On Tue, Feb 15, 2005 at 01:00:12PM -0500, James D. Freels wrote:
> Recall I had a problem getting this device to work properly when it
> failed to write to the tape. This problem was correct by a new and
> separate scsi card dedicated to the packet loader.
>
> When I use the older ncr53c7xx driver in Linux, it works OK, but does
> not automatically reload tapes. Here is my crontab entry:
>
> /usr/sbin/amdump new;/usr/bin/amtape new slot next;/usr/bin/amtape new
> slot next
>
> When I do this at the console, it works fine. However, as a cron job,
> the amtape commands never work. It is necessary to issue two amtape
> commands because the first one unloads the tape, but does not load the
> next one as it is supposed to do. After the first command, I get the
> following error message:
>
> amtape: could not load slot 4: Unloading Data Transfer Element into
> Storage Element 4...mtx: Request Sense: Long Report=yes
>
> After I issue the "amtape new slot next" command again, it loads the
> tape (with the older ncr53c8xx driver).
>
> Then I booted linux with the newer sym53c8xx-2 driver. The amdump
> command works correctly. The first amtape command also works and
> unloads the tape as before. However,when I issue the second amtape
> command, I get the following message to the console:
>
> failed to set sg timeout - Invalid argument
>
> In fact, any mtx command respnds the same way at this point. Checking
> the /var/log/messages log, I find the following:
>
> Feb 15 12:41:59 fea5 kernel: sym1:3:0: ABORT operation started.
> Feb 15 12:41:59 fea5 kernel: sym1:3:control msgout: 80 6.
> Feb 15 12:41:59 fea5 kernel: sym1:3:0: ABORT operation complete.
> Feb 15 12:42:09 fea5 kernel: sym1:3:0: ABORT operation started.
> Feb 15 12:42:14 fea5 kernel: sym1:3:0: ABORT operation timed-out.
> Feb 15 12:42:14 fea5 kernel: sym1:3:0: DEVICE RESET operation started.
> Feb 15 12:42:19 fea5 kernel: sym1:3:0: DEVICE RESET operation timed-out.
> Feb 15 12:42:19 fea5 kernel: sym1:3:0: BUS RESET operation started.
> Feb 15 12:42:19 fea5 kernel: sym1: SCSI BUS reset detected.
> Feb 15 12:42:19 fea5 kernel: sym1: SCSI BUS has been reset.
> Feb 15 12:42:19 fea5 kernel: sym1:3:0: BUS RESET operation complete.
> Feb 15 12:42:24 fea5 kernel: scsi: device set offline - not ready or
> command retry failed after bus reset: host 1 channel 0 id 3 lun 0
>
>
> I am wondering if perhaps I need to downgrade the packet-loader option
> from "native" to a compatibility mode to let amanda be compatible with
> this changer ?
>
Well you say that "any mtx command" has the problem. From that I'd say
it is not related to amanda.
On my dds3 drive, when I issue some commands, but particularly a rewind,
control comes back to the caller earlier than the drive is really ready.
Again, particularly on rewinds, the rewind might still be in progress
for quite a while. I can see it when I issue mt commands from a shell
prompt. If I issue another command to the drive before it is really
ready, even an "mt status", I get error messages. Thus I routinely
put in delays (sleep's) in scripts that might rewind a tape or change
a tape to another slot. As much as 20 or 30 second delays IIRC.
--
Jon H. LaBadie jon AT jgcomp DOT com
JG Computing
4455 Province Line Road (609) 252-0159
Princeton, NJ 08540-4322 (609) 683-7220 (fax)
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