E1145 Media Write Errors

[rivang]

Referencing thread478-144801

On a brand new IBM eServer xSeries 236 Type 8841 with DDS Gen5 Tape Drive using DDS 5 DAT 72 tapes with an Adaptec 320 SCSI controller, when I run a backup job for two volumes or if I append the second volume to a tape in a second backup job, I am seeing the following error:

E1145 Media Write Error - Unit Attention

I have seen another error a few times along with this error that says the tape drive has lost power or been turned off during the backup operation.

When this occurs, the server has to be cold booted to remove the tape and re-enable the tape drive. It is occurring with every multiple volume backup job.

I am also experiencing the same problem with Symantec's BackupExec 9.2.

Any suggestions on how to resolve this issue would be appreciated.

It does appear that Symantec is aware of this problem though they don't offer much in the way of a fix.

From the readme.txt of Symantec BackupExec 9.2 for Netware...

Known Limitations of Backup Exec for NetWare Servers

If you are running Backup Exec for NetWare with an ASPI-compatible controller and the tape drive is powered off during an operation, you may need to DOWN your file server to restart Backup Exec. Most ASPI managers cannot correctly handle this problem and will cause the Backup Exec to appear to be "hung" while trying to complete an operation. The file server will continue to function properly, but you will need to DOWN the file server and reboot it in order to use Backup Exec again.

Thanks...

 

[vschumpy]

I am also experiencing the same problem with Symantec's BackupExec 9.2."

Suggests it isn't anything to do with any part of a backup application - it is either the aspi layer driver or a firmware issue.

The BE known limitation is just 'fluff' to be honest and could cover 1000 things.

I'm presuming this is a NetWare version of ARCserve running a host server installation, as you don't provide either the OS or ARCserve version details.

 

[rivang]

Yeah the NOS is Netware 5.1 and backup software is ArcServe v. 7 for Netware and Symantec BackupExec 9.2 for Netware.

 

[davidmichel]

problem at the SCSI bus level,

Is this sharing the bus with tape and disk?
In general RAID controllers are not a great choice for tape, but if it is being sharred forget about it.

general recommendations:
resete the cable and terminator
update the SCSI controller driver
configure the SCSI controller for the lowest possible transfer speed, disable wide,
try a different cable, terminator, controller

 

[rivang]

The IBM DDS Gen5 Tape Drive is connected to an Adaptec U320 host adapter. The 320 was sharing the same PCI Bus as the Raid controller so I moved it to an unshared slot. This did not resolve the problem.

An IBM Tech support representative has verified that the hardware is working properly.

I did think I had found the problem but the symptoms just changed when I disabled SMP on this server. The server is a dual processor server.

Once SMP is disabled in Netware... Arcserve backups encounter an error right away and aborts the backup however
BackupExec backups will finish completely.

I did find a Netware TID about NWASPI not supporting SMP which led me to disable SMP.

This still does not make sense though cause I have a second server with dual processors which is backed up using Arcserve on a daily rotation without any problems.

Thanks for any further suggestions.

 

[Cyklops]

Maybe something to think about:
I have seen similar problems with an Adaptec 320 connected to a HP Ultrium 960 unit. When user replaced the 320 for an adaptec 160 controller the backup ran fine.

regards