Problem with StorageWorks Internal 72GB USB tape drive(C7438A)

[JasonDEde]

We have a new internal 72GB USB tape drive that doesn't appear to be working properly...

Its in a windows 2003 SBS server, fully uptodate..

The driver version is 1.6.0.0 (dated 11/1/2007)

The LTT is reporting failures on reading the tapes. I have tried another tape (both brand new) and have received similar errors on both tapes.

On the drive assessment test.

Read command failed at block 1066
Byte2 0x6 SenseCode 0x29 SenseQual 0x2

I get read failed on the verify when I use our backup software (backup exec 10d)

I find it unlikely that a brand new drive or 2 tapes are faulty... Anything I can check?

[Wei Jung]

Hello Jason,

First avail, this is the latest driver from HP for a DAT USB tape drive. You might try it.

ftp://ftp.hp.com/pub/softlib/software8/COL13533/co-47869-2/DATTapeDriverInstaller.zip

If you for sure want to use it on BackupExec, this are the latest one.
http://seer.entsupport.symantec.com/docs/285593.htm

According to Veritas compatibility matrix, DAT72 USB is supported.
http://ftp.support.veritas.com/pub/support/products/Backup_Exec_for_WindowsNT/281670.pdf

StorageWorks DAT 72 C7438A USB 2.0 4mm

Now make sure you got the Removable Storage Manager service disabled, that will be under services in Windows.

[Wei Jung]

Also acording to the sense key you wrote down

Sense Key 0x06 is: UNIT ATTENTION

Have you tried cleaning the tape drive?

[JasonDEde]

Thanks for the suggestions.

Obtained new drivers for backup exec. It didn't seem to solve the problem.

However, I think we tracked it down to the PCI card (we used a USB2 card) to get an internal USB socket. When we connected the device directly to the USB socket on the back (direct onto motherboard) all seemed to be ok and it has been running happily since last week.

[Wei Jung]

Excellent, nice to know it working.

That was a good catch Jason,
let me remind you that the USB ports in the front of the servers or workstation or the ones from PCI cards, does not provide the same amount of power as the back ports of the machine.
So whenever you are connecting a mass storage device or any device that will demand a high transfer rate or resources such as the tape drive, always prefer the ports directly from the motherboard rather than the ports coming out from the front of the server or any card, those are intended to deliver connectivity only to slow devices or low power consumption devices.

Now, that does not mean that your USB 2.0 card is defective, it just not have the same capacity as the built in ports, it's like comparing RAM memory to cache