LTO drive goes Offline

Mmm...make sure you're using the Symantec drivers for the drive firstly.

Other than that, you can also consider upgrading the firmware on the library. Not sure on what version of Windows you are running, but if it is Windows Server 2003, then turn off Removable Storage service too.

Thanks!

Hi,

 

i'm using the Symantec drivers, they have been updated by LiveUpdate.

The firmware version is the last available too.

 

I wonder if there isn't any incompatibility between librairy behavior (let BE manage the librairy or not: for lock/unlock magazine for example) and my method to change tape (maybe i don't execute all steps correctly, or in the right order).

 

 

Well, this is the method of unlocking/locking the library - http://www.symantec.com/business/support/index?page=content&id=TECH33500

Do you restart the BE services after changing the tapes and before the inventory ?

And, do you see any 7, 9, 11 or 15 event IDs under system logs ?

...you actually don't have a choice in this matter. There is no selection box that allows you to check/uncheck whether or not BE manages the library. It just does it.

You did the right thing by unlocking the drive.

 

Hi all,

 

Event log ID is: 58053

Previously my library was in Automatic/random mode, i force it in random mode.

 

I will try tomorow to stop BE services before change my tape to see if it solve my issue.

 

No i don't try to restart BE services before launch an inventory or something else. I will test it asap.

 

Thx for your help, i give you a feedback tomorow

nic: stopping services before changing tapes is a cop-out, I'm sorry. I don't know of another backup application that requires you to do that. I've gone through BE 8, 9.1, 10, 10.1, 11d, 12.5, and all revisions of 2010 and NEVER had to stop my services to change tapes.

Something else must be up...that's not a solution; it's a band-aid till you fix the problem. My 2c worth...

Well,

 

i will be very surprised if i must stop services before change my tape, but as neither BE log nor Eventlog provide me usefull information, i have to investigate to know where my procedure is wrong (if it is wrong...)

 

With a diagnostic scenario, i hope i will be able to find what's going wrong.

 

But as mentionned by Symantec, i will try to restart my services before launch any job on library.

You need not have to restart the BE services each time the media is changed and/or before an Inventory.  It's possible the method you are using is causing the drive to go offline, for reasons unknown.  Also, random access is the proper configuration for BE to interact with a media changer.

You did not indicate whether you have the mail slot enabled or disabled on the autoloader.  If you have seven slots available, then you have the mail slot enabled.  If you have eight slots available in BE then you do not have the mail slot enabled.  It sounds like you have the mail slot disabled (based on the media exchange method described) but I will describe the methods for exchanging media, for both configurations.

Mail slot enabled: With a mail slot present, media will be moved from the mail slot to media slot(s) and vice versa, by the internal gripper.  There is no need to open the magazines.  If this is how you have the autoloader configured, then run an export job on all the slots you wish to remove media from.  When you are done, import the new media to the same slots.  Both jobs will provide prompts along the way to let you know when to remove and insert media respectively.

Mail slot disabled: With a mail slot not present, media is exchanged manually be the user.  The application will unlock the magazine(s) and prompt the user to remove them.  If this is the method you have the autoloader configured, then run an export job on the slots you wish to remove media from and follow the on screen prompt.  When done, run an import job to the same slots and follow the on screen prompt.

Hopefully this helps.

...the other thing to ensure is that you're connected to a SCSI card, NOT a RAID controller as most vendors don't support this. Upgrade the firmware on the card too if you haven't done this, and completely uninstall the library from within BE and Windows if need be.

1 last thing...if you're running Windows Server 2003, turn off Removable Storage service as this clashes with BE's control of the library.

Thanks!

Hi all,

 

thx for your help.

I'm running under a Win2k8 R2 server.

Mailslot is not configured.

 

Update:

today i do lot of tests in order to repeat the problem, and no way to put my drive offline again.

I will check on friday if problem occurs again, that could indicate that an other process on BE server could create this failure, but without anything log in eventviewer, it's not easy to investigate.

 

So i will make an update on friday to tell you if my problem is solved or not.

 

Thx