Dell TL2000 Tape Drive not working.

[brickwall53]

Hi again

 

Backup not working...incremental and full.

 

Backup Exec 2012 reports error ......tapes are not online.....no media available

 

How do I go about getting the tapes back online It is a DELL TL2000 tape drive

 

Ta

[6Foot2]

We have an LTO3 tape drive and this goes off line from time-to-time [as it did today in fact]

 

We resolve it in one of three ways:

 

1. Roll back the driver. We have found that Windows Update replaces the driver that works with one that does not [ ]
   
2. Start Symantec Backup. Once the software has loaded select 'Devices' Expand your server name [below 'Device Pools'] and select and expand your tape library. Right click your tape library and select 'Enable' [it may be offline at this time]
   
3. Shutdown and restart your tape library. Today the tape library had lost contact with the server because the IP of the tape drive was incorrect [Restarting the tape drive forced the tape drive to renew the IP address from DHCP (we have a reservation in DHCP for the tape drive based on its MAC address)]
   

HTH.

Edited May 18, 2012 by 6Foot2
Add opening bracket.

[brickwall53]

Thank you , thank you. thank you......for the info and the quick response.

 

I shall try this tomorrow and report back.

 

Ta

[6Foot2]

No problem. I would advise caution when trying these fixes [when I listed them above they were in no particular order]

 

Thinking about the again I would advise:

 

Shutdown and restart your tape library: Try this one first as it may fix your problem without further action and it is the path of 'least harm' [?]

 

If that does not work I would try: Start Symantec Backup. Once the software has loaded select 'Devices' Expand your server name [below 'Device Pools'] and select and expand your tape library. Right click your tape library and select 'Enable' If the tape drive has gone off line for reasons other than software changes this could be helpful [Also check your tape library (are there any tapes not unloaded from the drive/picker/mailslot)]

 

The driver rollback option is a solution we have employed on 3 - 4 occasions. Once the driver has been rolled back it cannot be 'rolled forward' [?] (use this option with caution!)

Edited May 18, 2012 by 6Foot2
Add closing bracket.

[brickwall53]

Thanks again. caution will be observed

[brickwall53]

There was no media data tapes available, as the dates for them( period of time to keep data etc) were all screwed up

 

I reset the properties of the tapes to NONE and the backup started working.

 

All I need to do is to set up the dates properly later

 

Thanks again TA

[brickwall53]

I managed to get a full backup done and I removed the tape for safety...

 

Now its playing up again.

 

Everything I do (Initiate, Inventory, Test,) always comes back with a media problem ........and with the additional problem of 6 tapes offline .

 

Used the Dell TL2000 interface to do an inventory etc but it still say there is a tape problem.

 

My simple mind tells me to take all of the tapes out and try again from scratch.

 

Is it possible that I could add one tape at a time and format them then do an inventory to get them back on line

 

Ta.

[6Foot2]

We had recurring problems with our tape drive [Quantum LTO3]

 

We eventually traced it back to something resting on top of the tape drive [the weight was nothing to speak of: Some boxes of tapes waiting to inserted into the drive]

 

Apparently the spaces between the moving parts inside the tape library leave very little room for manoeuvre. When the tape drive was moved from its temporary home on a desk into the server rack these problems went away.

 

Do you have anything resting on your tape drive?

[DMcCoy]

I managed to get a full backup done and I removed the tape for safety...

 

Now its playing up again.

 

Everything I do (Initiate, Inventory, Test,) always comes back with a media problem ........and with the additional problem of 6 tapes offline .

 

Used the Dell TL2000 interface to do an inventory etc but it still say there is a tape problem.

 

My simple mind tells me to take all of the tapes out and try again from scratch.

 

Is it possible that I could add one tape at a time and format them then do an inventory to get them back on line

 

Ta.

 

1) Import and export tapes via the slot provided, do not load them in and out of the magazines by hand

2) Once tapes are loaded (and after import/export) you need to click "Scan" on the library to refresh it's contents on BE (not inventory!)

3) DO NOT FORMAT THE TAPES - YOU WILL HAVE NO BACKUPS

4) Look at your media retention policies, these should be set up with a sensible rotation scheme.

5) If retention is currently a mess (it thinks tapes can't be overwritten) then simply drag the media you want to use today to SCRATCH in the media management (just the one for that day not all of them), it will be overwritten.

[brickwall53]

Okay ..will try that tomorrow

 

Thanks

 

TA

[Gaz]

Its at this point that you move to a NAS backup solution.

[brickwall53]

I found out that there was a dodgy tape in the tape drive which I removed.

 

I tried everything again "scan" "inventory" etc. I discovered that the offline tapes were full. I got fed up and moved them. all(offline) to the "scratch" area.

 

I done test run of the backup and it worked.

 

I then started a full backup and it started OK.

 

See what happens to morrow?

 

TA