Restores not working - need help ASAP

[Chip Wiegand_1]

We have a StorageWorks vs80 1/8 autoloader. When we are trying to restore two directories (about 1 gig total), using backup exec 9, the job shows running, 15 minutes later the screen still shows its running, but the vs80 display says 'tape stopped'.

Why does the display down tape stopped? The restore job never completes, or reads any data at all.

Thanks

[David Ruska]

My first guess would be some kind of communucation error between the host and the autoloader, and commands are getting hung on the SCSI bus.

[Chip Wiegand_1]

Any suggestions for a fix? Or how to deal with this problem. We are currently rebooting both the server and the autoloader.

[Uwe Zessin]

Chip,
it sounds like you are running on Windows. Have you already checked the event log?

For hardware diagnostic you might take a look at HP's Library and Tape Tools (L&TT):

http://h18000.www1.hp.com/products/storageworks/ltt/index.html

I wish you success. Stay calm and make notes of everything that you have tried.

[David Ruska]

I would check to make sure all SCSI connections are tight. I assume nothing had been changed or touched when the problem started happening. Is that correct?

Another possiblity I thought of is a bugcheck in the VS80 drive. This is basically a firmware "panic", and it does not complete the host's pending command and will eventually end with a timeout.

If you can install HP Library & Tape Tools (www.hp.com/support/tapetools) you can collect a support ticket for the autolaoder and drive, and we can look at the error logs. It would be good to also see if the firmware needs updating, as there are often fixes for bugchecks.

Lastly, you could look in your windows system event log for any timeouts, controller errors, etc.