george Posted January 14, 2003 Report Share Posted January 14, 2003 Issue: Retrospect cannot find the tape it wants. Scenario: I am currently running retrospect 5.6.1.127 for windows on a Windows 2000 Server using a Compaq DLT tape library (35/70 GB). All tapes are new (within the last year). I have two jobs running backups each night. One job for the servers and one job for the clients. Both jobs are just Backup jobs, no "Backup Server" jobs are running at this time. I have configured “Special, Preferences, Schedule”, to perform backups from late afternoon to the next morning. One scenario of this issue is the backup job runs, for example the server job, and then tries to run the compare. While running the compare retrospect loses the tape it needs. Retrospect continues to look for the tape it wants and Never gives up. The second job never runs and backups have to be done during the day manually taking my time from my other duties. It doesn’t seem to matter which job is run first or second the same thing happens for either. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AmyJ Posted January 14, 2003 Report Share Posted January 14, 2003 In reply to: One scenario of this issue is the backup job runs, for example the server job, and then tries to run the compare. While running the compare retrospect loses the tape it needs. Retrospect continues to look for the tape it wants and Never gives up. Any error messages in the log? What is on the screen? What does Retrospect specfically say it's doing at this point? While in Retrospect, go to Configure > Devices > Environment and list Vendor, Product and Version for your drive and your loader. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
george Posted January 14, 2003 Author Report Share Posted January 14, 2003 There are no messages in the log. The window showing that retrospect is searching for a tape. It's continually searching through all 14 of 15 tapes until the job is manually stopped by the operator, bypassing the cleaning tape slot. The hardware is on the compatibility list, we did verify this before we purchased retrospect. Vendor:HP Product: C5173-7000 Version: 4.05 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AmyJ Posted January 16, 2003 Report Share Posted January 16, 2003 Yep - you're correct. The drive has been supported for a number of years. What has changed in the environment between the time when this was working and now? New hardware? Software installations? If the drive has been working for some time without problems, and is now no longer able to find the correct tapes, the key is to isolate all the variables to determine where the communication problem is occuring: 1) Another device on your SCSI bus is interfering with the tape drive's communication. Make sure your SCSI ID numbers are set correctly. Turn off your computer and the devices. Disconnect all SCSI devices except for the tape drive. Try the backup device connected directly to the computer 2) You have a bad cable. Replace the SCSI cable that connects the tape drive to the computer after removing other devices and cables from the SCSI chain. 3) You are missing a terminator (SCSI) or have a bad terminator. The last device and ONLY the last device in your SCSI chain needs to be terminated. Try replacing the terminator if you already have one on the chain. 4) Windows 95/98/ME: Is ASPI properly installed? ASPI is a utility that Retrospect uses on these operating systems to access devices. Run ASPICHK (in the Retrospect Program Files folder) to make sure ASPI is "green" and all components are at version 4.60. If not, try a reinstall (ASPIINST.exe). If you still have problems, consult the Retrospect User's Guide or Adaptec's website. Windows NT/2000: Enable NT SCSI Passthrough to bypass ASPI: From the Retrospect Directory hit Ctrl-Alt-P-P. Under "Execution," check "Enable NT SCSI Passthrough." Click OK. Quit and relaunch. 5) The computer may be having a problem. Install Retrospect on another computer and try the tape drive there as the lone device on the SCSI chain. 6) The drive may be defective. If you have implemented all of the preceding steps and get failures on multiple tapes after changing cables terminators and computers then the drive (being the only factor that has not changed) is the culprit--send it back to your vendor for repairs. The steps above are essentially the outline of our device troubleshooting here at Dantz. Hands on testing of device issues is really still the best method and even getting device logging information is usually only to confirm empirical testing. Note that concluding something is a bad device is the LAST thing we assume after all other components and variables have been ruled out. "SCSI voodoo" as they call the nebulous symptoms that can plague a SCSI bus can often lead one to false assumptions of the cause of problems. It's important that once a variable is tested that it be tested more than once for consistency's sake to rule out dumb luck. For example SCSI voodoo accounts for why a tape drive may work fine for many months without proper termination but then suddenly fail in some way later. Although customers will often cite that nothing has changed with their SCSI bus configuration in months and that it was all working before this is really indicative of the inconsistency of SCSI voodoo. The quickest and most conclusive test for most devices is to test it on more than one computer as the only device on the bus and with a different SCSI cable. If the problems can be reproduced on multiple computers it's more than likely a hardware problem with the device itself. Of course there a myriad of other specific issues having to do with a device's own hardware settings like with internal jumper cables dip switches or internal termination that has to be sorted out with the device's manual and/or vendor or manufacturer of the drive, but the kernel of SCSI troubleshooting above is a good general guideline. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
george Posted January 20, 2003 Author Report Share Posted January 20, 2003 I checked with all administrators on that server and nothing has changed hardware or software wise. We have been having this issue for about 4 months and had I thought found that restarting the Launcher service was a workaround but that seems to not work any longer. There is another disabled tape drive on the system. I have already tried most of what you have suggested,some I can't or don't have. The drive is not defective, we have no OS older than NT, currently running win 2k on the server. I don't have another unit to run it on but do have the same type of tape library on another win2k server running Arcserve just fine and no I can't swap them, incase you were goint to suggest that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AmyJ Posted January 27, 2003 Report Share Posted January 27, 2003 That this was working sucessfully for a number of months and then is slowly starting to fail is typically indicitive of hardware failures. The only way to find out which variable is failing is to systematically rule them out one by one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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