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Re: Firmware upgrade problems for Sun L9

 
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Ahmed_33
New Member

Firmware upgrade problems for Sun L9

We have a tape storage autoloader with the commercial name of "Sun L9", we are trying to use L&TT to upgrade the tape and robot firmware.

When L&TT scans the devices it reports an "HP C7145-8000" autoloader with "Quantum DLT8000" drive.

The autoloader firmware revision is reported to be 206S, and the drive was V059/OML3.

Using the "Get files from web" and choosing "For devices on this system" and "Show latest firmware only" we found one firmware update for the drive (to version V086/OML3), and none for the autoloader. The firmware update was applied successfully for the drive.

When extending the listed firmware updates to show all firmware updates for all devices and all versions we found firmware updates for "HP C7145-8000" to higher versions (i.e. 2260, 2300, 2330, 2400, 2530, 2600), we downloaded all these updates, and all of them give "wrong prefix" message in the "selectable" column under the "Local firmware files" tab.

We tried further to download the firmware update bundle from HP website for the 1/9 autoloader, and it gave the same errors for the same device (i.e. HP C7145-8000).

Also we tried to use the firmware update files that comes with the Sun patch number 112141-02, and it gave "file corrupted/invalid" error in the "selectable" column.
8 REPLIES 8
David Ruska
Honored Contributor
Solution

Re: Firmware upgrade problems for Sun L9

That is the correct behavior. HP L&TT supports HP's branded products only. SUN uses customized firmware in the autoloader robotics (but not the drive), and that firmware is not available from HP. You would need to use SUN's diagnostic tools and firmware for a SUN branded product. Does SUN not provide a diagnostic tool to go with the firmware files?

I'm not familiar with SUN's patches. What filename and type did they provide for firmware? LTT uses a special .frm file.
The journey IS the reward.
Ahmed_33
New Member

Re: Firmware upgrade problems for Sun L9

Thanks for your quick response.

Upgrading the firmware using SUN's patch is as follows:
A Remote Management Card is installed in the library.
Using a web browser you connect to the library and start upgrading the firmware using the web browser and the firmware files extracted by the patch which are not a specific extension. In Solaris there are no extension for files.

What you said explains why I could not find a compatible firmware file for the robot.

Since we don't have the L9 remote management card we wanted to upgrade the robot firmware using L&TT but according to what you said this would not be possible. We now have to buy the L9 remote management card to upgrade the robot firmware.

Thanks alot David
David Ruska
Honored Contributor

Re: Firmware upgrade problems for Sun L9

Ahmed,

Yes, if SUN required the RMC card to update the library firmware, that sounds like the only official way to update the robotic firmware (unfortunately).

Contact me at ltt_team@hp.com, and we'll see if we can come up with another option for you.

The 2.06S firmware is quite OLD!
The journey IS the reward.
Ahmed_33
New Member

Re: Firmware upgrade problems for Sun L9

David,

I've contacted you on the e-mail you specified.

David Ruska
Honored Contributor

Re: Firmware upgrade problems for Sun L9

OK, we'll get you a reply right away!
The journey IS the reward.
stk boy
New Member

Re: Firmware upgrade problems for Sun L9

Hi guys! I'm new to the L9 Autoloader, but the problems I encountered were the same with yours and the solution given by Sun is FW upgrade through RMC or tload in solaris. I have the the two patches, 112141-03 for L9 with DLT8000 drives and 113354-01 for L9 with LTO1 drives. I followed all the procedures in "read me" file but error is only what I get. After editing sgen.config by uncommenting
device-type-config-list="changer";
name="sgen" class="scsi" target=0 lun=0;
and run:
/usr/sbin/devfsadm -i sgen
it returns me: driver failed to attach: sgen.
any other solution for these guys besides using solaris. the current firmware for the L9 Autoloader are 2.71S with DLT8000 and E36R with LTO1.
Kurt S
New Member

Re: Firmware upgrade problems for Sun L9

I too am curious about the ultimate solution you came up with. I have an L9 and have the old 206S firmware and wish to update it. Please let me know how this was solved.
stk boy
New Member

Re: Firmware upgrade problems for Sun L9

I have successfully upgraded L9 firmware through tload. You must have a SUN Solaris system to do this. Below are the instructions of the firmware upgrade via tload method.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Instructions for Updating Firmware via SCSI -- tload Method
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Contents
--------
A.0 Solaris/Driver Requirements
B.O Precautionary Statements
C.O Patch Installation and Utility Usage Instructions

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A.0 Solaris/Driver Requirements
-----------------------------------------------
Solaris 8 and later bundled with a uscsi compliant driver such as the 'sgen'
driver is required for this procedure.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
B.0 Precautionary Statements
-----------------------------

**WARNING:****WARNING:****WARNING:****WARNING:****WARNING:****WARNING:**


B.1 The system MUST BE IDLE during the firmware download process! No
other programs should be running while this utility is being used.
Failure to do so may cause the devices being upgraded to fail or
the system to crash.

Any other computers sharing the same I/O bus as the host system
must be either disconnected or offline.

B.2 If any upgrade failures occur, do not continue upgrading devices.
For example, loss of power during download will result in damaged
peripherals and require replacement.

If any failures occur, please collect the following log file:
"/var/adm/messages", and an explorer dump. Please forward these
files to your service provider for analysis.

B.3 This package will only function on StorEdge L9 Tape Autoloaders.

B.4 Please READ instructions below completely BEFORE starting download
procedure. Follow the procedures carefully. You may program
multiple autoloaders at the same time, however, you may not exit the
utility until all autoloaders have completed the download process.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

C.O Patch Installation and Utility Usage Intructions
-----------------------------------------------------

C.1 General guidelines for upgrading:

EJECT MEDIA FROM DEVICE TO BE UPGRADED. Download utility will
eject media from the device if it is found to be loaded. Do
NOT attempt to force media back into the drive.

STOP ALL APPLICATIONS. The system must be idle during the
firmware upgrade process.

DISCONNECT or take OFFLINE any other computers sharing the same
I/O bus as the host.

C.2 Firmware Dependencies and Download Order:

Due to firmware dependencies, multiple firmware loads may be required
or the unit may show partial availability. By rule:

If 2.06S or 2.10S is currently loaded, first load 2.26S, then load
2.33S, then load 2.55S and finally load 2.71S.

If 2.26S is loaded, first load 2.33S, then 2.55S, and finally load
2.71S.

If 2.33S is loaded, first load 2.55S, and finally load 2.71S.

If 2.55S is loaded, you may load 2.71S.

In case of any disruption or unforeseen events happening on the
relevant bus during the firmware download process, it may be
that the upgraded device becomes non-functional. In this event,
it will be necessary to replace the device. This would happen
as a result of an incomplete or corrupted firmware file being
downloaded. Loss of power during the upgrade process would also
damage the device.

**NOTE** If you cannot upgrade devices due to software application
interference, try booting off of the Solaris release CD.

**NOTE** After the firmware download is completed, it may be necessary
to power cycle the device to ensure fully resetting the device.
In turn, this may also require a successive reboot of the host
system to ensure all functionality is restored.


C.3 Procedure for L9 Tape Autoloader Firmware Download:

The procedure to be used for upgrading the device's firmware is explained
below. Total upgrade time will be approximately 10-15 minutes for each device.
You must have root/super-user privileges in order to perform this operation.

a). Ensure you are logged in as root on the machine attached to the L9 tape
autoloaders you wish to upgrade.

b). Unpack the patch (through tar) into any directory, e.g. /var/spool/patch
(Note, if the patch ends in a ".Z" suffix, you will need to first
uncompress it.) Example:
# uncompress
# tar xvf

c). Modify the /kernel/drv/sgen.conf file so that the sgen target driver will
have a device link allowing access to the L9 tape autoloader via a
/dev/scsi/changer device link.

SUGGESTED METHOD:
----------------
The sgen.conf.example file included with this patch may be utilized by
first moving /kernel/drv/sgen.conf to /kernel/drv/sgen.conf.bak. Secondly,
copy the included sgen.conf.example file to /kernel/drv/sgen.conf which
supports tape library target (changer) devices operating on a parallel
SCSI bus (SCSI target ID's 0-15 are supported).

After completing this task, run:
/usr/sbin/devfsadm -i sgen
to create the /dev/scsi/changer/c#t#d# device link.


MANUAL METHOD:
-------------
Note: If you have used the SUGGESTED METHOD, skip to step C.2.d below in
this section, else for manual sgen modifications:

Refer to /kernel/drv/sgen.conf and/or the sgen man page for instructions
on how to configure the sgen driver (included in Solaris 8 and later) to
support tape library target (changer) devices operating on a parallel SCSI
bus.

First, copy /kernel/drv/sgen.conf to /kernel/drv/sgen.conf.bak to ensure
preservation of the original sgen.conf file.

Modify /kernel/drv/sgen.conf to enable sgen attach to tape library target
(changer) devices operating on a parallel SCSI bus and enable the
appropriate SCSI target ID(s) for your L9 tape autoloader(s).

The following lines must exist in /kernel/drv/sgen.conf after modification:

device-type-config-list="changer";
name="sgen" class="scsi" target=0 lun=0;

where target= (target is set to SCSI ID 0 above). Uncomment
the appropriate "name=..." lines to support your L9 tape autoloader SCSI
target IDs. Do not modify the lun address as all L9 autoloaders use lun=0
in all cases.

After completing this task, run:
/usr/sbin/devfsadm -i sgen
to create the /dev/scsi/changer/c#t#d# device link.

d). In the patch directory, type the "tload" command to load the firmware:
# ./tload L9-SUN-2-71S-dnld_all

**NOTE** Do not rename the firmware filename or change it to lowercase
characters.

e). Select the device to be upgraded (see example below--the L9 tape
autoloader corresponds to a Vendor ID of HP and Product ID of
C7145-8000).

f). Answer the question:
Do you want to download firmware to this tape device [N]?
with a 'y' for yes or anything else for no. Default answer is no.

**NOTE** While the SCSI Controller firmware is downloading, the LCD on the
autoloader will display various messages. It is good practice to
monitor the LCD display while the download is occurring.

g). If there is an additional device to be upgraded (same device type
and desire to upgrade to the latest firmware), select that device
as previously done in C.2.e). & C.2.f). above. Continue in this
fashion until all desired devices have been upgraded.

h). Quit the "tload" program by typing '0' (see example below).

i). Repeat the above sequence of steps if you have had to make multiple
firmware upgrades to bring the device to the latest firmware revision.

j). After the device has been fully upgraded, the displayed tape device
list will be refreshed. Device(s) upgraded should reflect having
the new code level, "271S", in the "Rev" field (see example below).

k). Upon completion of upgrading all L9 tape autoloaders, the user may move
the /kernel/drv/sgen.conf.original file back to the original
/kernel/drv/sgen.conf file thus restoring the original sgen configuration.
******************************************************************************

C.3 EXAMPLE

#
#########################################
#
# Launch Tape Firmware Download Utility:
#
#########################################
#
# ./tload L9-SUN-2-71S-dnld_all


ATTACHED DEVICES:

Device Supplier Product Rev Serial Number Device State
-------------- -------- ---------------- ---- ------------- -------------
1:0ln QUANTUM DLT8000 0258 PXB17P2902 Available
2:c5t5d0 HP C7145-8000 255S PRTN000054 Available

Select Device(s) (ex: 1,3-4)0 to quit) [1]: 2

c5t5d0 HP C7145-8000 255S PRTN000054 Selected

Do you want to download firmware to this device [N]? y

ATTACHED DEVICES:

Device Supplier Product Rev Serial Number Device State
-------------- -------- ---------------- ---- ------------- -------------
1:0ln QUANTUM DLT8000 0258 PXB17P2902 Available
2:c5t5d0 HP C7145-8000 255S PRTN000054 Downloading

Downloading /dev/scsi/changer/c5t5d0... please wait.

ATTACHED DEVICES:

Device Supplier Product Rev Serial Number Device State
-------------- -------- ---------------- ---- ------------- -------------
1:0ln QUANTUM DLT8000 0258 PXB17P2902 Available
2:c5t5d0 HP C7145-8000 255S PRTN000054 Writing Flash

Select Device(s) (ex: 1,3-4) or 0 to quit) [2]: 0

ATTACHED DEVICES:

Device Supplier Product Rev Serial Number Device State
-------------- -------- ---------------- ---- ------------- -------------
1:0ln QUANTUM DLT8000 0258 PXB17P2902 Available
2:c5t5d0 HP C7145-8000 271S PRTN000054 F/W Upgraded

#
#########################################
#
# The example above only upgrades one
# device. You do not have to exit with
# a "0" and initiate the 'tload' utility
# again. You may continue instead and
# directly upgrade the next tape device,
# following the same steps as before
# for each device until all devices
# have been upgraded
#
#########################################
#


#
#########################################
#
# After devices are upgraded, the Rev
# will be 271S
#
#########################################
#

#
#########################################
#
# To Quit, enter '0'. System prompt
# will return.