Re: Exabyte VXA-2-Packet-Loader: new problem

I forget to mention, there is also the /etc/amanda/new/changer.conf file which has several parameters that could effect timing. Any recommendations on this ?

/etc/amanda/new/changer.conf:

firstslot=1
lastslot=10
cleanslot=-1
driveslot=0
havereader=1
autoclean=0
poll_drive_ready=10
max_drive_wait=240
initial_poll_delay=10

On Tue, 2005-02-15 at 13:00 -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 ?