cancel
Showing results for 
Search instead for 
Did you mean: 

Single tape drive shows all media online simultaneously

Ethanism
Level 3
Partner Accredited
I've got a Windows 2003 Small Business Server running Backup Exec 10d SP4 with the following hardware conifguration:

Onboard SATA controller on a Intel S5000VSA server board controlling a SDX-570V (AIT-2 Turbo SATA)

The problem I'm experiencing is that the backup fails by timing out as if there is no tape in the drive when there is actually a tape in the drive.
When I perform an inventory from within Backup Exec, it succeeds and reports that there is no media in the drive.

However, if I look at the "Media" tab, it displays all the media (15 different tapes) as online with a location of "SONY 1" (our tape drive).

At this point, I tried restarting the BE services.  After doing this, BE correctly reports that all the media is offline.  However, after performing another inventory (which succeeds, reporting no tape), it goes back to the state where it show all media as online simultaneously.  This is only seen on the Media tab; if you select the device "SONY 1" on the devices tab, it shows "None" where a tape should be listed.

What's going on here?
4 REPLIES 4

Ken_Putnam
Level 6
Sounds like a driver problem
 
Are you using the latest DriverPak? 
Have you tried using mfg drivers?
Are you current on firmware for both the tape device and the SATA contoller?
 
 


Message Edited by Ken Putnam on 02-26-2008 10:02 AM

Ethanism
Level 3
Partner Accredited
I'm pretty sure I've got the latest drivers installed.  They're the Symantec drivers from 10/5/06 (Version 5.1).
I haven't tried the Sony drivers, but we've been using these same drivers and firmware rev successfully up to this point with no problem until this past Friday.

This particular server is a production server that is currently in use (I am connecting remotely to administer it), so I am hesitant to swap drivers or try a firmware update because it would undoubtedly require a reboot, and I am not on-site to deal with any potential issues that may arise and require direct physical access to the console.

I've been told in the past that I can swap out drivers from the device manager and simply restart the BE services in order for it to start using the new driver even though Windows will assert that it needs a reboot to apply the changes.  Is this correct, or will a full reboot be required (I know it would definitely be preferred, but...)

Ken_Putnam
Level 6
The latest v10d drivers are dated 20061015 and are located at
 
I've never tried without the reboot.  Guess you'll have to schedule some maintenance down time  Smiley Sad

tdarxPaul
Not applicable
I am also having this same problem, but my server is using a quantum1 drive. I have applied all updates to drivers, any other suggestions?