SDLT on Tru64 v5.1a

[Phil Pollard]

Hi All,

I'm running a DS20 with HSG80 controllers. We added some new drives and all was well. To cope with the new capacity we bought an SDLT320 and attached it to the DS20. All seemed OK (after adding in the entries into /etc/ddr.dbase adn compiling). The backup did about 5Gb and then failed. No matter how much I try, after a certain amount of time the backup always fails.
Are there any patches I need to add ? We are wunning v5.1a rev 1885 unpatched. If I patch do I need to ungrade the HSG80 firmware (indeed CAN you upgrade the firmware anymore ?).

Thanks in advance

[Mark Poeschl_2]

I don't know of any specific issues with unpatched 5.1A that would cause this kind of problem, but unpatched 5.1A is WAY out of date. You should definitely install aggregate patch kit #6.

Are there any errors in the binary error log that point to a cause?

It's unlikely that this is due to any HSG80 firmware issue, but yes you can still buy upgrades to HSG80 firmware. Version 8.8 was released fairly recently.

It's possible that you have a tape drive firmware issue. What firmware revision does your tape drive show in the output of the 'scu show edt' command? The most current version shows up as '5555' in this output.

Having said all that, the SDLT320 is not listed in the Supported Options table for the DS20, so you may be out of luck. This table can be found at:

http://h18002.www1.hp.com/alphaserver/options/asds20/asds20_options.html

[Vladimir Fabecic]

I installed SDLT on DS20 half a year ago (with adding in the entries into /etc/ddr.dbase adn compiling). OS was even older (v5.0a). It is working fine.
What backup method are you using (vdump, dump, tar, cpio..)? Try other method for testing. Do you have local disk? Try to backup local disk for test. Patching should be done if possible.
And, are there any entries in errorlog?

[Alexey Borchev · Accepted solution]

Can you try usual methods of troubleshooting - changing tape, try to attach the drive to another server, try another drive?

there is
/usr/field/tapex
- tape exersiser, which have an option to fill the tape to an end.

I had a tape drive falut which looks similar, but it was havy used drive which become whorn out in a couple of years.

[Joseph P. Smith]

In the recent past I have searched HP sites(Golden Eggs, Quick Specs, etc.) for an HP supported configuration for a DS20 and SDLT. I did not find one, which is not to say it is not supported.

Also, I understand that others may done this, but, your situation may be indicative of the lack of support for this configuration. i.e. you may be trying to rollerskate in a buffalo herd (with thanks to Roger Miller).

If there is documentation/support for this configuration, I would welcome a pointer to it.

[Phil Pollard]

Thanks for all the replies. I guess I'm going to have to go onsite and have a "play" out of hours (the machine is on a remote site).

Some more info...

I have tried attaching the drive to an Alpha 1000 with even less success. This being the backup machine for the DS20E. There is a current DLT tape drive attached which is working fine. The SDLT is to replace it. The backups are done using the dump command. I don't have the /usr/field/tapex program on or machines, do you where I can get it?
Yes we have tried several brand new SDLT tapes each with the same results.

The only uerf error messages I can find now regard "RODIRECT" errors for the drive. I admit to not knowing what these mean.

Thanks again, and I'll let you know when I have more info (and hopefully a solution)

[Alexey Borchev]

I've experienced some problems with SDLT & AS1000A (500 Mhz ev5), but finally make it work.
Latest version of vrestore (copied from another system) done the dirty trick.

dump is not recommended. Vdump is recommended.

[Alexey Borchev]

/usr/filed/
utilities are on the boot CD, durig istallation they are named filed utilities and can be installed with setld command.

But I do not know exact procedure - let T64 guru help us.

And yes, vrestore was taken from 5.1b onto 5.1a system.

[Phil Pollard]

Alexey,

vdump may be recommended but when all the filesystems are ufs (no ADVFS of lfs) then it isn't too much use I'm afraid.

By now you may have gathered that this system has been dropped on me (I think I was the one out of the office that day). It is some years (at least 6) since I was a Tru64 administrator. However it is all coming back to me...albeit slowly.

If anyone has any other options for backup of ufs filesystems along the lines of dump then please let me know. TSM/Netbackup etc. are not an option here I'm afraid.

[Phil Pollard]

Well, I'm STILL having problems with this.

We have changed the drive by swapping one from a Sun machine so we know the drive works. However, tapex fails on two specific sets of test. First on the "random read/write" tests but fails completely on the "Command Timeout Testing".

Anyone any further ideas for me to try ?

TIA