MSL5000 with SDLT320 works locally but Backup Exec and L&TT cannot access the tape drive

[oldtrlrnr]

We are running Backup Exec 12.5 on a ProLiant DL380 with an HP MSL5000 library with a single Quantum SDLT320 tape drive.  This combo worked well for a long time, until the tape drive died, and we got a whole new (used) MSL5000 with same model tape drive.  We have not been able to get backups to work with this new HW.

When I try to run any job, backup or inventory, in Backup Exec, it fails, reporting, "e0008115 - physical volume library drive or robot paused, offline, or disabled".  When I stop all the BE services and run L&TT, it does see the library and the tape drive in the scan, but when I try to run a test on the drive, it reports, "Inquiry command failed getting page 0xCC / Sense Key 0x05, Sense Code 0x2400 (invalid field in CDB)".

But I am able to move media on the library by using its local console, so it seems there is nothing actually wrong with the library itself or the tape drive.  The problem seems to be in the library's status reporting.

Appreciate any advice.

Bob

[Mark Matthews]

Lets go back a few steps...

Is the cabling correct at the back of the library and into the HBA?

With one drive you'll need to cable like this;

HBA --> Drive Top --> Drive Bott --> Library Controller Bott, then a terminator on the top library controller port.

Are the library and drive seen on their respective SCSI IDs by your SCSI HBA when the server boots?

Are they seen ok in Windows device manager?

Do you have the latest driver loaded for both as well as your SCSI HBA?

Thanks,

Mark...

[Torsten.]

>> With one drive you'll need to cable like this;



>> HBA --> Drive Top --> Drive Bott --> Library Controller Bott, then a terminator on the top library controller port.


No.


cable like this:





HBA --> Lib Ctrl. --> Drive --> terminator.

The cabeling in the original guide was wrong.

If all backup services are stopped, you should be able to detect the library with LTT. Please try to get a support ticket from LTT.

[Mark Matthews]

Ahh, nice one Torsten.

I've never heard that before.

Learn something new every day! ;)

Thanks...

[Torsten.]

Found it again:

http://h20000.www2.hp.com/bizsupport/TechSupport/Document.jsp?lang=en&cc=us&taskId=110&prodSeriesId=316040&prodTypeId=12169&objectID=c00659626

[oldtrlrnr]

I think the cabling is correct - I will double-check it.

I haven't watched the SCSI devices register during booting of the HBA, but I will do this next chance I get.  I think they are OK though, as both the library and the tape drive show in Device Manager as working OK.

Recently I ran tapeinst.exe to update the drivers.  The tape drive has a Symantec driver from 2007; the library has a Microsoft driver from 2002.

I tried another inventory run today, from the Backup Exec Devices page.  It reported, "e000820b - Library error - device is busy" for every slot.  viewing the library slots in Devices, all but three of the tapes show as "Cleaning media", indicating that the drive was not able to read their labels.  Two of those three were used in the last successful backup run we got, on March 23rd.  Can't explain why it worked that day but hasn't since.

Appreciate all advice.

Regards,

Bob

[oldtrlrnr]

Did some cabling testing today, based on your suggestions.  Here's what I found:

1. Current cabling was basically as per Mark's suggestion, only diff was that cable from HBA went to drive bottom rather than drive top.  I changed it to exactly follow Mark's config - HBA --> Drive Top --> Drive Bottom --> Lib Ctrlr Bottom --> Terminator on Lib Ctrlr top socket. 

(Note: on booting up I noted that the SCSI HBA sees the library on ID 0 and the SDLT320 drive on SCSI ID 1.)

I stopped all the BE services and ran L&TT; tried a test run on the tape drive.  Result was same error messages as before: "Inquiry command failed getting page 0xCC Sense Key 0x05, Sense Code 0x2400 (Invalid field in CDB) / There must be a tape loaded prior to starting the test / Please load a test tape and restart the test".  Before starting this test, I had loaded a tape into the drive, from the library console. 

It appears that the library is not getting correct tape status from the drive.

2. I changed the cabling config to conform to 2nd suggestion, HBA --> Lib Ctrlr --> Drive --> Terminator on other drive socket.  Then I powered up the library & the server, and tried the L&TT tests again - same results.

No clue what else to try.

Bob

[Torsten.]

You could try with a single device on the bus to find out the guilty.

Example:

HBA -> drive -> terminator.

Does the server detect the device?

[oldtrlrnr]

Thanks, Torsten.  I will try that.

But the server has consistently detected the library and its drive, so I'm not optimistic there.

I'm reconsidering my comment on poor communication between the library and the drive.  At the library's console, I have been able to load & unload tapes from any slot, to & from the drive.  This demonstrates that the library is getting accurate tape status from the drive.  But L&TT gets errors when I try to run a test on the drive; thinks no tape is loaded, when I had loaded one from the library's console.

Bob

[Torsten.]

You have problems on the SCSI bus, the drives and library controller communicate over a different internal bus.

This could be a bad HBA, bad cable, bad terminator or even bad device.