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Backup tape drive

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by pctech

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I have a server running SBS NT4 (sp6)that has a Tandberg SLR 24 tape drive as a backup device. The backups were set to run every week night but more often than not didn't run. The server automaticly was rebooted on Sunday night and the backup would always run on Monday nights but for the rest of the week it would not run. If a manual backup was attempted it would display the error msg to the effect of "the tape drive is detected and drivers loaded but there is a problem ... check the cables arenot loose and the drive is switched on" ..... so I attempted to re-install the tape drive with fresh drivers by removing the old drivers and the tape device and getting Windows to redetect and re-install the tape drive again.
My problem is this .... now Windows NT cannot detect the tape drive anymore when it scans for it using the 'tape drive' icon in the control panel .... can anyone suggest what i can do to get Windows to install or detect this tape drive again.... to sort out this problem ..... I have been accessing the server using PC Anywhere to attempt to re-install the drive.

15 replies

by pctech

I can load the drivers thru' the drivers tab but there is no tape device detected in the tape drive window and no tape drive detected when i scan for it

by leehellcat

What else is on the SCSI Card/Cable you are using for the tape drive. Do they work properly ?

This was on the Tandberg website, slightly different, but you should probably check these anyway :
Why do SCSI Bus timeout errors occur during the backup process?

When SCSI bus timeout errors occur during the backup process, you will need to make sure of the following:

The SCSI bus is properly terminated.
The SCSI cable is good and doesn't have bends, twists, or kinks.
The SCSI connectors on the SCSI cable are good and not broken.
Make sure you are not exceeding the maximum SCSI cable length, which is 3 meters.
Make sure you do not have conflicting SCSI ID addresses.
The SCSI devices are configured correctly in the SCSI Host Adapter configuration BIOS.

You said that backups didn't happen expect after a reboot, so it sounds to me like you have a SCSI problem with either your cable or card.

by pctech

Thanx for your input. There is the hard drive showing up on the same scsi card when i look under scsi adapters in the control panel, so I think the scsi card appears to be working ok. The server would atomaticlly reboot on a sunday nite and would perform a correct backup on monday nite. Then from tuesday nite on there would be no backup done, when a manual backup was attempted it would give an error msg like ' tape drive detected and drivers loaded but there is a problem , check that there isno loose cables etc' I tried to install fresh versions of the drivers to see if that would correct the problems but that is when the tape drive disappeared and now cannot be detected when I scan for drives from the 'tape devices' in the control. Ihave omly just taken over looking after this server in the last couple of weeks so I am still finding my way around this server and windows NT. Because of the christmas period I have been unable to physically check anything and have only being accessing the server via PC Anywhere to try and sort this problem .... now made worse by the tape drive disappearing altogether. Would a hard drive and tape drive be connected on the same scsi card .... is that a feasible option?? What is the correct method of installing a tape drive like this?? .... the fact the you can install and load drivers thru the control panel\ tape drives\ drivers tab , when the hardware is not even detected confuses me

by leehellcat

It is possible for both to be on the same SCSI card. It may be that the SCSI cable is not terminated properly though, which could stop the tape drive from being recognized, or the tape drive and hard drives could be assigned the same SCSI ID. Is there only 1 Hard disk in the server, or more than 1 ??

When you get back in to the office it may be worth checking both of these options. If neither of these work then it looks like you have a faulty tape drive. When the backups run on a monday do you get any errors in the log, such as 'cyclic redundancy errors' ?

Look at the following links for more info on these 2 topics.
http://www.scsi-planet.com/scsi-termination/
http://www.seagate.com/support/kb/tape/w4m_scsi.html
This link is related to Apple Computers, but may be relevant to you.
http://www.lowendmac.com/tech/scsi5.shtml

If you need more help, you can also email me direct.

by pctech

There is only one hard drive in this server ....because it has worked in the past ,do u think it is still likely that they may assigned the same ID ? or that there is a termination problem ?
When the backup does run there dosent appear to be any errors showing up at all
i will follow those links and keep in touch with you .... thanks for your suggestions

by leehellcat

How long have the backups not been working ?
I think that your problems are pointing to a hardware problem.
I suggest that you shut the server down at the earliest possible opportunity to check the connection and terminations on the SCSI cable, and also the SCSI ID of all the devices in the Server.

The link below is to the User Manual for this Tape drive. Pages 74-77 have some very useful information on what to check.
Page 16 tells you how to set the SCSI ID
Page 31 tells you what the LEDs on the front panel mean in different combinations.

I know that you cant check most of this until you can actually see the server, but I think you are at the point where you actually need to be sat in front of it now, to be able to fix it.

by pctech

It appears from the log files that the backups have been working only now and then .... as i have only just taken over administering this network, these are some of the problems i need to sort out. i agree that i need to have a closer look now and do some checks..... i am waiting on a phone call from someone to let me know when I can access the server. That link u suggested didnt show up ..... is it on the Tandberg web site ??

by pctech

I sorted the problem today by checking the cables and made sure the terminators were on tight etc and after a cold boot the tape drive was detected and installed and I performed a manual backup with a problem.
thanks ver much for your input and suggestions it was very helpful to have someone else comment on the problem

by curlergirl

Ok - everyone else has pointed you in the right direction, and I'm pretty sure if you check the physical things like termination and SCSI IDs, etc., you'll find the problem. It is in fact possible for devices on a SCSI bus to work properly sometimes, even though termination is not set properly, and the device not being detected on the SCSI bus is an almost sure sign of either the bus not being terminated properly, or the device ID not being set properly.

I do have a comment to add, though. It is POSSIBLE for the hard drive and the tape drive to be on the same SCSI bus, but in fact it is not RECOMMENDED. I have run systems both ways and have found definitely that, even though the SCSI bus may be properly terminated and all devices have valid SCSI IDs and are detected properly, if the tape drive and hard drive are on the same SCSI bus, you are much more likely to run into problems and inconsistent performance. If it's at all possible, I'd recommend buying a second low-end SCSI controller and putting the tape drive on it just to be on the safe side.

Hope this helps!

by pctech

Thanks for your extra info ........... I still havent managed to get to physically check out all those suggestion as yet ... possibly next week if the company reopens from the christmas break so I will let you know
Thanks

by ravencomputer

What backup software are you using? Or are you using the NT40 backup? It may be you are having a problem with scheduling rather than a device error. Does the event viewer reveal a pattern of device or service failure? I have had many tape backup problems with NT40 backup and do not use it at all currently. Nova Stor has an inexpensive package for NT40 Server.
Good Luck

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