ADSM-L

Re: LTO2 corrupted index question

2005-02-15 09:04:16
Subject: Re: LTO2 corrupted index question
From: Bill Kelly <kellywh AT AUBURN DOT EDU>
To: ADSM-L AT VM.MARIST DOT EDU
Date: Tue, 15 Feb 2005 08:03:57 -0600
Jurjen,

Thanks for the reply.  Yes, I've got TapeAlerts enabled.  And yes, we've
seen all sorts of 'silly' TapeAlerts in the past couple of months; some
samples:

The operation has failed
The tape drive may have a hardware fault.
You are trying to write to a write protected cartridge
The tape drive has a hardware fault
The cartridge is not data-grade.
The tape drive is due for routine cleaning
The last cleaning cartridge used in the tape drive was an invalid type
The tape drive has a problem with the application client interface
The tape system area could not be read successfully at load time

At no time has TSM ever reported any sort of problem itself - failed tape
operations of any kind, for example.  Some of these Alerts occur in large
bunches, all at the same time.  We've run diagnostics and had the IBM
hardware guy look at the drives, but no other errors or diagnostic
information show up.  It sounds to me as if we're experiencing the same
firmware problems you've seen.

I will contact IBM to see about these firmware upgrades you've been
testing; perhaps they're close to making the upgrade generally available.

As for my one recurring 'bad' tape (AU0132), I think I'll work with it
some more before deciding it really needs to be replaced.

Thanks,
Bill

Bill Kelly
Auburn University OIT
334-844-9917

On Tue, 15 Feb 2005, Jurjen Oskam wrote:

> On Mon, Feb 14, 2005 at 02:26:42PM -0600, Bill Kelly wrote:
>
> > A few months ago, we experienced several of the 'corrupted tape directory'
> > problems...more precisely described as a 'corrupted CM index', I think.
>       [LTO-2 firmware/volume problems]
> > I'm seeing.  I'm assuming that the firmware update *really* fixed the
> > problem...it's been out for several months with no subsequent updates.
>
> We also have (had?) problems with our LTO2 3584 library. We also
> experienced the symptoms you see. What we also noticed many "silly"
> TapeAlerts: errors about a failing firmware upgrade when no upgrade
> was attempted, errors about snapped tapes, errors about failed drives.
> No "real" errors (e.g. I/O errors) occured. When these "silly" TapeAlerts
> happen, there's a chance that the volume that's in the drive gets a
> corrupted tape directory. These later show up as "real" TapeAlerts and
> bad performance.
>
> This problem has been open for months and months, during which we
> received two special firmwares, one for diagnosis and one in which the
> problem should be solved. We now no longer see silly TapeAlerts, but
> every now and then a TapeAlerts mentions that "Volume XXX is not
> data-grade. Your data is at risk." Again without any real errors.
>
> We're now on firmware level 4AP0, which should contain a fix for our
> silly TapeAlert and tape directory corruption problem.
>
> Are TapeAlerts enabled in your setup? If not, try enabling them and
> look in the TSM log for any TapeAlerts.

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