poweredge 2400 perc/2 raid... Tape drive!?!

[karmic]

Heres the scoop...

A client has a dell poweredge 2400 with a perc/2 raid controller set to mirror. They just bought a 68 pin SCSI2 tape drive from seagate. Problem is, I can't get the two to get along. The server boots with the raid controller fine with the tape drive hooked up but won't recognise the tape drive... Bought a new SCSI cable ($1700 for a tape drive kit and they don't throw in a cable grrrr) and tried to use it on the onboard SCSI port but to no avail, it won't recognise the drive. I've tried different id's and terminations with no luck. The only option I have is to use the onboard SCSI1 port. The female to female adapter is hard to come by.

Does anyone know enuf about the perc controller in the 2400 to give me any ideas on getting the tape drive and the controller to get along on the same SCSI2 bus?

Thanks.

~ The day I think I know it all, i'm changing careers ~

 

[NickFerrar]

Are you sure the tape drive isn't a HVD SCSI device? If so you need a HVD SCSI card and a differntial SCSI terminator. We have a PowerVault autoloader on one server that's HVD.

Other than that it's odd that it wouldn't even be detected during boot. Most PERC installations won't have an external SCSI port, if there's just one SCSI port on the back it will be from the motherboard SCSI rather than the PERC. If there's other devices on this card make sure the termination is correct (take off termination on existing devices if the tape drive is going to be the last device).

 

[karmic]

Hi Nick,
This is the drive I currently have, it doesn't say anything about HVD but it was worth a looksee.

http://www.certance.com/products/srssDrives/STD2401LW-S.html

I've never been a big fan of Dell, used to work for them actually. The 2400 is running beautifully with 2000 server but having to mix and match accessories is driving me nuts.

I've tried moving the drive between the perc and the MB scsi port with no termination. The silly thing of this is, the server still boots but doesn't recognise the drive at all. Wouldn't there be a conflict detected causing an error?



~ The day I think I know it all, i'm changing careers ~

 

[NickFerrar]

It's specifically mentioned it's a LVD device which is what most thing of as standard SCSI so the on-board controller should be fine with it.

It doesn't mention if it's actively terminated or not, given it's a modern device I'd be suprised if it didn't actively terminate though. It might be worth terminating it specifically.

I've seen incorrect termination lead to devices not being detected during boot up, it could also be the cable or a faulty drive. Also make sure the SCSI ID of the tape drive isn't set to the same ID as the controller.

If you can rule out the cable, SCSI ID and termination then I'd ask for a drive replacement.

 

[karmic]

Hi Nick,
Thanks for the replies but as of today the problem is fixed... I mounted the tape drive on the SCSI narrow bus. Left the SCSI wide alone. Had a hell of a time finding a female to female adapter to convert it though...

sometimes you just gotta cry uncle

Thanks again...



~ The day I think I know it all, i'm changing careers ~