Device showing On-Line and Off-Line?

[Robert_Riggle]

If I got to the Devices tab in Backup Exec under Drive Pools/All Devices it shows that both of my backup drives are On-Line. Under \Stand-Alone Drives it shows as Off-Line. The drives were working without problem for months until a couple days ago. Both drives show up in device manager as working. Any ideas on what to do?Message was edited by:
Robert Riggle

[Aubrey_Starr]

I sometimes get this with my robotic library. I find stopping and starting the Veritas services fixes it. I would be interested in a more permanent fix if someone kows one, but as a manual work around that should work.

[636436804]

I agree with Aubrey; restarting the services should fix this.

I've seen this problem occur on libraries as well. Some libraries are not fully initialized after a reboot by the time the BE services start in Windows, and therefore are not properly recognized.

I've never had any luck with the toggle online/offine trick that Vertias suggests.

[Robert_Riggle]

I tried stoping the services but they just ended up hanging. So I ended up rebooting the server, but that didn't fix the problem. Is there a better way to stop the services other than trying to stop them from the Services section in Computer Management?

[andy_gandhi]

make sure the tape device(s) are using veritas drivers in device management, if not run the tapeinst.exe in the \nt folder of BE.

I usually do the toggle services on/off trick, where is the sercive hanging when you try to start/stop it.

[Robert_Riggle]

The first service I try to stop is the "Backup Exec Agent Browser". A window comes up saying it is stopping the service and after a couple of minutes it comes with a message saying that it couldn't be stopped with "Error 1053: The service did not respond to the start or control request in a timely fashion."

[andy_gandhi]

that might be dependant on another service, trying searching for that error on this forum or using the beutil.exe in \nt folder to stop/start.

[Robert_Riggle]

Usually when I try to stop a service it will say if it has any dependencies before it tries to stop it. This doesn't happen. I tried using beutil.exe and have the same problem. I searched for people having the same problem, but only see people having a problem starting it.

[Robert_Riggle]

Actually getting worse now. I tried to do a repair of the install and it just hangs. I think this has something to do with not being able to stop the services. I tried to change the properties of the services to run as manual, but I can't even change that. How in the world can I stop this madness?

[Ajit_Kulkarni]

Hello Robert,

It seems that your problem started with the tape drives showing offline in Backup Exec and then now having problem with services.
Try reparing the database from the technote mentioned below:
How to run a Backup Exec database repair when the original Backup Exec database is found to be inconsistent
http://support.veritas.com/docs/265180

Verify the results.

Regards,

NOTE : If we do not receive your reply within two business days, this post would be marked "assumed answered" and would be moved to "answered questions" pool.

[Robert_Riggle]

Tried following the instructions, but got the same problem I had when using beutil.exe to stop the services. Here is a copy of the util readout:

Starting database repair.
Stopping Services
Stopping services for server:SERVER2.
Server:SERVER2, Service:BackupExecJobEngine failed to stop.
Server:SERVER2, Service:BackupExecRPCService failed to stop.
Error: (1051) - A stop control has been sent to a service that other running services are dependent on.

Server:SERVER2, Service:BackupExecDeviceMediaService failed to stop.
Error: (1051) - A stop control has been sent to a service that other running services are dependent on.

Stopping Services for server SERVER2 completed with errors.
Starting Services
Starting services for server:SERVER2.
Server:SERVER2, Service:BackupExecDeviceMediaService started successfully.
Server:SERVER2, Service:BackupExecRPCService started successfully.

At that point it just hangs and is showing being 60% complete.Message was edited by:
Robert Riggle

[andy_gandhi]

Hi Robert,

Another thing i've had to do in the past to solve this issue, which I can not reason out why, is actually deleted the device(s) from the device menu, then restart the tapeutil.exe, then restart the services. The only caveat to this process is that you have to rename the device either before or after you add it on, you have to fool veritas into thinking you have a new device. This is essentially like re-installing vertias w/ a new catalog/databas with respect to a new device ( i think). In other words, if your device is "quantum1", rename it "quantum2" (if that's not been used before), then delete the device. Now run tapeutil.exe and check the results. Sorry dont' have a more definitive solution, this is just troubleshooting I've had in the past! :) Good Luck

[Robert_Riggle]

Well, I can't seem to even do an uninstall of the program. It just hangs. I tried to do an re-install and it also hangs. I deceided to make sure the tape drive was not the problem, so I hooked it up to another PC and was able to use it without a problem. I am thinking that I really need to just get the program off the system and do a clean install. Is there a document showing the process of manually removing Veritas from a system?

[andy_gandhi]

I"m not sure about documentation to uninstall the program. But if you can not delete the devices from withing Veritas there is something very strange. Also make sure you have updated SCSI controller drivers, and make sure you're using a veritas approved SCSI controller.

You tried renaming/deleting the devices then running tapeutil?

[priya_khire]

Hello Robert,

As per your initial post, you had mentioned that you have 2 drives. Are the two stand alone drives or are they two drives in a robotic library?
If it is a robotic library, Backup exec will be able to recognise only the first drive. The second or every additional drive will need the use of the Library expansion option. However in case of stand alone drives, unlimited support is available. Hence do check the above first.

You have also not mentioned the name of the device. Check if appears in the Backup exec compatibility list at the following link:
http://support.veritas.com/dsl/lists/device_ddProduct_BEWNT_media_all_prod1_NT9.htm

As regards the device 'offline' problem is concerned, you can refer to the following technotes:

Title: How to correct a tape drive that is 'offline' in Backup Exec 7.x, 8.x, and 9.x
http://support.veritas.com/docs/191187

Title: A tape device is reported "Offline" in VERITAS Backup Exec (tm).
http://support.veritas.com/docs/252078

Hope this helps. If not, do write back to the forum.

Note : If we do not receive your reply within two business days, this post would be marked ‘assumed answered’ and would be moved to ‘answered questions’ pool.

Regards.

[Robert_Riggle]

I tried, but couldn't get the software to make the changes. I found an article to manually remove Veritas. Now installing it has it hanging on installing "Microsoft SQL Server Desktop Engine". If I could even get the remote agent working on this server I could backup from another PC, but nothing is working.

[Robert_Riggle]

I am now just trying to get remote agent loaded on the server to back it up over the network. I try to load up the Rant software and getting a message "Cannot load remote agent on a media server". Anyway to get this done?

[James_Dunlop]

I am having exactly the same problem. I have tried the support steps mentioned, but can get no further. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Many thanks.

James Dunlop

[Deepali_Badave]

Hello,

As you have reinstalled B Ev9.1 and now you are trying to install the remote agent to backup the remote server and you are getting an error while installing it.

Are you installing remote agent in push install mode?
If so, then try installing it in silent mode.
Refer the following technote:-

http://support.veritas.com/docs/265736

NOTE : If we do not receive your reply within two business days, this post would be marked assumed answered and would be moved to answered questions pool.