Dell Powervault 110T SCSI Issues...

[jcraig49]

I've got a Dell 6300 Poweredge Server that I use to run a Qauntum ATL P1000 tape robot with. The robot died on me (its for sale BTW..cheap) and since our backup needs have significantly decreased, I replaced it with a Dell External Powervault 110T (single tape drive) I bought off of Ebay. The unit was guaranteed and it does the POST just fine. I just can't get the server to find it, even when I reload the veritas software that has the drivers for it. I'm thinking this is a SCSI issue as my knowledge is limited in that area. I've got 2 SCSI cards on the back of the server and each one was connected to a cable that was connected to my old tape robot. I simply unplugged the cables and then reconnected them to the new 110T as it has to SCSI connections in the back as well. I knew that seemed too easy. To my knoweledge, aside from the harddrives, this is the only SCSI device on the server. Do I even need both cables? I've followed these steps

http://www.support.dell.com/support/edocs/storage/dlt1/ug/en/trouble.htm

but I must still be missing something.

Thanks,
Craig

 

[onefortheroad]

if you can't see it at all it could be one of several things:
as a standalone drive, is the termination on powre set on the drive? also the scsi id.
if this is on a solaris box have you done a reconfigure reboot? the st.conf would also need updating to see the SDLT drive.
also check the scsi type to make sure it's compatible with your HBA LVD/SE with LVD/SE HVD with HVD.

what's the issue with the P1000?

 

[jcraig49]

Thanks for your reply Onefortheroad,

I'm actually running just one cable now to the standalone and have installed a terminator. The SCSI ID is unique to my knowledge. When I cntl'a on bootup all I see is the SCSI ID of the controller (I think). The server is a Win2k box. One thing I haven't thought about is a SCSI incompatibility. There is a label on the standalone that says LVD/SE. The label on my SCSI card in my server (and the tape robot) says SCSI Diff???

I'm not sure what happened with the P1000. It has relatively low usage time but the drives just started "not responding" one by one. Only one drive has actually failed according to the bit lights on it.

Thanks,
Craig

 

[onefortheroad]

Hi Craig,

there lies the problem, the P1000 was only Diff (HVD) or Single Ended. If yours was a Diff library it'll be HVD as will the card that attached to it, you'll need to get a LVD/SE card for the standalone drive (adaptec 39160 works well).
if you are in the UK drop me a mail and I'll see if I can take the P1000 off your hands.

regards

Paul

 

[jcraig49]

Hi Paul,

I went ahead and picked up an Adaptec 39160 SCSI card. I noticed that it has 2 smaller SCSI plugs on the end of it than my DIFF bus. I'm guessing I need to get 2 new cables because the 2 I already have are to big on one end for this SCSI bus? Also, do I need to run (1) or (2) cables? Unfortunately I'm Dallas,TX so getting the P1000 to the UK could be a problem.

Thanks,
Craig

 

[timwah]

Craig,
You need to purchase only one cable, But you'll also need to get an LVD terminator for the drive.

Regards,
Tim

 

[jcraig49]

Thanks Tim,

I was able to round up a cable so I'm good there. I pulled a terminator off of the old P1000. I'm still having problems though. Is there a difference between a Diff/HVD and an LVD terminator?

Thanks again,
Craig

 

[jcraig49]

Ok. I was using the wrong terminator and I've now got the tape drive talking to the server.

New problem:

When I insert a DLT IV tape into the drive, it spits it back out in about 1 or 2 minutes and gives me an unknown hard error. Its done this with 4 tapes. What to do now?

Thanks,
Craig

 

[SC24]

Hello Craig, How did you solve the problem with the 39160 scsi controller with (2)small connectors and the tape drive's scsi cable having the large connector? I just ran into the same problem with a new Poweredge 1800 server that came with the 39160 scsi card installed. I need to connect my external SDLT tape to it which has the cable with large LVD/SE connector.

Thanks
Sc24

 

[timwah]

Craig,
SDLT drives use different tapes...Purchase new tapes.