Forum Discussion

Lotfi_BOUCHERIT's avatar
Lotfi_BOUCHERIT
Level 5
11 years ago

HP LTO-4 drive always goes offline

Hello,

I am facing a weird issue with my backup solution which is configured as follows:

  • Netbackup 7.1 installed on Windows Server 2003
  • HP Storageworks 2048 with two tape drives

Now, i have always one tape drive that goes offline everytime, and logs the following Event Viewer error:

Event type :    Errorr
Source :    NetBackup AVR Daemon
Category :    Non
Event ID :    4102
Date :        18/07/2014
Time :        18:36:38
User :    N/A
Computer :    SRV-NBU-1
Description :
Fatal open error on HP.ULTRIUM4-SCSI.001 (device 1, \\.\Tape1): The specified file was not found.  DOWN'ing it

I verified the logs of the backup hardware and it shows no critical error, except standard logs that are not readable...

I don't know if this could be due to Netbackup or not,

Thanks in advance, regards!

 

Backup and Recovery
Integration
NetBackup
Windows Server (2003-2008)
  • Mark_Solutions's avatar
    Mark_Solutions
    11 years ago

    If you are under warranty / support then work having HP take a look

    I have seen similar issues as this and the drives just needed a firmware update to get them working properly .. but their HP tape tools can also identify if there are faults on the drives - nothing to lose as if the tests come back clear you rule the drives out of the equation .. if they fail the tests you get new ones!!

  • watsons's avatar
    watsons
    Level 6
    11 years ago

    Check if you have got the latest device mapping installed: http://www.symantec.com/docs/TECH77988 

    If it has worked in the past, try to enable \volmgr\debug logs  (robots, reqlib and ltid) and VERBOSE in vm.conf, reproduce the issue and check if those logs can give you some more hints.

  • Mark_Solutions's avatar
    Mark_Solutions
    Level 6
    11 years ago

    Windows 2003 often has tape issues and a couple of quick things to check first...

    1. Make sure the Removable Storage Service is stopped AND disabled - windows just loves to take over the tape drives and stop NetBackup using them!!

    2. Make sure you have the AutoRun key with a value of zero added to your tape drivers .. see Method 1 of this tech note:

    http://support.microsoft.com/kb/842411

    Also, if the tape drive is fibre connected do use whatever utility the fibre hba has to setup persistent bindings on your tape drives to prevent their ID's changing after a reboot. (if this was not set you will need to re-run the device wizard to set it back to the correct ID)

    Hope these help - do tell us as much as possible about your setup if these do not resolve it for you.

  • Marianne's avatar
    Marianne
    Level 6
    11 years ago

    I see a problem with connectivity between OS and device.

    The error says that the OS cannot find the device. This means that troubleshooting needs to start at device level. 

    Check Event Viewer System log for HBA and/or tape driver errors.

  • Lotfi_BOUCHERIT's avatar
    Lotfi_BOUCHERIT
    Level 5
    11 years ago

    hello, thank you for your answers, i would like to add an information,

    my hp storage array, has two tape drives, one of them is OK and the other goes offline, after becoming online. Our backups are going alright, but it remains somehow odd...

    i tried restarting the storage array but it did nothing.

    thanks for your help

  • Mark_Solutions's avatar
    Mark_Solutions
    Level 6
    11 years ago

    If you are under warranty / support then work having HP take a look

    I have seen similar issues as this and the drives just needed a firmware update to get them working properly .. but their HP tape tools can also identify if there are faults on the drives - nothing to lose as if the tests come back clear you rule the drives out of the equation .. if they fail the tests you get new ones!!

  • Marianne's avatar
    Marianne
    Level 6
    11 years ago

    How is the problematic drive connected to the server? 
    Connected to same or different HBA on the server?

    Have you checked physical connection? 
    Try to change scsi/fibre cable.

    Any errors in Event Viewer System log?