excaliburservices
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Tape drive won't show up in Windows
I've recently had a problem with a external tape drive that we purchased. We originally tried using an older SCSI adapter (Ultra2 I believe?) and the drive showed up in the adapters BIOS, as well as Windows, however, anything that tried to use the tape drive would lock up and you would see communication errors in the Server 2003 event log.
After reading around, a lot of people said it needed a Ultra320 SCSI host adapter card, even though the documentation says it only needs a Ultra160. So, we purchased a nice expensive Ultra320 card from adaptec and the tape drive shows up in the adapters BIOS, but will not show up in Windows at all.
The Adapter shows up in Windows and has all the drivers installed.
One other thing I was looking at is on the manual it shows a SCSI terminator on the single device configuration (there is only one device on this SCSI host adapter), however, I was under the impression you did not need a SCSI terminator for a single device configuration on these tape drives?
Any help would be appreciated.
After reading around, a lot of people said it needed a Ultra320 SCSI host adapter card, even though the documentation says it only needs a Ultra160. So, we purchased a nice expensive Ultra320 card from adaptec and the tape drive shows up in the adapters BIOS, but will not show up in Windows at all.
The Adapter shows up in Windows and has all the drivers installed.
One other thing I was looking at is on the manual it shows a SCSI terminator on the single device configuration (there is only one device on this SCSI host adapter), however, I was under the impression you did not need a SCSI terminator for a single device configuration on these tape drives?
Any help would be appreciated.
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ASKER
Oh, also this is for use on a Dell 114T rack mount. Does anyone know what kind of terminator I need?
Are you using NTBackup or other backup solution?
The tape drive normally includes a utility to test its functionality, for HP branded drives it HP Tape Tools. I'm sure Dell has a similar utility that will allow you to run tests needed to troubleshoot.
The tape drive normally includes a utility to test its functionality, for HP branded drives it HP Tape Tools. I'm sure Dell has a similar utility that will allow you to run tests needed to troubleshoot.
A couple of questions...
1) What kind of tape drive is it? If it's a very old drive you may need to go into the Adaptec BIOS and slow down the communications speed on that SCSI id.
2) Is it a 50 pin interface (ie, narrow) device, or 68 (wide)?
2) If you have a look in Device Manager, does it appear under 'other devices'? If so, it means the the OS has seen it but doesn't have drivers for it.
1) What kind of tape drive is it? If it's a very old drive you may need to go into the Adaptec BIOS and slow down the communications speed on that SCSI id.
2) Is it a 50 pin interface (ie, narrow) device, or 68 (wide)?
2) If you have a look in Device Manager, does it appear under 'other devices'? If so, it means the the OS has seen it but doesn't have drivers for it.
ASKER
TapeDude:
1. Dell 110T, in a dual rack mount 114T. It is pretty new.
2. 68 pin wide
3. No, not at all. I know where it is supposed to show up. It showed up back when I was using the old SCSI adapter but couldn't get it to work. I installed the drivers when it was listed in other devices, but never could get the drive to work. After we installed the new Adaptec card (brand spankin new), it stopped showing up in Device Manager completely, not in other devices, tape drives, or anywhere else.
1. Dell 110T, in a dual rack mount 114T. It is pretty new.
2. 68 pin wide
3. No, not at all. I know where it is supposed to show up. It showed up back when I was using the old SCSI adapter but couldn't get it to work. I installed the drivers when it was listed in other devices, but never could get the drive to work. After we installed the new Adaptec card (brand spankin new), it stopped showing up in Device Manager completely, not in other devices, tape drives, or anywhere else.
I have a similar Dell Library (a 124T) and it has a network connection that allows you to log onto the autoloader itself and view logs and run tests... assuming yours has a similar feature, have you tried this?
Is there anything else sharing the SCSI bus? And have you tested the new adapter/cable with another device?
If your 114T is anything like my 1124T I'd get rid of it at the first opportunity. As a general rule, avoid DLT/SDLT/LTO half-height drives - they're just not built the same way as the full height drives.
Is there anything else sharing the SCSI bus? And have you tested the new adapter/cable with another device?
If your 114T is anything like my 1124T I'd get rid of it at the first opportunity. As a general rule, avoid DLT/SDLT/LTO half-height drives - they're just not built the same way as the full height drives.
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excaliburservices - can we please establish that you have, in fact, terminated the 110T with a LVD terminator, that there are no other devices on the bus, that you have tried a different cable (or tested your existing cable on another setup) and that you've gone into the adapter BIOS and checked that i) the adapter's termination is set to on or auto, and there's nothing fishy set for the SCSI ID the 110T is set to?
ASKER
It was indeed the terminator. On the original SCSI card it showed up fine, just wouldn't work, however, with the terminator in place it is working fine.
We actually bought the array used and it was missing all of the normal stuff that comes in the customer kit such as the two terminators, cables, manuals, etc. I actually found the manuals and pictures of everything online and everything did say it needed a SCSI terminator.
Thanks for your help guys.
We actually bought the array used and it was missing all of the normal stuff that comes in the customer kit such as the two terminators, cables, manuals, etc. I actually found the manuals and pictures of everything online and everything did say it needed a SCSI terminator.
Thanks for your help guys.
ASKER
Oh, also, the reason it took so long is I was waiting for the terminator to arrive, we ordered it and I just found out over the weekend it resolved the issue.
Thanks again.
Thanks again.
for those that are interested..
termination..
imagine a swimming pool.
you make a wave in the middle of the pool by moving your hand up and down.
you can measure this wave (the data) anywhere along the pool.
but when the wave bounces back it interferes with the next wave (data) and makes it impossible to read (sometimes)
if you put sponge (aka terminator) all around the edge of the pool the wave wouldnt bounce back and you could transmit and receive data anywhere along the pool.
ANY electrical cable that transmits a signal (analogue or digital) needs appropriate termination to stop signals bouncing around.
termination..
imagine a swimming pool.
you make a wave in the middle of the pool by moving your hand up and down.
you can measure this wave (the data) anywhere along the pool.
but when the wave bounces back it interferes with the next wave (data) and makes it impossible to read (sometimes)
if you put sponge (aka terminator) all around the edge of the pool the wave wouldnt bounce back and you could transmit and receive data anywhere along the pool.
ANY electrical cable that transmits a signal (analogue or digital) needs appropriate termination to stop signals bouncing around.
ASKER
Thanks for your help guys.