Eject problem

[A_van_der_Boom]

Hi, suddenly I do not get any Alerts anymore about removing the tape when I do an eject. Although the tape is ejected the eject job keeps on running and I have to reboot the server to get it out of the running job queue.

I checked the automated response on alerts but I made no changes to it. Any idea what is causing this problem ?

Regards
A van der Boom

[A_van_der_Boom]

Well, I used the 'clear event after 1 minute' option as a workaround but I really want the 'Media Remove' alert back. (I always need to insert a second tape to finish my weekend backup) I am not sure if I now insert a second tape the duplicate job would continue. Any thoughts on this ?

Regards
A van der Boom

[Jay_Bollyn]

Hi, we had various problems, including problems with eject, when we were using the Windows tape drive driver. Since installing the Veritas driver, these problems have gone away.

- Jay

[A_van_der_Boom]

I use the DELL drivers because the Vertias drivers gave problems with the backup. Strange thing is that the eject event is recorded in the windows eventlog and in the BE alert history. Yesterday it worked correctly and today it failed again. The user ADAMM seem to respond to the event but does not ends the running eject job, I have to reboot the server to end it.

I am a little wary to replace the tape driver so I see what it does tomorow.

Regards
A van der Boom

[Jay_Bollyn]

Just so we are clear on this, here is my communication with Dell, (Silver Level Support):

I am giving you the entire conversation, recognizing that some of it is irrelevant to your problem:

+++++++++++++++++

Always use veritas drivers, fyi.

Brian Kendrick MCP DCEE
Dell aes technical support
Hours 1pm - 12pm Sun thru Wed
1-866-410-3355 72-48314

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
From: Bollyn, Jay
Sent: Monday, May 30, 2005 8:12 PM
To: Kendrick, Brian
Subject: RE: Dell Support Services: Incident # 914388


Brian,

The backups have been running fine. I have tested all the tapes. All the tapes for this server have been in use for less than 6 months, and we have not seen any problems with the tape media.

Regarding the cause of this particular problem:

1. I don't think the change in the SCSI BIOS sync rate from (160 -> 20) had any effect;

2. I am not sure if the driver change (Windows -> Veritas) was the solution, but I do think it is a good idea to use the Veritas driver for the tape drive;

3. I think the Symantec AV configuration change is a good idea.

I still do not understand what triggered this problem, but it appears to be caused by purely software. The tape drive swap was probably unnecessary, since Irwin and I saw exactly the same problem with the full backup job, with the swapped drive installed.

We are pleased with the Silver level of support.

I think you can close this ticket.

Thanks for your help.

- Jay

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
From: Brian_Kendrick@Dell.com
Sent: Mon 5/30/2005 7:35 PM
To: jbollyn@neiu.edu
Subject: Dell Support Services: Incident # 914388


Jay

How are the backups running?

Brian Kendrick MCP DCEE
Dell aes technical support
Hours 1pm - 12pm Sun thru Wed
1-866-410-3355 72-48314

[A_van_der_Boom]

Well, I now have used the Veritas driver and don't have to reboot the server to get the running job cleared. When ejecting the tape the job finishes but I still don't get an alert. Normally the eject event was visible in the Windows eventlog but now not even that.

No event no alert but atleast the eject job does not hang my server anymore. Still it is very strange why BE suddenly behaves this way.

Regards
A van der Boom

[A_van_der_Boom]

Update. Although I don't have to reboot my server anymore to get the running job cleared I now don't get any message about a tape eject ! Not in the event viewer nor in the BE alerts (only the history). This is getting annoying. I did not changed anything to the server, no SP, no hotfixes, nothing.

Any idea what might be causing this problem ?

Regards
A van der Boom

[shweta_rege]

Hello,

- How are the alerts catagories configured?

- Do you face this problem only for the Tape eject?


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Thanks.

[A_van_der_Boom]

> - How are the alerts catagories configured?
When I look at the Media alerts they all are configured to record the event within the Windows eventlog. Autmatic clearing is NOT configured and all alerts for this category are enabled.

> - Do you face this problem only for the Tape eject?
As far as I can see, yes.

To recap, the eject alerts are visible within the Windows eventlog but BE will not show an alert pop-up. BE does record the event in its alerts history.

In the BE utility the following configuration settings are present.
Media overwrite alert -No
Media remove alert - Yes or No
Media insert alert - Yes or No

Regards
A van der Boom

[Sharvari_Deshmu]

Hello,

under alerts tab -configure alert categories what have you set for media remove?


Thanks,

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.

[A_van_der_Boom]

'Enable alerts for this category' is ticked, but greyed out, and 'Record event in the Windows event log' is ticked. All other options are unticked.

Regards
A van der Boom