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Unable to eject Dell RD1000 cartridge

Dan_Neuwirth
Level 3
Greetings,
 
Anyone had issues ejecting Dell RD1000 cartridges (40Gb through 200Gb hard-disk based removeable carts) when used as a backup target for BESR recovery points?
 
The drive works great, but when it comes time to switch cartridges, the eject button does nothing.  An attempt to eject the cartridge via My Computer gives "Error ejecting the media.  It could be in use".
 
When the BESR service is stopped, the cartridge can be immediately ejected on the first try.
 
Once BESR is started again, the eject capability is once again lost.
 
It strikes me that Symantec is "locking" the drive open, even when not in the middle of a recovery point creation--basically when it has no business touching the drive. 
 
This is a bad practice, as it is disallowing other system processes (like "eject" ) from using that drive, and makes this product virtually impossible to use as a viable backup product that allows for off-site backup strategies.  I understand that BESR is primarily targeted at "non-removeable" media, but a good backup strategy necessitates that we also have off-site swaps of the target media.  So this product is pretty well useless for single-server bare metal backups that can be taken off-site--at least in convenient form--without buying other backup products and drives to back up the target data (i.e. BESR creates the image file, then some second backup product backs up the image file to a removeable cartridge.)  Geez, what a hassle.
 
Any help?
 
-Dan

Message Edited by Dan Neuwirth on 06-28-200702:13 PM

14 REPLIES 14

Mark_Rovendro
Level 3
I have the same exact situation. I am using the Dell RD1000 with 120GB drives and BESR 7.0.
I don't recall having this issue when I was running the 6.5 version.
 
This is (could be) a perfect solution for a single Small Business Server situation to backup
and restore.
 
Could someone at Symantec please repond to this.
 
Thanks,
  -Mark

Bill_Felt
Level 6
Employee Accredited Certified
Hello,
 
I agree, this needs to be looked into as soon as possible.
 
Can anyone experiencing this issue open a support ticket with Symantec support?
 
Thanks.

Jim_Werder
Not applicable
Hi Dan,
 
I am in tech support with Prostor Systems, the designer of the RD1000.
Can you provide me with more info about this problem? OS , Symantec version and is this a USB device?
Have you tried using Windows Explorer to eject the cartridge

Dan_Neuwirth
Level 3
Hi Jim,
 
The system is a Dell PowerEdge 2900, using the SATA version of the RD1000.  OS is Windows Small Business Server 2003 R2. Symantec BESR "for Small Business Servers" Version 7, as shipped by Dell with the server.  Neither the Eject button nor Windows Explorer eject the device.
 
HOWEVER, once the "Backup Exec System Recovery" service is stopped, the cartridge ejects fine, leading me to believe this is more of a BESR issue (service is holding one or more files open on the drive) than a RD1000 issue.
 
-Dan

Mark_Rovendro
Level 3
Hi Jim,
 
I have a Dell PowerEdge 2950 using the USB version of the RD1000.
As Dan mentioned the system ejects just fine either by the button on the front or
right clicking -> eject when the BESR services aren't running.
 
The OS is Windows Small Business Server 2003 R2 Service Pack 1.
 
I had a earlier version of BESR, 6.5, that worked just fine. It wasn't until I upgraded to 7.0
that I started to have this problem.
 
-Mark

Bill_Felt
Level 6
Employee Accredited Certified
Hello,
 
I wanted to let everyone know that I inquired internally in regards to this issue, and learned that it is currently under investigation by our engineering team. 
 
I hope to have an update soon.
 
Thanks.

Joe_Hutchison
Level 4
Greetings!
 
I'm curious if there is any update on this issue?  I'm getting ready to upgrade from 6.5 to 7.0 with a very similar setup, and I wanted to know if there is a resolution for this?
 
Thanks - Joe

Les_Elton
Level 2
I had the same problem with my Dell PowerEdge 2900 and an external RD1000. Issue has been resolved by a helper Service Patch by Dell.  You can find it at...

http://support.dell.com/support/downloads/download.aspx?c=ca&cs=cabsdt1&l=en&s=bsd&releaseid=R136671&SystemID=PWV_RD1000&servicetag=&os=WNET&osl=en&deviceid=12732&devlib=0&typecnt=0&vercnt=1&catid=-1&impid=-1&formatcnt=1&libid=37&fileid=182372

or just look under the Utility downloads for the RD1000.
Easy to install patch that resolves the front button issue.

Les Elton, Network Admin., ABC Recycling Ltd.

Mark_Rovendro
Level 3
I have been running the latest firmware v2021 and the latest Utility v2.02 for several months and it hasn't helped.
 
For the time being I have created a workaround where I backup my system to a network drive, then using a
PowerShell script copy the backup to the RD1000 (could have used a standard dos script).
 
It would be nice if in a future release PowerShell could be added to the list of scripts that are recognized. That way I don't
have to have a .cmd call my .ps1 files.
 
-Mark

Bill_Felt
Level 6
Employee Accredited Certified
Hello,
 
Regarding the issue where the RD1000 cartridge won't eject, as a workaround you can use a batch file to temporarily stop the BESR service which should make the cartridge ejectable.
 
The batch file to stop the service would contain a command such as:
 
net stop "Backup Exec System Recovery"
 
You can also use a batch file to restart the service, or simply right-click the tray icon and choose "reconnect".
 
Thanks.

Dan_Perry
Not applicable
Bill,

This issue is still coming up. Is there any newer information? Is it still under engineering investigation or is this the final solution? It doesn't seem to happen on all systems. Testing in my lab was ok. Would it help if you had a RD1000?

Dan

Mark_Rovendro
Level 3
Looks like this has been finally resolved in the 7.02 release:
 
 
Check out the Release Notes. Now it's just a matter of when it will become available.
 
Thanks,
   -Mark


Message Edited by Mark Rovendro on 11-01-2007 05:25 AM

acetcetera
Level 2

I have the RD1000 with Backup Exec 12 (with all the latest patches) installed at two different client sites both running on Windows Server 2003 machines. One site is working perfectly well, while the other site is having issues with ejecting the removable disk.

 

Reading this post I noticed the workaround to stop the RDXmon services then eject. Interestingly enough, on the client site that does work the service is listed as RDXmon 1.12, while the non-working site's service is listed as RDXmon 1.16 (I had downloaded the latest drivers from Dell on the non-working site and used the install disk that came with the unit on the working site).

 

I have since uninstalled the newer version of the RDX utilities and installed the older 1.12 version on the non-working site. This seems to have resolved the issue as far as initial testing goes (ran a backup job and was able to eject the drive by pressing the button).

 

Hope this helps and good luck!

CNS_Robert
Level 3

I took the advice and downgraded to RDXmon 1.12 but the cartridge will still not eject from a hardware eject button after a successful Symantec Backup Exec 12d job.  Quick question ... does Removable Storage service need to be running (NtmsSvc) ???   We have had Dell working with us and somewhere along the line that service was set to DISABLED.  Just wondering if that needs to be running.

 

Most frustrating thing ever and kills all perceived value for client who has brand new SBS2003 and all new Dell workstations.

 

FYI - RD1000 works fine as long as Symantec Backup Exec 12d job is not run.

 

Suggestions??  Please advise..thx