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Re: MSL5026 problems

 
Fussel
Advisor

MSL5026 problems

I recently acquired a used MSL5026 library w/ 2 SDLT220 drives. The library seems to be about 2 years old (16000 power on hours) and was a standby library, so the drives have only 64 and 71 tape motion hours.

So far, so good. Unfortunately, drive 1 doesn't work properly. Sometimes it doesn't recognize the tapes, sometimes it works for a short time and stops with a read error (that's what the backup software thinks, the library log doesn't show any errors). I tried to interchange the drives; the error follows the drive. The drives show firmware 4B4B, the lib has 4.04.

First, I tried to check the warranty status, but the serial doesn't seem to be in the database (!??).

The vendor then gave me another drive (library/loader ready) which might have been in an ESL or similar (it had a big black case around). This drive shows firmware 3333 and doesn't seem to work in a MSL. It loads a tape ok, but doesn't unload it anymore. I had to remove the drive, connect only the power cable to another PC und unload the tape with the unload button. This works ok (I tried loading and unloading a tape several times), so it seems the drive doesn't understand the commands from the library.

3 questions:

How can I check the warranty status of the MSL if the serial is not in the database?

Any chance to revive the original drive? No dust, no dirt, looks like new ...

Is there a chance to flash the replacement drive with firmware 4B4B to get it working in the MSL? What happens if I flash the MSL with a new firmware (5.07 seems to be the current one, I didn't find the 4.04 anymore)? Do the drives get flashed, too? Or is there a flash file for the drives alone? I didn't find it ...

Thanks in advance
Fussel
2 REPLIES 2
Mark Poeschl_2
Honored Contributor

Re: MSL5026 problems

You can upgrade firmware for both the library and the drives using HP Library & Tape Tools (LTT). They are two separate upgrades. The latest version of firmware I've found is 5.07 for the library and 85 ( or '5555' hex). LTT can be downloaded from:

http://h18006.www1.hp.com/products/storageworks/ltt/index.html

Firmware for all tape storage products can be found in:

ftp://ftp.hp.com/pub2/information_storage/software/ltt/firmware/

Put the firmware files for your product in the 'firmware' subdirectory created under the folder you install LTT into and it will be available when you run LTT to download into the H/W.


Marino Meloni_1
Honored Contributor

Re: MSL5026 problems

L&TT as suggested is the tool that allow you to check the status of the library.
But you can also use the Front panel to check is there is connectivity with the drives, check if they are well configured, put them online or offline....
TapeDrives for library should have the right personality and the right FW in order to communicate with the controller, a drive which do not communicate, will never be able to receive the unload command.