Ultrium 448 & ArcServe r11.1 "Unable to position media" error

[Kelvin Chen]

Hi,

Having a hard time on getting the HP Ultrium 448 and IBM X346 server to work together. The IBM is run Win2003. From ArcServe, i can erase and format the media without problem, but when i try to backup, it will fail immediately with the error "3855 Unable to postion media (MEDIA=name, EC=CONTROLLER_FAILURE)"

I've tested with the LTT software, it fails most of the test, except Device self test. It also failed to update the firmware from LTT. I've attached a support ticket for reference. I tried puting the same tape drive and cable to another HP server, and everything works fine. I updated the firmware from HP server to the latest S24D.

The tape drive is controlled by the IBM ServeRAID 7K controller, and i can't make/move it under the planner SCSI. I've updated the firmware on the controller, updated the BIOS, updated the drivers, also upgrade the ArcServer r11.1 service pack 1, but backup still fail. I disabled the "Removable Storage" service under windows. I also tried to use NTBackup, but also failed.

Greatly appreciated if someone can take a look at the support ticket from LTT, and perhaps give me some pointers! Thanks in advance!

[Sameer_Nirmal]

Hi,
Take a look at this document and see if it help you to get rid of the issue.

http://www1.itrc.hp.com/service/cki/docDisplay.do?docLocale=en_US&docId=200000080896509

[Kelvin Chen]

Thanks for the feedback.

I don't think this KB will apply to the problem i have. I've already updated the latest updates on driver/firmware/BIOS. And the serveRAID is running SCSI U320. And i don't have Insight manager installed because it's an IBM server...

[Vincent Fleming]

Well, since it works when you move the drive to another server, then it's not the tape hardware...

The only thing it could be is the IBM server - particularly, I would guess it's the ServerRAID controller.

Since you tried updating the FW and drivers already, I would guess that it's just broken. Try a plain old SCSI card, or wait until IBM releases a patch.

Good luck,

Vince

[Basil Vizgin]

Did you updated the firmware on ServeRAID?
Revision history for ServeRAID firmware contains some tape issues.

[Basil Vizgin]

Sorry, missed that you already do this:(
Usually is not recommended to connect RAID controllers with tapes.

[Basil Vizgin]

As you can see at http://www.hp.com/products1/storage/compatibility/tapebackup/ThirdParty/index.html#IBM
IBM Embedded SCSI controller quialified only when spare non-RAID channel available.

[David Ruska]

From the test log you posted, the connectivity test is failing as follows:

"I/O: The I/O request was rejected by the OS".

This would imply an issue with the driver for the card, support for device on this card, or a conflict with another app/service also accessing the device. The device itself did not show any problems in the subset of information that was captured.

I'd recommend using a separate supported HBA, and not a raid controller.

[Kelvin Chen]

Thanks for all the feedback.

Basil, thanks for the link, it answers my question!

From the IBM server BIOS, the ServeRAID 7K take over the embedded SCSI controller, and there no option for me to change that. I guess my only option is to have a extra 64bit SCSI card to hookup the tape drive.