Exabyte 1x10 VXA drive problems

[JoeNord]

Retrospect Workgroup 5.0.205

 

RDU 2.8.103

 

OS X 10.1.5

 

Exabyte VXA AutoPak 1x10 E33a (Driver: Exabyte Library (5.01))

 

 

 

Problem #1. The drive shows up in Device Status, but the "Loader" menu doesn't reflect the names of the tapes that I gave them when erasing them via Retrospect. As a result, the script doesn't know that the tapes are already loaded and it asks me to insert the tape. This is fine, but then when the first tape is full, instead of going on to the next, correctly named, tape, it asks me to insert it. Why is this happening? I was able to do a complete backup of our workgroup server (300GB), but I had to tell it where to go for each tape. When I ran the script again, it *again* asks me to insert the tape, even though it's already there and hasn't been touched since the first time through the backup.

 

 

 

Problem #2. During the "comparing" phase of the backup, it is performing at about 2MB/sec. On a 300GB backup, this is unacceptable. What is it "comparing?"

 

 

 

Thanks for any help.

 

 

 

JOE

[Guest]

When using Retrospect with autoloaders, keep in mind that there are two modes of operation: unattended and interactive. All immediate actions (under the Immediate tab), except "Run," are automatically in interactive mode. All automated actions (or scripts, including those started under the Run menu or with the Run button) are automatically in unattended mode.

 

 

 

In interactive mode, Retrospect is assuming the user is in front of the machine and can be prompted for input. This means that even though the user has an autoloader, if s/he is doing an immediate backup, Retrospect will prompt the user for the best tape to use and will double-check whether s/he wants to use that tape.

 

 

 

In unattended mode, Retrospect is assuming the user is not in front of the machine. In this mode, using an autoloader, it will automatically seek out the tape it thinks is best suited for what it needs. Therefore, if Retrospect wants a new tape to name 2-Backup Set A, it will scan the drive looking first for a tape named 2-Backup Set A. If it doesn't find a tape with this name, it will grab the closest blank tape.

 

 

 

Next, the comparing phase is when Retrospect goes back and checks that the data on the tape exactly matches what's on the source. If the copy speeds are good and only the compare is slow, then it sounds like there is a problem reading either the data on the tape or the data on the source.

 

 

 

To pinpoint it, try a backup to a file backup set. If compare times are slow for this as well, it's a problem with the source -- run disk any utilities that you have. Also try disabling any non-critical services.

 

 

 

If the file backup set works, then the problem lies in reading the data on the tape, and you'd want to go through some hardware troubleshooting to pinpoint further.

[JoeNord]

In reply to:

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When using Retrospect with autoloaders, keep in mind that there are two modes of operation: unattended and interactive. All immediate actions (under the Immediate tab), except "Run," are automatically in interactive mode. All automated actions (or scripts, including those started under the Run menu or with the Run button) are automatically in unattended mode.

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Thank you for your response.

 

 

 

When I select the Run button under the Immediate tab, and choose a script, it defaults to Interactive mode. It seems that if I run the script in a schedule, it is working in Unattended mode. I'm currently running a schedule script to see if it will find the second tape or if it has since defaulted to Interactive mode. From searching on the KB, I've learned to trust neither the Control menu nor the cursor icon, since there is a mighty bug causing the interface to not refresh itself. I guess it's blind faith and guesswork from here on out. Any idea when that bug will be fixed?

 

 

 

Should the "compare" verification process be as fast as the copy process? I'll do the hardware troubleshooting like you recommended. In the meantime, since it will take almost 2300 hours (four months) to compare 290GB, I've turned off verification.

 

 

 

JOE

[rsyester]

Note that if you start a script manually, you can switch it to unattended by going to he control menu and select "run unattended" or something close to that.

 

 

 

Also, are you quitting retrospect between erasing your tapes and running the backups? The mac version forgets the previous changer inventory, unlike the PC version which remembers. You should be able scan the changers tapes to read the tape labels before starting your scripts.