Surestore Model 2/20 and a 64-Bit/133MHz PCI-X 2CH Ultra320 HBA

[Kevin Malone]

I have a new HP 64-Bit/133MHz PCI-X 2CH Ultra320 HBA in slot 5(non-hot plug) of a new Proliant ML530 G2 attached to an older HP Surestore Model 2/20. In the system log I receive an Event ID: 1192 (status 5 off-line) and then Event ID: 9 The device, \Device\Scsi\symmpi1, did not respond within the timeout period. The error repeats a couple of times and then connects to the device again with Event ID: 1192 (status 2 on-line). This happens intermittently. The backup software is BrightStor ARCserve Backup v9 for Windows. The backup fails intermittently. I have replaced the SCSI cable with P/N 341176-B21 and reseated the card in the slot. I am troubleshooting this problem to find out if this is a software issue or a hardware issue. The u320 PCI-X card specs backward compatibility. The tape library did not have any problems like this before. The firmware on the media changer is 1250 and the tape drive is 0233.

[Marino Meloni_1]

hi,
I'm not sure, but did you tryed to slow down the speed of the scsi bus?, I would suggest a 20 or 40 Mb/sec in the scsi bios of the HBA.
It may be that the data are gooing to fast to the tape drive, and the HBA driver expire the time out before the device came ready again.
Try also to run L&TT with read/write test, media validation test and connectivity test.

[Stuart Whitby]

I think the HBA you're using is wasted on this drive. For a start, if you're using anything else on that HBA, it's limited to the speed and bandwidth of the lowest common denominator, which I guess would be that drive.

My advice would be to pull a SCSI card from an old PC which is sitting under a desk somewhere waiting for someone to try resurrecting it (let's face it - we've all got them) and try that. This should resolve your issue and allow your Ultra320 card to fly on the rest of the devices and give you a working tape drive. Also, if you still see similar errors, then you've confirmed that it's not a compatability issue with your Ultra320 and that it's the drive which is now faulty.

[Kevin Malone]

The problem was resolved by HP with a replacement drive for the library. The L&TT diagnosed the problem. The drive was reporting many read errors and excessive cleanings. The SCSI error is gone, the HP Storage Agent is still reporting event id 1192. This does not cause any problem with the backup job.