Tape Drive Failures

[Ayman Altounji]

I am a consultant and my client has a brand new Proliant ML330 with internal Compaq 20/40GB DDS4 DAT Drive. The OS is Small Business Server 4.5 (which uses NT 4.0 SP6a).

The DAT drive is the only device on the Server Feature board SCSI Contoller and is SCSI ID 6. (Hard disks on separate Compaq 431 SmartArray Controller.) All BIOS and applications see the tape drive. System BIOS is the latest as of 10/31/00.

Since the beginning, whenever a backup is attempted we receive hardware failure notifications. Event Viewer shows "controller error" or "parity error" on cpq32fs2. Here comes the fun part...

With the help of Compaq Tech Support, we have now had 3 different tape drives, 2 different server feature boards, 4 different cables, 3 different tape device drivers (including non-Compaq drivers), 3 different revisions of SSD, and tried NT Backup, Veritas Backup Exec v8.0, and UltraBac. Oh yes, and Compaq's TSCM reports that every one of these drives fails with "SENSE KEY NOT READY" errors, but no one that I have talked with at Compaq knows what that means. In fact, most of them don't know what the TSCM is!!

Tape Options ROM diskettes don't see any "updateable" devices. And, the attempt to run system diagnostics doesn't see any SCSI devices at all.

I have spent well over 10 hours on the phone with Compaq Tech Support and bless their hearts for trying, but....

Does this drive actually work for anyone?

Is this drive really compatible with the Proliant ML330? (It's on the ML-330 Options list.)

Does anyone know what the correct driver for this tape drive is?

This seems like a firmware, driver, or hardware incompatibility issue to me. But, I have yet to find someone who can find a solution for me.

Any help, comments, or suggestions would be appreciated...

[Ayman Altounji]

Should work - has worked... Are you using this driver kit?

DLT and Autoloader Drivers for NT 4.0

"Sense Key" is simply part of the SCSI Sense code system... you have to have the Sense Key and the code itself. Sounds like this one isn't getting that far for some reason. Try that driver kit first and let me know.

[Ayman Altounji]

We too are experiencing difficulties with the same sort of senario. The drive is not seen in diags, this is a ML 330. All bios revisions are up to date, drive has been swapped but the same situation exsists.

The drive was tried in a ML 350, seen in diags but failing on the tape erase, error message to the effect of drive timing out. The same drive was then installed in a proliant 1600. It was seen in post and also diags. what's more it has past all diagnostics.

The operating system on the ML 330 is Netware, but at this stage I don't feel this is relevant as there seems to be some sort of hardware issue.

Any information on this matter would be greatly appreciated.

David Allan

[Ayman Altounji]

I've been having the same sort of problems with this tape drive and server. I'm running Backup Exec and Netware 5.1 Small Business Edition. I keep getting timeout errors. Please reply.

[Ayman Altounji]

After a long time on customer support, a representative of Compaq told us that the SCSI controller that comes with ML330s and ML350s won't work with tape drives, even the 20/40GB DAT, because the bus speed can't be slowed down. So the only answer is to get a new controller. but if that guy was wrong, please, someone from Compaq, please correct us... we're not looking forward to getting a new SCSI adapter.

[Ayman Altounji]

I have the same problems with the 20/40 Dat autoloader. It's installed in a ML-370 and connected to the onboard SCSI adapter. There is a Raid controller installed from Compaq seperately. The Problems were excessive with ArcserveIT and even with Backup Exec 8.5 heavy problems. The thing has been replaced by a Compaq technician (who never saw the tape drive before) and all the cables were checked and double checked. I'd like to know what the solution is because i'm very close to replacing the thing for another brand. Compaq NL never heard of the CPQ32FS2 events. Techn info: ML-370 (256Mb), SSD 2.20a, latest dat autol. drivers, smartstart 4.80, Dat firmware 5.02, the COMPAQ 20/40GB DAT 8 AL connected to onboard SCSI (only device!!! on this SCSI bus), Smart Array 431 controller firmware 1.02. Software: NT40, SP6a, BE8.5.

[Ayman Altounji]

We have the same Problems on 16 PLT 5500R with internal 20/40 GB Autoloader
and Veritas Backup 7.3.
There is a Tape that stucks in the drive and the only way to get it free is to power
the server off. TSCM reports drive not ready and the driver cpq32fs2 - SCSI Timeout. We have tried the newest Bios, NTSSD and Veritas Patches.
We have also 2 drives that never Failed. The first one is an external on a PLT400
and the second one internal on a PLT1200. The same SSD, driver and Veritas Version, but another SymbiosLogic Chip (?) and another SCSI Cable (Terminator).

[Ayman Altounji]

I also have an ML330 (NT4 SP6), and the driver download that : Ron G from Compaq suggested earlier, doesn?t work... Help me I need my backup drive! :-)

[Ayman Altounji]

Ok this is an old topic so I am hoping that a solution has been found. I have a similar problem with the same drive (20/40 GB) on a ML370 server. so far I have no contacted tech support. I am running backupexec 8.0 and intermittently I will get an IO device error and the backup fails. I have tried the backup-exec drivers and Compaq drivers but receive the same message.

I have an identical server with an HP drive and have had no problems with that one, any suggestions greatly appreciated.

[Ayman Altounji]

I just got a call from Compaq and they're going to replace the drive 20/40 autoloader 8 DAT for the third time within 7 months now. The first time it was replaced it solved the famous cpq32fs2 event. Now with BackupExec 8.5 i got write errors and crc errors. The Compaq support desk advised me to clean the drive more often (after every backup, which takes 5hrs, instead of after 100hrs wich is what the manual says?????). So if you got errors while backupping just call Compaq and they're going to replace the thing immediately. Info: ML370, 20/40 DAT autoloader, latest drivers packs etc. and brand new Sony DDS3 tapes.