Surestore 40x6 newby problem

[Achilles Calenti]

I have an HP Surestore 40x6 tape drive and am running Retrospect 5.15 backup software Both are on a Win2K server box.
I set up a daily backup to backup the server and 6 clients. Eventually the first tape filled up and I was expecting the software
to just load in a second tape and continue backing up. However, it stops and says "Please select another tape, it will be
named 2-Daily backup set 1".
The device status box below that says there are no devices available so I can't choose anything. So I try to manually load a
tape. On the Surestore I try to select a tape and it says "SelectLock" so I can't change from one tape to the next. The only
way I can get it to work is by ejecting the cartridge and reinserting it. Then I can select a different tape and load it. The
software looks like it is going to recognize the tape but eventually the same message comes up about selecting another tape.
I just installed this Surestore and am new to Retrospect also. Any help would be appreciated. Thank you.

Cheech Calenti
Manager - Information Technology
KUAT Communication

[David Zielezna · Accepted solution]

While i have never used or seen retrospect, i have used autoloaders on various other backup packages. For an autoloader to function, the software needs to be aware of and able to use autoloader mechanisms. Without this awareness or capability, the backup software will believe your autoloader is just a standalone drive. Your problem could also be caused by the operating system not recognizing the autoloader mechanism.

Quite often you will find that backup software does not support autoloader mechanisms out of the box, and require you to purchase an add-on module to enable this support.

Windows 2000 Removable Storage Manager supports autoloaders, but for effective use of this feature you must also use the win2k RSM's tape drive drivers. If you are using drivers provided by retrospect, there is a good chance that win2k's RSM will not know what the tape drive is trying to do, and will therefore not change tapes for you.

All current HP DAT Autloaders should come bundled with software called Yosemite Tapeware. This bundled software is capable of using 6 slot autoloaders, which is exactly what you are trying to do.

Before you attempt to install a different backup application, I suggest you install the HP TapeTools (http://www.hp.com/cposupport/information_storage/software/ltt_27_eng.exe.html) which includes diagnostic functions, and will be able to verify the status of your drive and autoloader mechanism. If TapeTools says everything is perfectly OK, then I would be inclined to believe it is either your software, or operating system not seeing your autoloader.

[David Zielezna]

That link in my previous message is slightly wrong, there is a bracket in there for some reason. try this one

http://www.hp.com/cposupport/information_storage/software/ltt_27_eng.exe.html