Autoloader C1557A LCD-Message -drive comms error-

[CA896613]

Hello there,
since one Week, my Autoloader has Problems
to communicate with the drive. Its not longer been found as C1557A on LUN 0 ab LUN 1, it is
only found as a C1537A. On 29th of Dec. it hung
up on the SCSI-Bus. I made a Reset on my Server
and then it was only found as a C1537A. I think
it is a Firmware-Problem, but I don??t know how to fit !
Can anybody help me ? ? ?
The Drive has the Model No.: C1557A-00174
The Manufacturing Date is WWYY: 3300
It has the Revision : 3912

Thank You !

[Eugeny Brychkov · Accepted solution]

Marco,
generate LTT support ticket http://www.hp.com/cposupport/information_storage/support_doc/lpg50128.html and attach to your next reply
Eugeny

[CA896613]

Hello Eugeny,

I took the drive on my Test-PC and installed
the LTT, it is recognized under the LTT as
an C1537A. I saved the ticket as you wanted.
Here it is !

Thank You !

Marco

[CA896613]

Sorry Eugeny, that the Version of the LTT
is 2.7 but it is in German and I had
installed it last Week !

thanks !

Marco

[Barrie_Evans]

Hello Marco,

The LTT Support Ticket that you attached shows the device (as you correctly stated) to be a C1537A, which is the standalone version of the C1557A. The reason that the C1537A is being reported, is that the firmware revision that has been found on the drive is the correct version for the C1537A (i.e. L708, 2.83).

It should not be possible to load this version of firmware onto a C1557A, as there are special factory versions of firmware that must be used to change between the 2 product types!!

Have you performed a firmware upgrade recently? or changed the drive that is embedded in the Autoloader?

The reason for the LCD reporting the Drive Comms Error, is that the drive believes it is a standalone drive, and does not try to establish any communications with the Autoloader, and on power-up the Autoloader waits for approx. 1 minute for the drive to start communicating before it gives up and reports the Drive Comms Error message.

How long have you been using the drive as a C1557A?

cheers,
Barrie Evans

[CA896613]

Hello Eugeny,

sorry about the points !
I??m new here and didn??t
know what they mean !
Please help me, i think
it is a problem an adition
to the error-log of the drive
and the Firmware !

Should i write the Question
again ?

Marco

[CA896613]

Hello Berrie,
the drive that i have is from
a HP Server! It was a customer of us but they closed. So we became it back.
I buyed the drive as used and for private use. I have it now since oktober 2000 and
it worked always wonderful.
I used it with Veritas BE 8.6
under a Win2000 Server and
did not made a Firmware upgrade. Maybe, the LTT made
it directly from the internet and it went wrong, but i dont know. I sometimes
check my 2 Drives on communication errors with the LTT. I??ve also an C1536A
in my Server.

Marco

[Barrie_Evans]

Marco,

Do you have any LTT Support Tickets for this drive from a previous time? I would particularly like to see the firmware version that was being reported from a time when the Autoloader was operating correctly...

It may be worth checking if LTT can perform a firmware upgrade to get the drive back to a suitable firmware revision (e.g. U812), but I suspect that LTT will not allow it, as they would be seen as incompatible products.

cheers,
Barrie

[CA896613]

Hello Berrie,

i don??t have a support ticket from the time before the error but i can tell you, that the firmware was not the latest one. I??ve never
changed, because the drive worked wonderfull.
I think: never touch a running system. So i did not change.

A question: May I override the firmware of
this now called C1537A ?

Marco

[Barrie_Evans]

Marco,

I would suggest trying to override the firmware using LTT (there is an upgrade firmware facility built in), and upgrade it to U812. LTT may not let you perform the upgrade, as the products are different - but it would be worth a try.

Please try this and let me know how you get on. I will think about an alternative fix as well (just in case).

cheers,
Barrie

[CA896613]

Hello Berrie,

i??ll try at home, now i??m at work.
So i write another reply at 6:30 pm !

Marco

[Eugeny Brychkov]

Be cautious playing with firmware! Your autoloader may die complemely.
I would recommend you to go to SCSI card bios setup utility and check if it has LUN support turned on. Drive is wired to have LUN 0 (which you see now) but robot is wired to have LUN 1 (which you do not see now). If LUN support is not turned on in SCSI card then you will not be able to see LUNs other than 0
Eugeny

[CA896613]

Hello Eugeny,

Multiple Lun - Support is turned
on, i??m sure !
It already worked properly before !
I also tested the C1553A from my
Father and it also worked properly.
Only my C1557A is not anymore
found as itself.

Marco

[Barrie_Evans]

Eugeny,

The comment on being cautious with Firmware is a fair one. However, surely whether LUN support is turned on or off should not cause the drive to report a different version of firmware.

Also, the LUN support should not cause the drive to disable communication with the Autoloader (hence the Drive Comms Error).

The point about checking the SCSI card setup is still valid though, incase something went screwy during the reset.

The Autoloader is effectively 'dead' anyway at the moment, as it is not possible to load any cartridges into the drive when it is in Drive Comms Error mode, so trying the new firmware should not result in any worse a situation.

Best regards,
Barrie

[Eugeny Brychkov]

I state that after doing firmware load to C1537A drive with U812 firmware version your drive will die.
Latest firmware for C1537A is L111;
Latest firmware for autoloader is U812.
Please note that both devices, drive and autoloader has its own firmware. If you'll try to update autoloader with drive's firmware then it will die, and vice versa.
As soon as you have NO robot seen at LUN 1 you'll NOT be able to download firmware to it. L708 is correct firmware for drive C1537A, although it's not the latest.
You can open the box and check for dropped cables/bent pins/cut wires, but if you'll not find anything be sure autolaoder's electronics is dead and you can do nothing with it
So do not update drive C1537A with autoloader's firmware!
Eugeny

[Barrie_Evans]

I have questions for both Eugeny and Marco:

Marco,

You stated in your last message that you have tried your fathers drive (which you said was a C1537A) and it worked... but this is also a drive product number and not an Autoloader. Did you mean to say C1537A, or C1557A? If it was a C1537A then this would not have confirmed that LUN support was working, as only LUN 0 is needed.


Eugeny,

Attempting to download Autoloader firmware onto a drive (and vice versa) will NOT kill the drive. The drive is intelligent enough to recognise that the firmware variant is incompatible, and will reject the download.

The fact remains that the drive is reporting a drive version of firmware in the support ticket (how it got into that state is still a complete mystery), and that is the reason for the Drive Comms Error. Therefore, my recommendation of attempting the firmware download remains.

(Communication with the autoloader and drive from the firmware download point of view all happens via LUN0 anyway.)

cheers,
Barrie

[Eugeny Brychkov]

I would say 'LTT updater is intelligent enough not to download incorrect firmware'.
Drive is seen in LTT support ticket (LUN 0). Not robot (LUN 1). I would recommend to open box and check if all connections are in place. Something failed in the box, that's why robot can not see drive and host can not see robot
Eugeny

[CA896613]

Hello Berrie,

i??m yust quit early from work and tried
to update the firmware with LTT.
I renamed the downloaded firmware with
the correct filename of C1557A-firmware
the Program rejected.
It wanted to load the C1537A-firmware from
the internet. I also tried the U709 that
i had on a Floppy for DOS-usage, but the
drive rejected.
The drive of my father is also a loader
but a C1553A, i tried it in my server and
it worked properly. It was found on
Lun 0 and Lun 1.

Marco

[Eugeny Brychkov]

C1553A is DDS2 autoloader, but C1557A is DDS3 autoloader. You will not be able to cheat with LTT because .frm file contains device inquiry string (in its header). If it does not match actual device's inquiry string then LTT will not update firmware
**************** C1557A autoloader firmware file header **
??????????@(#)Data Hdr
A.02.00
A ??? ???@ ???N???
^S??J???B????? ???
HP C1557A
U812
?????&7 ???

0 ??? ???
6v??????
??? ?? ??U812
**************** C1537A drive's firmware file header **
??????????@(#)Data Hdr
A.02.00
A ??? ???@ ????????
*)o?????8??@ ???
HP C1537A
L005
?????&7

0 ?? ??? ???
9????????
??? ?? ??L005
****************************
Eugeny

[CA896613]

Hi Eugeny,

if i take the C1537A header information into
the .frm - file of the C1557A and rename
the C1557 - .frm into update-file for C1537A,
what would happen ?

Marco

[CA896613]

Hello Eugeny,

i??ve tried, what i thought, taking the header
of the C1537A and the rest of the FW from the
C1557A - .frm !
The LTT did the Update, but after the Reboot,
the drive was still found as a C1537A,
now L111 !
What else can i try ?
I??ve checked the drive, all cables are ok
and properly mounted, no pin is broken !

Marco

[Eugeny Brychkov]

See http://www.hp.com/cposupport/information_storage/support_doc/lpg50043.html . It states "Power cycle the unit and try again. If the problem persists, call for service. Also, ensure that the power cables are fitted correctly". I have nothing to add, unfortunately :o(
If you have HP support then call HP. If not, you can manage by yourself: if you'll find another autoloader (not that which is working) you can replace autoloader mech/PCA.
For now consider autloader as dead
Eugeny
PS. check autoloader option at the rear to be '7'

[CA896613]

Hello Eugeny,

sorry if i annoyed you !

Do i have a chance to upload the correct
firmware, when i enable the factory override ?
Can you give me the password to try ?
If not, can you tell me how much it
costs, if i want the drive to be repaired
at HP ?

Marco

[Eugeny Brychkov]

Absolutely no problem.
To know how much you should call your local HP office. Look at http://www.hewlett-packard.de/contact_us.html .
These 2 devices - drive and autoloader - are 2 physical separate devices, connected with communication bus. In your case host can see first device (drive), but can not see second device (robot). Second device can not see first device. So it points us to broken communication between first and second device (as autoloader states on the LCD screen). If you do not see problem when opened box (cut wires, burned chips, etc) then the problem somewhere in the circuity, and you'll not be able locate it (easily).
You can download firmware to device which is seen on SCSI bus. So you can download firmware to drive, but not to autoloader
Eugeny

[Barrie_Evans]

Eugeny, Marco,

Sorry I have not been involved in the last few discussions, but I had to leave work at 3:30pm yesterday.

Firstly, I would like to clarify the reason that I have been making the statements that I made yesterday (honestly, my intention was not to cause confusion, but to help as much as possible) - I am the HP Product Design Engineer who developed the DDS3 Autoloader, and designed and developed the DDS4 Autoloader. Many of the Autoloader support documents that you will find on the website, are documents that I created during my time on the Autoloader Products (I am now working on the Gen1 LTO Products).

The information that has been supplied by Marco clearly shows the following:

** The DDS3 Autoloader that has been working correctly in the past has somehow been updated with an incorrect version of firmware that has resulted in the drive now being configured as a DDS3 standalone drive (this is something that I have never seen before). **

This is the reason for the Autoloader reporting a Drive Comms Error (because a standalone drive does not expect to be connected to an Autoloader mechanism and will therefore never establish communications with the Autoloader).

There is no reason to suspect the Electronics in this case (however, if the correct was loaded onto the drive, and the it still reported the Drive Comms Error - then it would be time to suspect an electrical fault).

The fix for this particular occurrence of the problem is to use the factory transition firmware to convert the drive back to an Autoloader. However, this will require the Autoloader to be sent back for repair.

I hope this helps to clarify why the problem has occurred. Please feel free to post any further questions about this issue, and I will try to help out aas much as possible.

Best regards,
Barrie Evans