PrePressMgr Posted November 11, 2009 Report Share Posted November 11, 2009 Running Retrospect 6.1 on Apple G5 XServer (OSX 10.4.11) Two tape drives: - ADIC Ultrium 2 (everything works fine) and - Quantum Autoloader 3 with Ultrium 3 which works fine on MOST functions, but hangs on trying to recatalog or Update catalog of an existing tape. Have to Force Quit to get out of it. Both tape machines are SCSI connected. Have tried swapping connections to see if it's SCSI card related. I have approx 120 job files stored that I know are on the tape, but until I can successfully recatalog the tape, won't be able to get to. Anyone else share this problem on Quantum Autoloader drives? TIA... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rhwalker Posted November 11, 2009 Report Share Posted November 11, 2009 Is this a problem that just developed? If so, did anything change? What version of Retrospect 6.1 ? (6.1.x) What version of RDU (Retrospect Driver Update)? (x.x.x.x) What HBA (SCSI card)? What error messages in the log? Have you tried running diagnostics on the Ultrium 3? Have you tried disconnecting the Ultrium 2, just have the Ultrium 3? Russ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PrePressMgr Posted November 11, 2009 Author Report Share Posted November 11, 2009 Is this a problem that just developed? If so, did anything change? We've had this drive for over a year, but this is the first instance I've had of needing to recatalog something. As I indicated, everything else seems normal, but I've tried recataloging about 5-6 times last week, it hangs, and then the server seems to have lost it's communication with the drive. The only way to get server to "see" the drive again is to re-boot the next morning before everyone else gets in and gets busy. What version of Retrospect 6.1 ? (6.1.x)What version of RDU (Retrospect Driver Update)? (x.x.x.x) Retrospect = 6.1.230 RDU = 6.1.15.101 I just updated everything last week, including the latest Firmware and Library updates for the Quantum device. Everything's as up to date as can be, AFAIK. What HBA (SCSI card)? LSI scsi card (came with the XServer) What error messages in the log? No error messages reported. All I see in the log is: "Executing Recatalog at (date)(time) To backup set (setname)" Then the following entry is when I launch Retrospect again Have you tried running diagnostics on the Ultrium 3? No, I haven't. All the entries Diagnostics menu have to do with loading in and out of the Drive, the Picker, the Magazines, Random Moves, etc. and it didn't seem particularly relevant. Have you tried disconnecting the Ultrium 2, just have the Ultrium 3? No, not yet, but perhaps that's a good idea to try. I have attempted re-cataloging this tape probably 5 times, each time gets to a different point before it hangs. I remember getting results of as little as 5GB before the hang, as much as 48 GB, and other like 18GB, 24GB, etc. I know the tape has closer to 200GB total so it isn't getting very far. I also have a companion safety tape, a duplicate and the problem is the same on both tapes. Thanks for your assistance! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rhwalker Posted November 11, 2009 Report Share Posted November 11, 2009 LSI scsi card (came with the XServer) I hate to break the bad news to you, but we have the same xServe G5 and had the same LSI 22320 Apple BTO rebranded SCSI card. Never got the LSI SCSI card to work right. Same sort of stuff you are seeing. All of our problems disappeared when we replaced the Apple BTO LSI SCSI card with an ATTO UL4D. It's what all of the backup software vendors (not just EMC) and even Apple engineers, off the record, say to get. Russ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PrePressMgr Posted November 11, 2009 Author Report Share Posted November 11, 2009 Thanks Russ. That seems to make sense with what we are seeing. I'll try and get one in here and we'll try it. I'll let you know how it turns out... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rhwalker Posted November 11, 2009 Report Share Posted November 11, 2009 With us, it wasn't hard failure, more the type of stuff you are seeing. Devices not seen when the device chain is built at boot, flakiness with Retrospect, etc. Like magic, all problems went away when we took the LSI Logic card out and put in the ATTO UL4D. Never a problem since. Russ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PrePressMgr Posted December 11, 2009 Author Report Share Posted December 11, 2009 Just wanted to follow up here... We did go get the recommended ATTO scsi card, and it has helped. Where before, re-cataloging would fail in about 5 minutes, now it was able to get through the entire tape (turned out to be >400GB) in about three hours. We still had a problem with Retrospect hanging up after the tape was read, in building the new data file. After 6 hours or so of no activity I still had to force quit Retrospect to get control again. But the ATTO card helped and our system does seem more stable. Luckily I found another copy of our missing catalog file on a nightly backup from the server HD so all is well. Just wanted to say thanks to rhwalker for the sound advice. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.