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Backup Exec 2010 R2 tape drive not ejecting

SSharma
Level 2

Hello Everyone,

 

I have an issue here. The tape drive from the Backup Exec Server is not getting ejected. Please advise me how can we eject the tape drive. I have very limited knowledge about the Tape drives and Backup Exec so please ask the questions to resolve this issue.

 

thanks,

Sudeep

14 REPLIES 14

SuperBrain
Moderator
Moderator
Employee Accredited

Is the tape stuck in a Standalone tape drive? or in a Robotic Library?

Sush---
Level 6
Employee Accredited Certified

Hello Sudeep,

    Is it not getting ejected even after pressing the Eject button the tape drive?? Have you tested that?

 

Thanks,

-Sush...

SSharma
Level 2

@Bhavik,

 

How do I know if this is Standalone tape drive or Robotic. This is remote system I don't have physical access to the server. or Tape.

 

@Sush,

The on-site has said that "The back-up tape will not eject from the server and there is an error light flashing."

 

In device I could see this which I beleive related to the tape please confirm if that helps.

"lsi adaptor sas 3000 series 8 port"

SuperBrain
Moderator
Moderator
Employee Accredited

You can check under the Devices tab in Backup Exec.

Do you see Tape Drives? or you see Medium Changer / Slots? you can post a screenshot if possible... 

Also, check Event Viewer on the Server to see if there are any hardware errors reported in the System Logs... look for Event ID 5 or Event ID 7 or 9 or 11 or 15...  (these are hardware related errors)

Backup Exec will only send an Eject (eject only works for standalone tape drives) notification to the Tape drive, rest is the device's responsibility... so if a tape is stuck while attempt to eject it from the drive, you will probably need physical access to the device and attempt some manual ejection methods available.

Similarly from Backup Exec you can perform Lock/Unlock/Export/Import (these only work for Robotic Libraries) operations, which also only send instructions to the Robotic Library rest is the Robotic Libraries responsibility.. 

Hope this helps!

Sush---
Level 6
Employee Accredited Certified

Hello Sudeep,

    If it is a standalone tape drive then stop all BE services and then try to eject the tape by pressing the Eject button the tape drive.

If even then the tape not coming out then that is surely a hardware error and you need to check with the hardware vendor for the same.

 

Thanks,

-Sush...

SuperBrain
Moderator
Moderator
Employee Accredited

CAUTION : Stopping all Backup Exec services will result in cancellation of All / any active Jobs in Backup Exec.

Thought you might want to know that since you are not very familiar Backup Exec.

SSharma
Level 2

I have already tried stopping all the services and asked the tech to eject the tape manually by pressing the eject button, but didn't work.

 

What "lsi adaptor sas 3000 series 8 port" is for in Device Manager? Any ideas.

Sush---
Level 6
Employee Accredited Certified

Confirms Hardware error.

 

Not sure "lsi adaptor sas 3000 series 8 port" is for as that will depend on which device is connected to it.

 

Thanks,

-Sush...

SuperBrain
Moderator
Moderator
Employee Accredited

That is your Host Bus Adaptor (HBA) via which your tape devices may be connected to the server. However, that is not related to your issue. 

Larry_Fine
Moderator
Moderator
   VIP   

re: What "lsi adaptor sas 3000 series 8 port" is for in Device Manager?

 

The LSI is your HBA (Host Bus Adapter).  Also known as your SAS card.  It is what your tape hardware plugs into.  Unfortunatley, it give no clue as to what is plugged in to it or its status.

hrishi_111
Level 3

 

Power cycle the tape drive off the bus:

Power down the tape drive. If the tape drive is installed in an autoloader or library, this means power-cycling the autoloader or library. 

Remove the firewire cable or SCSI cable and SCSI terminator. 

Wait 10 seconds, then turn the tape drive back on. When the tape drive comes ready, press the unload button again.


Caution: Powering up the with the tape in drive could take several minutes.

Ensure that the drive activity is stopped before ejecting. As a thumb rule, 10 minutes time should be enough.

SSharma
Level 2

Ok guys here is the status.

 

I was working on the other Symantec Backup Exec which doesn't have the Tape. I was told earlier that it has but we found another server which has the Tape.

Now I went through the Dcoumentation and try to eject the tape, on the Job Monitor I could see one task running, here are the details of the job which is running.

State: Active

Name: Eject Drive 00010

Device Name: CERTANCE 1

Job Type: Utility

Current Operation : Eject

Job Status: Running

This job is running for the past 50 minutes.

The Tape Drive is Quantum LTO 2 Tape Drive.

Please suggest how long would it take to drive to eject or is there any other way we could eject the tape?

Note: All the jobs on Backup Exec are on hold right now.

Larry_Fine
Moderator
Moderator
   VIP   

an eject job should take 30-60 seconds.  Sounds like you have a hardware issue, so (as previously suggested), I would stop BE services and troubleshoot the hardware.

Sush---
Level 6
Employee Accredited Certified

Hello Mr. Sharma,

    Please check if there are any active alerts pending requesting to resond to "Media Remove" alert.

Alert just to inform you that the tape will not come comepltely out of the tape drive (if that is what you are expecting ) but will be at the mouth of the tape drive with partially outside.

 

Thanks,

-Sush...