Exabyte Packetloader VXA3 not picking tapes from slots as expected on BE10d

[Manny_Sabatel]

We have an Exabyte Packetload VXA3 which we have been struggling with to get working correctly for some time now on our Win2003R2 server. Our initial problems turned out to be a defected unit and we have now received a new unit. We have loaded in new tapes and performed an initialize and an inventory as suggested by some KB articles we have found on the Veritas site. The problem we are still having is that we cannot understand why the autoloader loads tapes from the slots that it does.

The documentation that I have found for BE says that if there is usable media that fits the overwrite protection of the mediaset then the lowest slot number will be loaded. I can only seem to get BE to load the tape in Slot 1 once and then it seems to act sequentially and use the next slot for the next overwrite job. If I perform an erase on all the slots and then perform an inventory and then an overwrite backup job I would expect it to use Slot 1 again but it is using Slot 2. This process continues no matter what I do. I checked the Library itself and it is set to allow Random access to the slots controlled by SCSI and it is not in Sequential Slot mode. The tape drive device is using the latest BE driver but the autoloader shows in device manager as using the Microsoft driver dated in 2002. I tried going into configure devices in BE to have it update the drivers again but while it sees both the drive and autoloader it only updates the driver for the drive.

I also read some documentation that says to remove the drive and autoloader from being controlled by Removable Storage but I was unable to try this since I get an error when I try to open the Removable Storage Snap-in. I will try to resolve this issue separately but am looking for any guidance that anyone can provide on how to properly configure this.

[Manny_Sabatel]

Some additional information:

I disabled the Removable Storage service and rebooted the server. Did a quick erase of all the slots and then an inventory. Ran an overwrite backup job and the tape in Slot 5 was used (slot 4 was the last tape that a backup was performed on before I erased all the tapes and the inventory). As I stated in my last post, my understanding is that BE should use the lowest numbered slot if there are multiple tapes available that meet the overwrite or append criteria. What am I doing wrong here?

[Deepali_Badave]

Hello,

We suggest you to partition the library.

Please refer the folloing technote:

http://support.veritas.com/docs/262055

Regards,

[Manny_Sabatel]

I am looking to avoid the complexity of partitioning the slots. According to the Backup Exec manual the tapes should be used starting from the lowest numbered slot. I am trying to take advantage of this and I just have two simple daily jobs and media set with the appropriate overwrite protection level. The first job overwrites and the second appends. The same job runs everyday. I want to be able to have Backup Exec use an additional tape if one runs out of space and if I do partitioning I lose that capability and that is why we have a library.

At the suggestion of Exabyte support I tried changing the library emulation to and EXB-210 and I still have the same results after reconfiguring everything. I erased all the media in the library and performed an inventory. My first job last night was an overwrite job. BE grabbed the tape from Slot #2 and performed its backup. The next job was an append job and instead of appending to the media in Slot 2 the tape in Slot #9 was used. This makes absolutely no sense and I am pulling my hair out here. Can anyone please offer some assistance on how to make this work correctly without having to do partitioning which defeats the purpose of what I am trying to do?

[Deepali_Badave]

Hello,

Run the sgmon before running the backup job:

How to create SGMON.LOG
<<>>

Regards,