1/8 Ultrium 960 Auto Loader Problem

[Rick Grace]

I have a 1/8 Ultrium 960 Auto Loader. I had a tape jam, somewhat sideways, while going back into it's slot in the autoloader.

I took off the cover & removed the jammed tape. I tested the device & all slots load & unload properly into the tape unit.

The problem I am having is that any write access now is giving me the following error

Cannot write to device ([1117] The request could not be performed because of an I/O device error. )

Is my tape unit toast or is there something else that got to be reset? I think I still have some warranty on it

thanks

[Marino Meloni_1]

is it SCSI connected? so during boot process, you can see the banner of the HBA and then the devices discovered on the SCSI bus.

if they are not seen, double check cabling, and terminators for bent/damaged pins, or loose connections

[rgrace]

I tried replying but could not get anywhere. Somehow my user name & password wouldn't let me in anymore. Had to re-register and use a different Forum name

I tried the 2nd cable that came with the Ultrium 960. It worked for a week or so but has not worked in the last 2 weeks.

When you are using Data Protector the tapes appear to load into tape unit but that is as far as it gets. All that shows up on the LED screen on the autoloader is the slot # flashing and the Device Ready message. It will not do any more than that. You cannot access the tape unit and end up rebooting the server & shutting off the tape unit.

[Marino Meloni_1]

HP have a tool called HP StorageWorks LIbrary And TapeTool (LTT) that can help you for diagnose the problem.
install it in your server and run various tests, you can also collect the "Support Ticket" and attach here, we will have a look.

marino

[rgrace]

I have tried this with limited success

It would read the device info (very slow, took 10 minutes or so)

When I tried to run any tests or retrieve the device info again, it would end up with typical windows "Not Responding" in the title bar of the window after 15-20 minutes

I would have to power down the 960 & the server.

I tried this several times

I did notice that once or twice when the server (Proliant 360) rebooted that the SCSI ID's did not appear for the autoloader & tape unit on the boot up screen despite the tape unit being powered on before turning on the server

After 1.5 hrs I gave up for the day

[Marino Meloni_1]

It may be the drive has been damaged during the tape jam, or it may be the drive think the tape is still inside and is trying to clear up the situation, and not finishing initialization.
If the unit is still on warranty, I would suggest to open a call with HP at this point

marino

[rgrace]

I got the replacement unit but still cannot get my backups to work.

I can do a scan in Data Protector and the tapes scan and I can do a format of a tape but my backups willl not work.

I have 3 backups that occur in the following order
1) SQL - 12am
2) Data - 1am
3) IDB - 10am



When my SQL attempts to run the following message appears

[Normal] From: OB2BAR_master_0@dist7fs01.gasha.nshealth.ca "(DEFAULT)" Time: 11/17/2008 12:12:23 AM
Starting OB2BAR Backup: dist7fs01.gasha.nshealth.ca:/(DEFAULT)/master/0 "MSSQL"

[Critical] From: OB2BAR_master_0@dist7fs01.gasha.nshealth.ca "(DEFAULT)" Time: 11/17/2008 12:14:28 AM
Received ABORT request from SM => aborting.

[Critical] From: OB2BAR_master_0@dist7fs01.gasha.nshealth.ca "(DEFAULT)" Time: 11/17/2008 12:14:29 AM
Virtual Device Interface reported error:
The object was not open.



No other backups will run afterwards


Is there something tied to the S/N of the tape unit or something that I'm not seeing to make this work

thanks

[rgrace]

The end result was a problem with the SCSI Terminator. HP replaced it and that resolved the problems