense: EOM=no
Storage Element 5:Full | mtx: Request Sense: ILI=no
Storage Element 6:Full | mtx: Request Sense: Additional Sense Code = 24
Storage Element 7:Full | mtx: Request Sense: Additional Sense Qualifier = 00
Storage Element 8:Full | mtx: Request Sense: Field in Error = 03
> mtx: Request Sense: BPV=yes
> mtx: Request Sense: Error in CDB=yes
> mtx: Request Sense: SKSV=yes
> mtx: Request Sense: Field Pointer = 00 01
> READ ELEMENT STATUS Command Failed
[root@vrod rowan]#
Curtis Ballard
Honored Contributor

Re: Daisychaining HP Surestore C9264CB

More SCSI command format errors, this time on a MODE SENSE command. It looks like mtx just isn't compatible with this autoloader.

Have you checked the drive and autoloader firmware revisions? There might be a firmware revision that will work or you may have to go back to an older mtx. I saw a compatibility list for an older version of mtx (1.2.17) that listed the VS640 autoloader.
John Rowan_2
Regular Advisor

Re: Daisychaining HP Surestore C9264CB

Firmware levels on the two HP units are different. One reports the tape drive as a BNCHMARK 640, the other as an HP C9264CB even though inside the tape unit is the same BNCHMARK 640.

As the Dell had worked on a DL380 using an Adaptec 29320 but wouldn't in the 6500 and the newer HP was exhibiting the same behavior as the Dell I guess these will work with a DL380 but now with the 6500.

Watching eBay I saw someone list an HP C9264CB for parts or repair. The price and shipping were attractive and I purchased the unit. The seller said it sounded like something was jammed inside.

The parts machine arrived via FedEx this morning. Even though the box had labels clearly saying fragile electronic equipment with "this end up" he was carrying it on his shoulder on it's side. One thing I'll say for FedEx though the box arrived with very few marks or dimpling of corners. The seller was meticulous also in wrapping things and even put protective cardboard over the front LCD / tape load door. The parts machine looked better than the other three Autoloader 1/8s I had already and the cycle count was less than 2000. I opened it to see what was jammed, there was nothing. There was 1 tape in the drive and 7 tapes in carousel slots. I powered it up, tape rewound, carousel cycled, no problems, no jams. The only thing was the "clean drive" light was on. I cleaned it, installed in place of the other Autoloader 1/8 I could not communicate with and rebooted the server. The top SCSI interface has a broken screw so I couldn't get the daisy chain cable to seat properly. I reversed the order and made the new robot the last on the SCSI chain and installed the terminator in the SCSI interface with the broken screw.

Both tape drives are recognized and now I have the 16 tapes I need. I'm running a backup on both as I write this.

Thank to everyone for their suggestions.
John Rowan_2
Regular Advisor

Re: Daisychaining HP Surestore C9264CB

Solved!

I won another Autoloader 1/8 on eBay, it arrived today. I hooked it up to my Proliant DL380's add-on Adaptec 29320 SCSI card's external interface. The SCSI BIOS identified the device on the correct SCSI ID #2 but when I queried the device with mtx -f /dev/sg0 status it produced the standard error. I rebooted, changed the Adaptec card to support LUN and it displayed two devices on ID #2 this time. When I queried the device with mtx -f /dev/sg0 status I received the same error. I started trying variations like /dev/sg0:0, /dev/sg0:1 both failed. Inadvertently I ran mtx -f /dev/sg1 status and it displayed the information I was looking for. Running mtx -f /dev/sg0 inventory spins the carousel but mtx -f /dev/sg1 interacts with the changing device. I was able to load a tape and query the contents of it. So the next task at hand is seeing whether the 320 megabyte SCSI controller will cut down on the time it takes to back up gigabytes of data.