Forum Discussion

Lee_Higginbotha's avatar
Lee_Higginbotha
Level 3
14 years ago

Symantec Backup Exec 12.5 & Dell TL2000 Robotic Library issue

All,

Thank you all in advance of any assistance you can provide.

I have a Dell TL2000 tape library (1 LTO3 tape drive) and running BE 12.5 that is fully patched on a WIN2K3 R2 SP2 X64 system.

My backups and restores run flawlessly as long as there is only one tape needed.  The daily backup utilizes only one tape and therefore runs without issue.  The weekly backup takes two tapes. 

Currently, I have 6 additional tapes that are available for the weekly pool.  I even thought to re-label, erase and / or assign again to the same pool.  However, the backup job completes with the first tape and then asks for the second tape and even though there are 6 other tapes, it won't load any of them.

Another interesting item is the tape drive in BE continues to flash the green triangle play icon like it is trying to load a tape.  Last week, I rebooted the server and the tape drive in hopes that it was a flaky issue with the tape drive and that obviously didn't fix the issue.

I have searched the forums and google and found one solution that didn't have a solution.

Any help would be grateful as I need a good backup for our monthly backup.

Sincerely,

Lee

12.x and Earlier
Backup and Recovery
Backup Exec
Backup Exec (media server only)
Windows
  • Hywel_Mallett's avatar
    Hywel_Mallett
    14 years ago

    Wait!

    Before looking at partitioning, the bit that struck me was:

     I even thought to re-label, erase and / or assign again to the same pool

    When you assign media to a media set, it takes on that set's Overwrite Protection Period. Try moving the spare media to the scratch media set first.

    Partitioning refers to dividing the slots in your tape library up, so you can force a job to target particular slots.

  • CraigV's avatar
    CraigV
    Moderator
    14 years ago

    Hi Lee,

     

    When it tries to load the second tape, is there a prompt in your job asking for scratch/overwritable media?

    Also...try partitioning your tape library, and point your Weekly job to a partition. Run the job, and see if you get the same error.

    If so, check your OPP (overwrite protection period) and append periods on your Weekly media set. If this is set incorrectly, there is every chance that the tapes that are available according to you, are not available according to the settings on the media set. Not sure if you have done this...!

    I also take it you are using the Symantec drivers for your autoloader?

     

    Craig

  • Lee_Higginbotha's avatar
    Lee_Higginbotha
    Level 3
    14 years ago

    Craig,

    Thanks for your reply.

    Yes, we have overwrite protect for 4 weeks and appendable for 1 week.

    Regarding the partitioning, these backups are from the clients straight to tape.  I will admit I am a newbie regarding BE, so, does BE send the stream to disk then to tape?  Would that be the reason for the "partitioning"?

    Sincerely,

    Lee

  • Hywel_Mallett's avatar
    Hywel_Mallett
    Level 6
    14 years ago

    Wait!

    Before looking at partitioning, the bit that struck me was:

     I even thought to re-label, erase and / or assign again to the same pool

    When you assign media to a media set, it takes on that set's Overwrite Protection Period. Try moving the spare media to the scratch media set first.

    Partitioning refers to dividing the slots in your tape library up, so you can force a job to target particular slots.

  • Lee_Higginbotha's avatar
    Lee_Higginbotha
    Level 3
    14 years ago

    Hywel,

    Thank you for the quick reply.  I did that and it picked it up perfectly. 

    Hywel and Craig, thank you both for your help and assistance.  It is greatly appreciated!

    Have a great rest of your weekend.

    Sincerely,

    Lee