Hardware error after upgrade from x86 to x64

[cdeshazo]

I needed more RAM in my backup server so had to upgrade from Windows 2003 x86 to Windows 2003 x64. I'm using a Dell Poweredge 2900 and connecting to a SpectraLogic 64k Gator tape library. The server is pretty intensely configured with multiple HBAs, SCSI cards, attaching to many TB of storage on a SAN and 16 tape drives and currently has only 3 drive letters available for use.

I have almost everything running smoothly after the upgrade except for my Adaptec 3916 SCSI card. When I unplug the drives from this card, I don't have any problems but when I have drives on this card, I get general hardware errors that kills the fuction of my library and downs all the drives on both of my SCSI chains. In Event Viewer I am getting error 11 which indicates hardware problems. I've done a ton of research on the causes of these errors but have not been able to resolve the problem so far. To be clear, I have another SCSI card (LSI Logic) and 2 HBAs attached to several other tape drives and all of them are running their drives perfectly. The single point of failure is always the Adaptec card which runs 4 of the 16 tape drives available to the system.

I have tried to upgrade the driver on the card but cannot find any other driver than the one supplied by the operating system. Adaptec does not list any x64 drivers on their site and suggests that you use the OS driver.

I have a lot of experience with Backup Exec but don't seem to be able to come up with the solution on this one.

Has anyone else had problems with x64 with the Adaptec 39160? I can generally run fine on 12 drives so this isn't an emergency but it is an annoyance that I can't seem to find a solution for this.

Any suggestions are welcome!

Chad

[Ben_L_]

Have you tried a different card or tried contacting your hardware vendor regarding the issue?

I will say that most times when I see event id 11's it's bad hardware, but your vendor (dell) would have the final word on replacing that if it is still under warranty.  Also you may want to check to very the SCSI card is on the latest bios/firmware available for it. 

Definition of  Event ID 11: Signifies controller errors. These errors are generally caused by hardware that is not functioning correctly. Attempting to slow the SCSI bus down and verifying that the latest SCSI drivers and firmware are loaded can sometimes resolve these issues. If these errors occur, please contact your hardware manufacturer.

[cdeshazo]

I purchased the SCSI cards from CDW seperately from the system so Dell won't help with that. I do have a spare 39160. I'll try swapping the card out and see what happens... good thought. The BIOS is already updated to the latest rev and as I mentioned, there are really no other drivers that I could find besides the OS driver.

I've tried slowing the SCSI bus down to several low-end speeds; that didn't help.

I'll update this after I try swapping the card.

[cdeshazo]

I swapped the 39160 with a spare and got the same results. I systematically swapped out all hardware between the drive and the SCSI card to verify that no other hardware might be causing the issue. I have a tech support call in with Adaptec. Will update again.

[Ben_L_]

interesting that different hardware didn't fix the issue.  Did you by chance put the card in a different slot when you switched them out?

[cdeshazo]

I did not change the slot on the hardware (all slots are full and I didn't want to reconfigure everything) but I would find it very difficult to believe that the slot has gone bad at the exact same time as the upgrade. All drives were working the day before the upgrade to x64. More to come...