Unknown ICON appeared after tape was stuck - Backup Exec 2014

[pxtian]

Hi,

I have a library with 4 LTO5 tapes running on a TS 3310 Library. The jobs were configured to be NDMP backups about a month ago. For some reason, backup jobs and restore jobs started hanging 3 days ago. By hanging, I mean the job status gets stuck at either queued, loading tape, discovering resources, etc for hours. If I hit cancel, it gets stuck at cancel pendingl. The normal cycle to "fix" it is:

1) Stop backup exec services

2) powercycle the library

3) reboot the Backup Exec server (sometimes necessary)

If the steps above are not done, the tape used during the backup or restore job gets stuck in the tape drive and it can't be removed via the BE console.

It cannot be removed using the library GUI as well and it throws an error saying: The Slot is inaccessible. A host issued a SCSI Prevent/Allow media Removal command which is preventing the drive from unloading a tape cartridge.

But what I am most interested to find out is what this icon means. It is under the active and scheduled jobs column

I noticed that of all the drives that encountered the hanging job and stuck tape issue, only drive 3 has this icon. Only drive 3 seems to be unusable at the moment for both backup and restore jobs. I still have problems with the other drives but drive 3 is completely dead at this point.

Note that all 4 drives are detected by device manager.

[CraigV]

...is your media server a VM or a physical server?

[pkh]

Since you have 4 tape drives in your tape library, did you purchase and install 3 LEO licences in BE?

If you have, then I believe one of your tape drives is faulty.  You should run the manufacturer's diagnostic utility against the tape library and the tape drives.  Make sure that you select the write test and that you have stopped all the BE services beforehand.

[pxtian]

Hi, It's a DELL physical server

[pxtian]

Hi, we do have 4 licenses. It was working fine until Friday. Earlier today, 2 of the other drives won't work for backup jobs and restore jobs until I disabled drive# 3 (the one with the icon) from the Backup Exec console. Is there a possible scenario wherein merely enabling drive #3 affects the other drives as well because it is faulty?

I would of course try your suggestion of running diags on the drive later when I get back to work.

[pkh]

Probably the only party who can answer that question is the manufacturer.  If drive #3 is affecting the other drives, then it should be disabled and replaced.

[VJware]

Could you pls post a larger screen shot of the icon ? Thanks.

[pxtian]

Hi,

I have attached a larger screenshot.

[pxtian]

So here's what happened when I tried to run hardware diagnostics on the drive:

1) I restarted the BackupExec server to make sure I start fresh. After the reboot, I checked the device manager and saw all 4 drives detected.

2) I checked teh serial number of the drive from the Backup Exec console, then proceeded to stop all BE Services

3) I ran the ITDT GUI version and selected the matching serial number of the drive.

Results:

During each test, the moment the drive starts loading a tape for testing, system test, and read/write test, the operation hangs.

When this happens, I go back to device manager and find only 3 drives being detected.

To make all for drives reappear in device manager, I either have to reboot the Backup Exec server or perform a "Drive reset" from the Library GUI console.

This is pretty much the same scenario that happens when backup jobs and restore jobs are performed by Backup Exec.

I dunno, but maybe the clue is in the UNKNOWN ICON?

[Colin_Weaver]

I think the icon matches the text - as a spanner and screwdriver would be a reasonable symbol for an action request for some kind of operation against the drive. Hence the symbol being there is perhaps part of normal operation, but the symbol being there for an extended period of time might be inidcative of a fault because the operation never completes when it should finish and move on.

I such your symptoms still point at an issue with the drive itself and nothing to do with the software.  (That is unless you can make the symptoms move to another drive by using the same tape in a different drive)

[Sym-cr]

The icon for Storage Operation (previously called as Utility Jobs i.e. inventory, catalog, import, export, lock, unlock etc.) here on a tape drive is an indication of any active storage operation currently being performed/running on that particular drive.

Refer: https://support.symantec.com/en_US/article.HOWTO99473.html

However, if this icon remains for long time without disappearing then possibly any of the storage operations is stuck and unable to perform the task. Also as everyone has mentioned in their posts, this issue would be due to the faulty drive, which is unable to perform its task.

Thanks!!

[pkh]

Since the diagnostic test fails, it is definitely a hardware error. You should get the vendor to take a look at the drive or replace the drive.