StorageTek L20 w. 2 LTO2 Drives - Driver Issue?

[WorldBuilder]

Hi all,

I am the IT Manager (department of one) of a small school in Massachusetts. Need some help. My former employer was kind enough to donate to me a StorageTek L20 Tape Library. In it are two IBM LTO2 tape drives.

I know the library itself is in fine working order and I assume the drives are. Haven't tested anything yet... Getting there!

I've attached it to an HP DL380 G4 server running Windows Server 2008 R2 64-bit. I have Backup Exec 2010 R2 at the ready.

What's holding me up is that in the Device Manager, the library shows up as "Unknown Medium Changer" under a "Medium Changer Devices" category.

In my experience (although it's been a few years since I've dealt with this directly), the tape drives themselves show up as separate devices.

So what I need is to know how to install the proper device drivers for the library and/or drives. Could someone help me out, please?

The attached file is a screenshot of the library's web-based admin panel.

Help! Thanks!

Chris

 

[STKman]

Yes the drives and changer should all show up in device manager as separate devices. The Windows driver for the LXX library used to be a download from the old StorageTek web site, but how you get it from Oracle/Sun I'm not sure if you don't have the L20 under an Oracle maintenance contract.

I know very little about Backup Exec but don't these backup applications use Symantec's own built in drivers? Have you tried installing it to see if it picks up the L20 and two IBM LTO's?

 

[WorldBuilder]

Hi STKman,

Well, it's interesting that you mention the Symantec driver. I have gone through the Backup Exec Installer (falling short of clicking "Finish") and there is a screen where I can select to use Symantec drivers.

What gets me, though, is still that the drives don't even show up in Device Manager.

Might they after the Backup Exec installation? I could try it Monday, I suppose. But as an aside, who do I talk to at Oracle if I wanted to try to get either the proper drivers (at least) or get this library under a contract? Probably not a bad idea regardless seeing as I'll be damned if I'll be able to fix it if, say, the robotic arm craps out... LOL!

Thanks!

Chris

 

[WorldBuilder]

Something I just found...

http://in.sun.com/download/index.jsp?cat=Hardware Drivers&tab=3&subcat=Storage

The 20th item listed says:
StorageTek Library Driver for Microsoft Windows 2.1.0.1

That certainly seems like what I want. And sure enough, even using my old Sun login, I can't get to it. So I suppose I'll call Sun/Oracle...

Am I right in thinking that's what I need?

 

[STKman]

That's the one OK. It doesn't mention 64 bit, but maybe the download is a bundle with 32 and 64 bit.

So you get no tape drives at all in device manager? What you want to do is go into library config on the L20 LCD, and then drive config, and make sure the SCSI id's are:
L20 = 0
Drive 1 = 1
Drive 2 = 2

assuming all three devices all daisy chained on the same scsi bus. The L-Series have a known issue where the controller hard loses the scsi id's, and they show up as "invalid" on the LCD, possibly because a battery on the controller card is getting low. The L20 and both drives should show up when you boot the server, when the SCSI adapter displays what devices it can see.

 

[WorldBuilder]

Hi again STKman,

You got it right. NO tape drives in the Device Manager, and only the "Unknown Medium Changer" under a "Medium Changer Devices" category.

I have now installed BE 2010 not and even that (trying to use Symantec drivers) gets 'em loaded... In BE 2010, it DOES show me the two drives, but they are generic and unable to accept drivers.

In the L20 itself, the SCSI IDs are good. I see both drives, same as in the JPG image above.

Now, as for SUN/Oracle, I am getting nowhere with these clowns and at this point I have an e-mail in to the nationwide sales manager. Hell, all I want is to figure out where to start. I have spoken to the Massachusetts Support Manager and several departments at 1-800-USA-4SUN. No one has been helpful so far, but what I know is this...

I cannot get a driver for the L20 and/or drives without purchasing a maintenance contract. And so far I'm not having any luck even doing that! Besides, I don't want to buy a MC yet since I don't even know if this thing works or not. It's a silly Catch-22!

Why the hell can't I get a driver, verify it works, and then buy an MC?? If the device doesn't work, I'd rather buy something new and supported!

I'm gonna wait and see where this e-mail takes me. But so far, dealing with SUN/Oracle is infuriating...

Chris

 

[TechyG]

Hi,

I think that your Windows Server 2008 R2 64-bit is not compatible with Backup Exec 2010 R2... I think it's compatible with BE12. Try to download the BE compatibility list.

 

[WorldBuilder]

Hi TechyG,

Thanks for the reply, but that's not it. Symantec themselves expressly told me that to properly run BE 2010 and backup all the server I specified, I needed Server 2008 R2...

And the app works fine.

Thanks, though!

Chris

 

[WorldBuilder]

Hi guys,

I just noticed something else as well. Boatloads of errors in the System Log in Windows. Happens every time I reboot the server. Have a look. I'll be damned if I know what it all means or how to fix it. But it all certainly seems to indicate a problem related to all this...

Sorry, it's pretty long...


Level Date and Time Source Event ID Task Category

Error 11/2/2010 10:53:23 AM Service Control Manager 7000 None "The vsmraid service failed to start due to the following error:
The service cannot be started, either because it is disabled or because it has no enabled devices associated with it."

Error 11/2/2010 10:53:23 AM Service Control Manager 7000 None "The vhdmp service failed to start due to the following error:
The service cannot be started, either because it is disabled or because it has no enabled devices associated with it."

Error 11/2/2010 10:53:23 AM Service Control Manager 7000 None "The stexstor service failed to start due to the following error:
The service cannot be started, either because it is disabled or because it has no enabled devices associated with it."

Error 11/2/2010 10:53:23 AM Service Control Manager 7000 None "The SiSRaid4 service failed to start due to the following error:
The service cannot be started, either because it is disabled or because it has no enabled devices associated with it."

Error 11/2/2010 10:53:23 AM Service Control Manager 7000 None "The SiSRaid2 service failed to start due to the following error:
The service cannot be started, either because it is disabled or because it has no enabled devices associated with it."

Error 11/2/2010 10:53:23 AM Service Control Manager 7000 None "The ql40xx service failed to start due to the following error:
The service cannot be started, either because it is disabled or because it has no enabled devices associated with it."

Error 11/2/2010 10:53:23 AM Service Control Manager 7000 None "The ql2300 service failed to start due to the following error:
The service cannot be started, either because it is disabled or because it has no enabled devices associated with it."

Error 11/2/2010 10:53:23 AM Service Control Manager 7000 None "The nvstor service failed to start due to the following error:
The service cannot be started, either because it is disabled or because it has no enabled devices associated with it."

Error 11/2/2010 10:53:23 AM Service Control Manager 7000 None "The nfrd960 service failed to start due to the following error:
The service cannot be started, either because it is disabled or because it has no enabled devices associated with it."

Error 11/2/2010 10:53:22 AM Service Control Manager 7000 None "The msahci service failed to start due to the following error:
The service cannot be started, either because it is disabled or because it has no enabled devices associated with it."

Error 11/2/2010 10:53:22 AM Service Control Manager 7000 None "The MegaSR service failed to start due to the following error:
The service cannot be started, either because it is disabled or because it has no enabled devices associated with it."

Error 11/2/2010 10:53:22 AM Service Control Manager 7000 None "The megasas service failed to start due to the following error:
The service cannot be started, either because it is disabled or because it has no enabled devices associated with it."

Error 11/2/2010 10:53:22 AM Service Control Manager 7000 None "The LSI_SCSI service failed to start due to the following error:
The service cannot be started, either because it is disabled or because it has no enabled devices associated with it."

Error 11/2/2010 10:53:22 AM Service Control Manager 7000 None "The LSI_SAS2 service failed to start due to the following error:
The service cannot be started, either because it is disabled or because it has no enabled devices associated with it."

Error 11/2/2010 10:53:22 AM Service Control Manager 7000 None "The LSI_SAS service failed to start due to the following error:
The service cannot be started, either because it is disabled or because it has no enabled devices associated with it."

Error 11/2/2010 10:53:22 AM Service Control Manager 7000 None "The LSI_FC service failed to start due to the following error:
The service cannot be started, either because it is disabled or because it has no enabled devices associated with it."

Error 11/2/2010 10:53:22 AM Service Control Manager 7000 None "The iirsp service failed to start due to the following error:
The service cannot be started, either because it is disabled or because it has no enabled devices associated with it."

Error 11/2/2010 10:53:22 AM Service Control Manager 7000 None "The iaStorV service failed to start due to the following error:
The service cannot be started, either because it is disabled or because it has no enabled devices associated with it."

Error 11/2/2010 10:53:22 AM Service Control Manager 7000 None "The elxstor service failed to start due to the following error:
The service cannot be started, either because it is disabled or because it has no enabled devices associated with it."

Error 11/2/2010 10:53:22 AM Service Control Manager 7000 None "The arcsas service failed to start due to the following error:
The service cannot be started, either because it is disabled or because it has no enabled devices associated with it."

Error 11/2/2010 10:53:22 AM Service Control Manager 7000 None "The arc service failed to start due to the following error:
The service cannot be started, either because it is disabled or because it has no enabled devices associated with it."

Error 11/2/2010 10:53:22 AM Service Control Manager 7000 None "The amdsbs service failed to start due to the following error:
The service cannot be started, either because it is disabled or because it has no enabled devices associated with it."

Error 11/2/2010 10:53:22 AM Service Control Manager 7000 None "The amdsata service failed to start due to the following error:
The service cannot be started, either because it is disabled or because it has no enabled devices associated with it."

Error 11/2/2010 10:53:22 AM Service Control Manager 7000 None "The adpu320 service failed to start due to the following error:
The service cannot be started, either because it is disabled or because it has no enabled devices associated with it."

Error 11/2/2010 10:53:22 AM Service Control Manager 7000 None "The adpahci service failed to start due to the following error:
The service cannot be started, either because it is disabled or because it has no enabled devices associated with it."

Error 11/2/2010 10:53:22 AM Service Control Manager 7000 None "The adp94xx service failed to start due to the following error:
The service cannot be started, either because it is disabled or because it has no enabled devices associated with it."

 

[STKman]

If the tapes dont even show in 'other devices' then I suspect its an issue with the SCSI card not working correctly in Windows 2008. If you were to get a spare PC/Server and install Windows 2003 32 bit with the scsi card and L20 attached I bet the drives would show up.

 

[WorldBuilder]

Hi again STKman,

Well, it's funny you should mention hooking it all up to a Server 2003 32-bit box. Actually, that was the first thing I did about a month ago. And yes, the drives DID show up... But I moved the setup to this new Server 2008 R2 server because I have to backup Exchange 2010 and I was told by Symantec that BE 2010 would need to be installed on a 2008 box in order to do that.

So this is my only choice, apparently. I have to get this setup working...

As far as the suspicion that the SCSI card is not working, I kind of doubt that. Two reasons.

1. The library itself shows up
2. The internal HDDs for the server are on this same card. It's an HP SmartArray 61 that has been a standard in HP DL-Series server forever. And those HDDs all work fine, as do the RAIDs they're in.

At this point, Oracle has gotten back to me and has quoted a maintenance contract that is acceptable to me. I'll be getting that in the next day or two, at which time drivers will be made available to me...

Don't like PAYING for drivers, but a year worth of tech support and on-site support is something I really should have anyway for a device of this age. So I'll see what the drivers provide and let you know!

 

[STKman]

OK, let me know how it goes.

BTW, I've heard HP engineers advise never to connect tape drives and hard drives to the same Smart Array controller. It is recommended that the tape drives be connected to their own SCSI controller on a different slot. That may not be the cause of the immediate problem but its worth bearing in mind.

 

[TechyG]

I agree with STKman... some use the L20 and 1 drive on 1 HBA (as we say on 1 bus-daisy chain)and the other drive on 1 HBA (diff bus...

I have chatted to our NBU guy... he also thinks compatible...

Please keep us posted....

 

[WorldBuilder]

SUCCESS!

After God know how many weeks, I got the tape library and tape drives to at least show up in Windows! Gone is the "Unknown Medium Changer" and tape drives themselves not even being there...

I now have a StorageTek L20 and two IBM LTO drives. The L20 is using the SUN(Oracle)-provided driver (which cost me $1,380 bucks) and now that the tape drives are showing up, they are now using Symantec's driver.

Sweet... Now? On to actually creating jobs and backing up some data!

Chris

PS... While I was awaiting Oracle (My God they're SLOOOOOOOOOOOOOW), I purchased a SCSI card for the DL380 and installed that. The L20 is now on a different bus than the HDDs. Good advice, fellas. Consider it accepted.

 

[STKman]

Thanks for the update.

I can't believe they charged you $1380 for a device driver, well actually I can. The thieving ......!*!*!

 

[WorldBuilder]

Well, to be fair, the $1,380 is for an entire year of phone support and on-site support (2 hour response time) if ANYTHING in this L20 craps out. It dies, it gets fixed... Even the two drives are covered, and those are IBM tape drives.

Therefore I could justify the cost.

I'm not pissed about that. I'm a little annoyed that I had to get that BEFORE I could even download the damn driver, though... That's a tad excessive on Oracle's part...

THANKS!

Chris

 

[WorldBuilder]

Hi again,

OK, here is a catastrophically dumb question... How do I load tapes into this beast?

I have 20 LTO2 tapes available, all never used. All have been labeled. For kicks, I loaded one into the CAP. It's just sitting in there doing nothing and the LCD panels reads the CAP as "busy".

God knows I don't have any documentation for this thing... Any help would be appreciated! THANKS!

Chris

 

[STKman]

That's easy. Take the cartridge out the CAP. Open the drawer and fill up the L20 with your tapes. Bear in mind that a standard L20 is actually an L10. The right hand slots only work if you have the capacity increase dongle in the back. The L20 is just a dumb changer to after that its up to the backup software. You need to run the hardware discovery wizard and then do an inventory of the media to put everything into the backup software database. Then I suppose you create some policies / schedules and away you go. If the backup software only works with a single tape drive and seems to ignore the other one then you need to get a 2nd drive license key.

There is another forum on here somewhere where you will get specific help with Backup Exec issues.

 

[WorldBuilder]

Tapes loaded!

I thought I could load 'em up one at a time through the CAP. Guess not. Put 'em in like you said and they're seen. Nice!

I even stuck a cleaning tape in there 'cause those drives are definitely gonna need a good scrubbin'! They've only been dormant for, I dunno, 3 years!

LOL!

OK, I'm off to the races, and now just need to teach myself BackupExec 2010.

T.H.A.N.K. Y.O.U.

Chris

 

[TechyG]

GREAT NEWS! Well done!