Need Suggestions on IBM Support

[GregE]

Last time I called IBM about the IBMtape driver, they had no clue who to put me in contact with. I optioned to hardware, then of course they want a serial number of a piece of hardware, then they were going to send out an IBM CE as if I needed physical hardware work. That wasn't correct, so I had them transfer me to software. Of course then they looked at my support contract and they didn't see IBMtape driver, so they don't know what to do.

Since IBMtape driver is a free product for supporting tape drives, how do I get IBM assistance? Last time it turned out that I didn't need help, but they had me talking to sales reps who had no clue where to send me. I find it hard to believe that I can't get IBM's help with a tape driver question. Has anyone had good experience with that and can steer me in the right direction?

My issue is that I have dual path support enabled, and my "tapelist" (Solaris) shows all of my device paths as the Alternate Paths, with none marked as Primary, though in the "Active" column it says "Primary" is the active.
(this post - http://adsm.org/forum/showthread.php?21407-HBA-Drivers-EMLXS-vs-LPFC&p=97992&viewfull=1#post97992)

I'd like to see if I can get direction on IBM support before I call again and they have no idea where to route me.

Thanks!

 

[Mita201]

Gee... do not know the answer, but just a comment:
sooo IBMish!

 

[Jacob_6]

I would try the TSM Queue, they should be able to point you in the right direction or help you with the problem.

 

[ChrisRees]

Hi

I had the exact same problem a while back. If I remember rightly in the end I raised a AIX software call and it eventually got routed to the right team in IBM. Sorry this probably won't help you if you are running Solaris, in your case I'd go with the previous suggestion of placing a TSM call.

Cheers

 

[moon-buddy]

Queue the call to TSM Software support.

 

[javajockey]

Yes, The Tivoli support would be your best bet. They will likely escalate the call to a higher tier. I have my servers running on IBM hardware and can assure you that the hardware support will NOT be able to help you with this matter.

 

[GregE]

Thanks guys. I put in the call today. Should get something going tomorrow.

 

[GregE]

They tell me I don't have a SOFTWARE support contract for IBMtape so they're going to check with the entitlement team and likely send my ticket to hardware support, which is of no use. Unreal.

Does software support contract for IBMtape driver even exist??