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Backup Exec 2010 putting my autoloader's drive offline after second job

lgarceau
Level 3

Hello everyone.

We just bought this brand new Quantum SuperLoader3 autoloader with an LTO-5 drive in it. I have been strugling for a week now to make it work.

The problem is that I cannot do 2 backup (or restore) jobs in BE 2010 without having to restart BE services between them. I can backup 1TB in one job without any issue. Same thing goes for restoration so I know the server is talking to the drive without any problem. But as soon as I am trying 2 jobs (one after the other, or even one day in between) the second job gets queued and BE put the drive offline.

I am using brand new HP LTO-5 media.

I have tried calling Quantum and Symantec but without much success. Support from Quantum was really bad and Symantec isn't offering me a decent solution as of yet.

I have the latest firmware for my Controller card, an Intel RS2MB044 SAS (they use LSI controller). I also use the latest drivers in Windows for the controller card. The card is used only for this autoloader, nothing else is attached to it.

As for the Quantum autoloader and drive, we also have the latest firmware, and we tried using the Quantum drivers also without any success. Right now, we are back with the BE drivers for the LTO drive.

Server is Windows Server 2008 Storage edition (it's a Dell PowerVault NX NAS)

When the 2nd job starts, I know the server talks to the loader since I hear it move, but 30 sec or so after, it stops and drive goes offline.

I spent a looooot of time on this, if you guys have any idea let me know.

Thanks!!

 

Louis

1 ACCEPTED SOLUTION

Accepted Solutions

thegoolsby
Level 6
Employee Accredited

RAID controllers are the first and only types of HBA's that we've had to certifiy and test. As you are probably finding out, there are unforuntalely not many that do not come without RAID support.

We support any HBA that does not support RAID.

View solution in original post

13 REPLIES 13

Munir2Fast
Level 5
Certified

Hi

Make sure there is no tape stuck in the drive.

Check for any events ids if any.

Follow this link for correct configration of tape library in regards to drivers, SCSI config, etc :

http://www.symantec.com/docs/TECH24414

lgarceau
Level 3

Yeah well, I have done all the basic troubleshooting stuff! :)

The link you sent was already checked.

No media is stuck in the drive. As for the Windows events, the only thing I have is a 58053 saying

*****
Backup Exec Alert: Device Error
(Server: "CNQNAS") The drive hardware is offline.
Please confirm that the drive hardware is powered on and properly cabled.
*****


In the adamm log, there is a lot of boring stuff, but somewhere it way:


[4964] 12/15/10 15:21:08.802 DeviceIo: 03:00:08:00 - Device error 1117 on "\\.\Tape0", SCSI cmd b5, 4 total errors
[0604] 12/15/10 15:25:32.622 PvlDrive::DisableAccess() - ReserveDevice failed, offline device
       Drive = 1003 "QUANTUM 1"
       ERROR = 0x0000001F (ERROR_GEN_FAILURE)

[0604] 12/15/10 15:25:32.622 PvlDrive::UpdateOnlineState()
       Drive = 1003 "QUANTUM 1"
       ERROR = The device is offline!
 

 

What else can I check?

Munir2Fast
Level 5
Certified

does the system logs has any event ids like 7, 9 11 or 15 ?

Kiran_Bandi
Level 6
Partner Accredited

Any RAS tickets under tape library event logs, like stow operation failed at drive?

lgarceau
Level 3

Munir: only event in the log is the one I quoted. it's in app log there is nothing in system log.

Kiran: What is a RAS ticket?

Kiran_Bandi
Level 6
Partner Accredited

Indicates hardware faults. Name convention may differ with different tape libraries. Check under tape library event logs for any such instances.

/* EDIT

If the library detects any problem during the self-test it generates a RAS ticket.

EDIT/

lgarceau
Level 3

where should I go exactly to check that? is it in BE itself or in Windows event logs?

thegoolsby
Level 6
Employee Accredited

Reference the following DOC (this is also referenced in the Hardware Compatability List):

http://www.symantec.com/business/support/index?page=content&id=TECH70907

The IBM controller you are using isn't supported. We've seen this behavior with RAID capable cards that we have tested and not qualified for support.

If you replace the card with a non-RAID SAS card or a card from the above list you should no longer have any problems.

 

For proof that the OS is failing to communicate properly with the tape drive, reference the following error you pasted above:

 

[4964] 12/15/10 15:21:08.802 DeviceIo: 03:00:08:00 - Device error 1117 on "\\.\Tape0", SCSI cmd b5, 4 total errors

 

Open a command prompt on any Windows box a run a 'net helpmsg 1117'   This error that is being received is a Windows API failure of an I/O error. This is occurring outside of Backup Exec.

lgarceau
Level 3

Yeah I read from another post on this forum that RAID card arent officially supported. The problem is that the card came with the drive from our supplier, and before sending it back I wanted to try everything I can to make it work. As I said, it's working for one job so I was hoping there was another solution besides replacing the card.

 

I see that the HCL list is very limited. Anyone have a recommandation to do on a SAS card that can support full speed of LTO-5?

 

thegoolsby
Level 6
Employee Accredited

The problem with most RAID capable cards are they behave the exact same way that you are seeing. Usually after a single successful backup the device is thrown offline, typically with the same exact I/O error you indicated from your event log. RAID controllers don't play nice with sequential devices such as tape drives.

We've tested a good number of HBA's and not qualified them due to this behavior. The ones that are on that list are ones that we've worked with our vendors to test and certify stable functionality.

Prior to this list being created, we did not support a single RAID controller for tape usage. With the growth of SAS, however, we've found that very few SAS HBA's come without RAID. We are always adding to this list and testing other HBA's, but for now what is on that list is all that we support.

Also of note, if you find a SAS card that does not have RAID functionality then this list would not apply.

lgarceau
Level 3

Do we have any list of available SAS card with 6gb/s capability without raid? it doesnt seems to be very popular among manufacturers?

thegoolsby
Level 6
Employee Accredited

RAID controllers are the first and only types of HBA's that we've had to certifiy and test. As you are probably finding out, there are unforuntalely not many that do not come without RAID support.

We support any HBA that does not support RAID.

lgarceau
Level 3

ok thanks, i guess the next step is to change the controller card

thanks