Arcserve 9 Drops Tape Drive but not Autoloader

[rrowland]

I am currently setup with the following scenario:

Exabyte EZ17 Autoloader w/ Mammoth 2 tape drive
IBM 2108 Model R03 Storage Gateway Router

which connects the EZ17 to the IBM FastT700 Storage Area Network.

The problem is that when I am in Arcserve, I can backup fine until I try to mount a set of tapes. Once the mount is complete, the tapes are listed in the device screen as "updating".

If I go to the Windows 2000 Device manager, the Mammoth 2 is missing and the Autoloader is still there. If I run Device Configuration I only see the Autoloader.

I had to reboot everything about 4 times before the tape drive showed backup.

Does anyone have any idea why the drive unit is disappearing?

Thanks,

RLR

 

[Haltech]

Make sure the firmware version for both tape and autoloader is at or above ca's certified list. Once you verify that both are up to snuff...make sure that your device manager in the advanced properties that you remove bar code reader option..if you are not using a barcode reader for tapes. I experienced a very similar problem and even the techs at CA were stumped, but having the reader option on by default proved to be my problem. I have an exabyte 110L autoloader with an IBM Ultrium tape drive. Perhaps one of my suggestions will put you in the right direction to solving your issue. Regards!!

 

[TudorP]

There may be many reasons why you are seeing this behavior. I would start by disabling the RSM (removable storage manager) in W2K. Then you need to make sure that the Windows server consistently sees your hardware. If Windows does not see the drive, neither will ARCserve. Rebooting 4 times to get the drive showing is a serious problem. Where does the drive show up in the Windows Device Manager? Is it an UNKNOWN device or does it load a driver for it?
If you still cannot see the drive consistently, you need to look into your bridge and / or SCSI cabling. Make sure the device is terminated, no bent pins etc. I could go on and on - let me know if you still have this problem after you look at the items above.
TP