Tape drive path and drive down issue.

Marianne is right, you should determine WHY the tape drives keep going down.

Here is a good check list to help

Verify
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1) Update ALL drivers ( tape drives, robot , tape library and HBA)
     -  Nothing should be older than 2010.
     -    ALWAYS obtain drivers from the manufacturer . Symantec has not updated their drivers since 2007
 
2) Power cycle everything . (Make sure library is down for at least 3 min)


3) Check and Remove any Phantom Devices -

From command prompt run :
set devmgr_show_nonpresent_devices=1
start devmgmt.msc
Remove any tape drives, library or robots that are “grayed out”

REF : http://www.symantec.com/docs/TECH93292

4) Install the latest device mappings - http://www.symantec.com/docs/TECH129536
     -  Symantec is constantly updating them so be sure to check back for newer versions.
     -  To confirm what version you are on :
         C:\Program Files\VERITAS\Volmgr\bin\tpext -get_dev_mappings_ver


5)  Check to see if the drives need cleaning.
     -  Even if you think the drives are clean (by looking at the library’s GUI ) , they must been in a 'clean state' on the Netbackup side.
     -  From the Volmgr\bin\tpclean -L
        If the output contains the message, NEEDS CLEANING you must clean the drive.
        You can do clean the drive in the admin console or from a command line. Please review the following tech notes:
        http://www.symantec.com/docs/HOWTO43740 - tpclean
        http://www.symantec.com/docs/TECH17537 - How to use NetBackup's drive cleaning utility, tpclean, with a Library
        http://www.symantec.com/docs/TECH37409 - How to set up automatic tape cleaning in NetBackup Enterprise Server

6) Does the OS see the devices ?
     - Check the OS Device Monitor and make sure they are listed and do not have any yellow exclamation marks.
     - From a command line :  install_path\Volmgr\bin\scan
            * This tells us what the OS sees

7) Does Netbackup see the devices configured ?
     - From a command line :  install_path\Volmgr\bin\tpconfig -d
            * This tells us what Netbackup sees as being configured

8) If using McAfee antivirus , be sure to disable or follow http://www.symantec.com/docs/TECH56658 to make exceptions for Netbackup    

processes.  IF this is not done, the most common error you will see is a status 84.

9) For servers that are still running Windows 2003 or ealier, be sure that the ‘Removable storage service’ is stopped and disabled.
 


Configuration
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If you have had an issue with drives inconsistently going down, it is sometimes best to delete all devices and reconfigure

NOTE : This works best if it is Windows and SSO is NOT being used.


10) CONFRIM NO BACKUPS ARE RUNNING

11) Release all allocations to devices
   
   From the command line: Install_path\Veritas\NetBackup\bin\admincmd>nbrbutil -resetAll
   
   (If backups are running, this will cause them to fail. This is why no backups should be running )

12) Delete all devices - Ref http://www.symantec.com/docs/TECH64327
   
   From the command line: Install_path\Veritas\NetBackup\bin\admincmd>nbemmcmd -deletealldevices  
   
     - This will delete ALL devices.  

   From the command line: Install_path\Veritas\NetBackup\bin\admincmd>nbemmcmd -deletealldevices -machinename -machinetype media
   
     - This will delete all devices on the media server you specified above .


13) Use the device configuration wizard to configure your devices.
     - Be sure there are no errors during the wizard or any "unused element" . If so, drag the tape drive to the robot in the wizard.

14) Inventory the robot(s).



Trouble Shooting
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15) Look for link state errors on HBA and tape devices

16) Look in the System Event viewer for any hardware related errors including tape alerts.

17) Confirm the following folders have been created in the NetBackup logs directory on the server that contains the devices.


<Install_path>\NetBackup\logs\bptm
<Install_path>\NetBackup\logs\bpbrm
<Install_path>\volmgr\debug\daemon
<Install_path>\volmgr\debug\ltid
<Install_path>\volmgr\debug\reqlib
<Install_path>\volmgr\debug\robots

18) To increase logging :

Increase verbosity to 5 in the server host properties -> logging.

Add the line 'VERBOSE' to <Install_path>\volmgr\vm.conf

create the following touch files:

<Install_path>\volmgr\ROBOT_DEBUG
<Install_path>\volmgr\AVRD_DEBUG
<Install_path>\volmgr\DRIVE_DEBUG
<Install_path>\volmgr\SSO_DEBUG

19) Run through issue and review logs.  Be sure to change logging back to 0 and remove VERBSOE from vm.conf

20) If opening a case with support , include the following :
     - Enviorment Information (use the server where the devices are located at)
       Server Name :
       OS :
       NBU Version
     - Details for the failed job
     - All logs in #17.
     - NBSU - <NetBackup install path>\NetBackup\bin\support\nbsu -c -t
     - Has anything changes since this issue started occurring ?  A recent upgrade ? Install ?  Hardware replacement?


Additional Tech Notes
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http://www.symantec.com/docs/HOWTO33906 - NetBackup media management best practices on Windows
http://www.symantec.com/docs/TECH124594 - Description of Tape Alerts and code definitions
http://www.symantec.com/docs/TECH169477 - Troubleshooting Robot or Drive Issues in NetBackup