Faulty LTO-7 tape drives

[MidasMedia]

I just wanted to let you know about our nightmare experience with HPE and LTO tape drive failures.

We are a television production company producing documentaries primarily for the BBC in the UK.

In 2016 we invested in a HPE StoreEver LTO-7 Ultrium 15000 Tape Drive to use for backing up our finished documentary projects.

This unit was very lifghtly used, copying less than 100 tapes over a three year period.

In 2019 the drive failed.

On starting, the drive showed two flashing amber lights which indicated the drive had failed the Power-ON Self Test (POST).

HPE refused to fix or replace the unit.

We approached Tolis, the company behind BRU PE LTO tape backup software which we were using with the drive.

They got us to run HP StorageWorks Library and Tape Tools (L&TT) diagnostic software.

The diagnostic results were interesting and we shared these with Tolis who were world authorities on LTO Technology and wrote the support layer for HPE.

This was their response: 

The write error of -27% indicates specifically that the write head has failed - I've never seen one that was that bad when the read head was so good (those are almost factory new numbers of 99.53%).

After several months and with the support and help of Tolis, HPE finally replaced the faulty unit.

Now this replacement has failed in exactly the same way as the previous drive. On starting, the drive shows two flashing amber lights which indicates the drive had failed the Power-ON Self Test (POST).

HPE are refusing to help us in any way, saying that replacement unit came with no manufacturers warrantly.

This replacement unit copied less than 30 tapes before it failed.

These are very expensive units that are promoted as highly reliable storage solutions but for us this has been far from the case.

It now looks like we may need to resort to legal action against HPE in an effort to have this defective drive replaced.

We are very very frutrated with HPE's extremely poor customer care and unreliable technology.

[MidasMedia]

Can anyone provide me with a UK LTO contact person to speak to about this issue?

So far I've spoken to multiple technical support people in various global locations and I'm going round and round in circles.

Not one has even suggested running diagnostic tools on this failed drive to actualy see what is wrong which really amazes me.

All HPE want to do is put obstacles in front of me and their customer support is the worst I've experienced in 25 years of working in the broadcast media industry.

Scott

[Sunitha_Mod]

Hello @MidasMedia,

We regret any inconvenience you may have encountered. We request you please take a moment to reply to the private message we've sent and provide the requested information. This will enable us to address your concerns with the relevant team.

[shibum]

Hello,

In a customer site HPE Autoloader 1/8 G2 with LTO7 drive there. From 2021 to 2023 October there were no issues. Then with similar symtoms drive started failing. Drive Broken code F3 50. Multiple times drives replaced. When having issues we cannot put a cleaning tape also inside the drive. Last two days again same issues. Submitted all logs. Now HPE team says with LTO 7 drives self-test with open reader is a common error and so far no solutions. lab is working for a solution. Understanding is LTO7 is an model and if lab unable to solve the issue better to discontinue the model and provide higher model as replacement. Backup is very importanant and most of the days its not happenign since drive is broken. Regards,

[Sunitha_Mod]

Hi shibum,

We regret the inconvenience caused. Please take a moment to reply to the private message we've sent and provide the requested information for further assistance. 

[MidasMedia]

All I can do is wish you luck. Our experience with HPE has been truly awful, they are not interested and have refused to accept any libaility for our faulty LTO 7 unit which failed after only very light use.

To add insult to injury, this unit was a replacement for another LTO 7 drive that also failed.

At this stage, unless HPE are willing to address these issues, we're likely to be forced to take legal action against them.

Best wishes,

Scott

[nings]

I also have a problem with the servo tracking on the LTO7 drive and I don't know what to do.

I think that with some tape, the head moves a little and loses its calibration. The tape doesn't have enough pressure and starts to move along the head, which causes these reading or writing problems/errors.

[shibum]

Last update from HPE support was their Lab is doing research on this. But strange is that this is an old model and last many years they know about the issue and still doing research. HPE has given the replacement since the unit is under carepack but everytime new unit someone need to reconfigure in Backup solution. Most of the days backup is failing due to this issue.

We know that tapes are getting in gray market. It looks like orginal tapes. But this customer is buying tapes from from HPE authorized shop.

[nings]

Yes LTO-7 isn't so recent device/technology. We are soon at LTO-10.
There is a way for solve this issue without going through HPE support or even have a care pack ?
LTO-8 and 9 have same type of issues or it's only LTO-7 but shouldn't have so much difference ?

I not even know if I can have any support if you take this technology as second hand for learning purpose. I can do 2 full backup or even less like it's not in production and since the tape drive isn't working anymore due to this issue. All tapes come from official reseller.

[MidasMedia]

Into a brand new year and still NO resolution on our HPE LTO drive nightmare.

Two drives failing after less than 100 hours use is simply not acceptable.

We're giving HPE one final opportunity to repair or replace the drive before starting legal proceedings.

This product is simply unreliable and not fit for purpose.

Scott

[Sunitha_Mod]

@MidasMedia 

Hello Scott, 

Could you please share the case number, so that we can direct it to the right team? 

[MidasMedia]

We've had so many case numbers and this has dragged on for so long, It seems futile.

First drive failed after less than 100 hour use as did the second unit BUT this is marketed by HPE as the most robust backup solution available.

HPE hide behind the warranty period BUT the customer focussed way should be to look fairly and logically at complaints. In this case something is very clearly not right. 

I've e-mailed Laura Loredo, worldwide product manager for LTO tape solutions but based on my experience so far, I don't see HPE willingly doing anything to assist us and that we will have no other option than to take legal action.

Best wishes,

Scott