Dell Powervault offline - help!

[GuardGuy]

I was doing a "long" erase on an SDLT tape today and decided to cancel it because I was running out of time. In doing so I locked up B.E. (Ver 8.60 Rev.3808) and had to stop services, etc. and eventually power cycle the Dell Powervault 110T SDLT 320 tape library. Now I can't get Backup Exec to bring the tape libray back online. The W2K application log shows nothing related to the problem I'm having and the logs from Backup Exec only show that I stopped & started services, etc. but really no error to speak of. Am I missing something here? Please help.

 

[packdragon]

Sometimes our Powervault likes to go offline too. I've been able to get it back by stopping Backup Exec services, power-cycling the autoloader, then restarting the services. Good luck!

- Zoe, that's ZOH-EEE, get it right please
- Just a little ol' MCP at Solien Technology
-

http://www.solien.com

 

[GuardGuy]

Thanks Zoe, I've tried that and usually that works, but this time it did not. I forgot to mention that I did see a SCSI card error earlier in the day before it went offline. It read Source: CIOArrayManagement EventID: 1 Description: scsi:LUN bad, ha index 0, device 1, LUN 0 I've received that error a few times before in the past, but it has never caused me any real problems before. It was an ignorable problem if memory serves me correctly. Also, I am am using an Adaptec AHA-2940U2/U2W PCI SCSI Controller hooked into my Dell PowerEdge 2650 (W2K Server, SP3). If there is any other info I can provide, let me know. I'm stumped as of this writing, but I'll eventually figure this out. When I do, I'll post it here for everyone's benefit -- but I'll take any and all suggestions in the meantime. Thanks!

 

[SQLBill]

Go to My Computer icon.
Right Click.
Select Properties.
Go to Hardware.
Select Device Manager.
Look to see if Tape Devices is in the list.
If not, reload the drivers for the device.
If so, expand it and right click on each tape device.
What's the driver show? Is it Veritas?

Either way, I suggest reloading the drivers.

-SQLBill

 

[flitcraft33]

OK, this is probably too obvious, but when I had this issue there was only one solution. Shut the server down cold, turn off the tape drive unit. Turn on the tape drive unit, count to 10 slowly (yes, slowly, even with the angry end users wondering why you are rebooting in the middle of the day). Turn on the server.

My Dell unit did this about every 90 days for no apparent reason, a SCSI error, and then a bit later goodnight. You might replace your scsi cable.

Dell tech support was not any help to me.

Dan Sichel
Ponderosa Telephone

 

[mquinn0908]

I had this exact same problem and after speaking with Veritas they walked me through updating to revision 3878. We did have to reinstall Backup Exec and make sure you copy all of your Backup Exec data because you will need them in order to get your job definitions and restore selections back (or you will have to recreate them). Once my version was updated then the tape came back on-line.

 

[GuardGuy]

Thanks to all who replied. I did do the obvious before I had a chance to read the above post and downed the server as well as power cycled the Powervault. That worked and it is now back online. I had to wait until the weekend to do it because it is our Exchange2K server.

However, this is not the first time this has happened and I think I will try the upgrade to build 3878 as well. Thanks for that suggestion. Maybe then I will stop having intermittent problems with it going offline for no reason.

Thanks!
GuardGuy