TSM tapes from scratch to filling status.

It's the sort of thing you get when one of your tape drives is faulty. Does your library have a web GUI you can check the status from or can you see it physically to check if there are any error lights?

Thanks andy but the library have a GUI and is working without issues.

Hi,
a scratch tape goes to filling state only when TSM uses it (or by manual command which I think is not the case here). So, after checking in a scratch tape under dsmadmc by means of LABEL LIBV ... ... ... CHECKIN=SCR  carefully watch the server’s activity log (dsmadmc: Q ACTLOG) to see what happens to that tape. TSM should most probably define it to a storage pool and mount it. If the activity log shows too many messages use Q ACTLOG SEARCH=<volume name>.
I assume there’s some kind of backup/archive session active or there’s a background process like copy/reclaim/move running.
Use Q SE and Q PR under dsmadmc to check.
In case of unavailable/readonly tapes check with Q VOL <volume name> F=D for excess read or write errors. This latter command is always useful to see all of the tape's properties, such as its storage pool etc.

Wool,
           Glad to read you again. I´ll try this ASAP and i´ll back with the outcome. Thanks in advance.

Wool ,
            something really strange is happening with my tsm. today i have 3 scratch tapes:

tsm: VWARCOSSTSM01>run scratch

VOLUME_NAME
------------------------------------------------------------------
DP0280L5
DP0299L5
DP0407L5

 SCRATCH_VOLUMES
----------------
               3


Righ now , im running a tape library audit:

tsm: VWARCOSSTSM01>audit library libtsm_ibm
ANS8003I Process number 437 started.

and suddenly the scratch tapes are gone;

tsm: VWARCOSSTSM01>run scratch
ANR2034E SELECT: No match found using this criteria.

 SCRATCH_VOLUMES
----------------
               0

what the hell is happening here.???

Thanks in advance

here is the act log from the 3 scratch tapes:

tsm: VWARCOSSTSM01>Q ACTLOG SEARCH=DP0280L5

Date/Time                Message
--------------------     ----------------------------------------------------------
05/10/2018 14:48:21      ANR8356E Incorrect volume DP0295L5 was mounted instead of
                          volume DP0280L5 in library LIBTSM_IBM. (SESSION: 13295)
05/10/2018 14:49:02      ANR8778W Scratch volume DP0280L5 changed to Private Status
                          to prevent re-access. (SESSION: 13295)
05/10/2018 15:04:37      ANR2017I Administrator SVIDELA issued command: QUERY
                          ACTLOG SEARCH DP0280L5  (SESSION: 13245)
05/10/2018 15:04:53      ANR2017I Administrator SVIDELA issued command: QUERY
                          ACTLOG SEARCH=DP0280L5  (SESSION: 13245)

tsm: VWARCOSSTSM01>Q ACTLOG SEARCH=DP0299L5

Date/Time                Message
--------------------     ----------------------------------------------------------
05/10/2018 14:49:03      ANR8312E Volume DP0299L5 could not be located in library
                          LIBTSM_IBM. (SESSION: 13295)
05/10/2018 14:49:03      ANR8778W Scratch volume DP0299L5 changed to Private Status
                          to prevent re-access. (SESSION: 13295)
05/10/2018 15:05:26      ANR2017I Administrator SVIDELA issued command: QUERY
                          ACTLOG SEARCH=DP0299L5  (SESSION: 13245)

tsm: VWARCOSSTSM01>Q ACTLOG SEARCH=DP0407L5

Date/Time                Message
--------------------     ----------------------------------------------------------
05/10/2018 14:49:48      ANR8356E Incorrect volume GO1669L5 was mounted instead of
                          volume DP0407L5 in library LIBTSM_IBM. (SESSION: 13295)
05/10/2018 14:50:29      ANR8778W Scratch volume DP0407L5 changed to Private Status
                          to prevent re-access. (SESSION: 13295)
05/10/2018 15:05:32      ANR2017I Administrator SVIDELA issued command: QUERY
                          ACTLOG SEARCH=DP0407L5  (SESSION: 13245)

You should be very careful with library audits. Issuing the AUDIT LIBRARY command when a library is active can produce unpredictable results!
Why did you believe you had to perform it?
Did you see something in the ACTLOG during the audit?
Did you find relevant sessions or processes?

Wool,  
1the library is not active right now. i think it could be a good idea to audit it.

2:on the active log i found this message:

ANR0403I Session 13306 ended for node VWSACOSACAD0001
 (WinNT). (SESSION: 13306)
ANR1405W Scratch volume mount request denied - no scratch
 volume available. (SESSION: 13308)
ANR0522W Transaction failed for session 13308 for node
 VWARCOSVDHCP1 (WinNT) - no space available in storage
 pool D_WINTEL_SERVERS and all successor pools. (SESSION:
 13308)

The messages seem to show that there are mismatches between the external barcode labels and the actual volume names . Obviously your tapes have already been formatted (labeled) earlier.
You could add OVERWRITE=YES to the LABEL LIBV command in order to synchronize external labels and tape names.

if i ran qlibvol command , i got this:

tsm: VWARCOSSTSM01>

tsm: VWARCOSSTSM01>q libvol

Library Name     Volume Name     Status               Owner          Last Use      Home        Device
                                                                                   Element     Type
------------     -----------     ----------------     ----------     ---------     -------     ------
LIBTSM_IBM       D25283L5        Private                             Data          4,097
LIBTSM_IBM       DP0181L5        Private                             Data          4,106
LIBTSM_IBM       DP0182L5        Private                             Data          4,104
LIBTSM_IBM       DP0192L5        Private                             Data          4,124
LIBTSM_IBM       DP0194L5        Private                                           4,104
LIBTSM_IBM       DP0195L5        Private                             Data          4,104
LIBTSM_IBM       DP0280L5        Private                                           4,099
LIBTSM_IBM       DP0281L5        Private                             Data          4,118
LIBTSM_IBM       DP0282L5        Private                             Data          4,102
LIBTSM_IBM       DP0284L5        Private                             Data          4,104
LIBTSM_IBM       DP0285L5        Private                             Data          4,127
LIBTSM_IBM       DP0286L5        Private                             DbBackup      4,127
LIBTSM_IBM       DP0287L5        Private                             Data          4,102
LIBTSM_IBM       DP0288L5        Private                             Data          4,100
LIBTSM_IBM       DP0289L5        Private                             Data          4,097
LIBTSM_IBM       DP0290L5        Private                             Data          4,131
LIBTSM_IBM       DP0291L5        Private                             Data          4,125
LIBTSM_IBM       DP0292L5        Private                             Data          4,128
LIBTSM_IBM       DP0293L5        Private                             Data          4,118
LIBTSM_IBM       DP0294L5        Private                             Data          4,098
LIBTSM_IBM       DP0295L5        Private                             Data          4,119
LIBTSM_IBM       DP0296L5        Private                             Data          4,108
LIBTSM_IBM       DP0297L5        Private                             Data          4,114
LIBTSM_IBM       DP0298L5        Private                             Data          4,096
LIBTSM_IBM       DP0299L5        Private                                           4,108
LIBTSM_IBM       DP0300L5        Private                             Data          4,133
LIBTSM_IBM       DP0306L5        Private                             Data          4,113
LIBTSM_IBM       DP0318L5        Private                             Data          4,133
LIBTSM_IBM       DP0353L5        Private                             Data          4,133
LIBTSM_IBM       DP0354L5        Private                             Data          4,123
LIBTSM_IBM       DP0363L5        Private                             Data          4,138
LIBTSM_IBM       DP0368L5        Private                             Data          4,109
LIBTSM_IBM       DP0400L5        Private                             Data          4,135
LIBTSM_IBM       DP0407L5        Private                                           4,130
LIBTSM_IBM       DP0412L5        Private                             Data          4,110
LIBTSM_IBM       DP0416L5        Private                             Data          4,134
LIBTSM_IBM       DP0700L5        Private                             Data          4,121
LIBTSM_IBM       DP0702L5        Private                             Data          4,127
LIBTSM_IBM       GO1665L5        Private                             Data          4,107
LIBTSM_IBM       GO1667L5        Private                             Data          4,105
LIBTSM_IBM       GO1669L5        Private                             Data          4,103
LIBTSM_IBM       GO1671L5        Private                                           4,121
LIBTSM_IBM       GO1672L5        Private                             Data          4,110
LIBTSM_IBM       GO1676L5        Private                             Data          4,137
LIBTSM_IBM       GO1678L5        Private                             Data          4,126
LIBTSM_IBM       GO1679L5        Private                             Data          4,117

can you tell me why some volumes as  

DP0407L5
DP0281L5

seems to be without data?

Please - wait for my replies before posting new information!!

sorry.

Mismatching volumes are changed to private in order to keep the server from accessing them.

Ok , so the steps to solve this are:

1-checkout the volumes on private status,

2- Run the command: label libv LIBTSM_ibm search=bulk labelsource=barcode checkin=scratch overwrite=yes

is this ok?

Sounds good!

... but of course just check out the private volumes which don't yet contain any data, because the checkin will destroy all data on them!

is there any query to checjk all the volumes in private status?

Seems you have a scripted query  "scratch". Duplicate this script to e.g. "private " and change "SCRATCH" to "PRIVATE " in the "where " clause.

Wool,
            seems to be working.

tsm: VWARCOSSTSM01>run scratch

VOLUME_NAME
--------------------------------------------------------
DP0701L5
DP0703L5
DP0704L5

can we wait till tomorrow to close this question?

As your name says , you are capable of everything!, Thanks!

wool,
           from 3 scratches to 1: is this correct?

VOLUME_NAME
------------------------------------------------------------------
DP0704L5

 SCRATCH_VOLUMES
----------------
               1

  FREE_SLOTS
------------
          -5
ANR1462I RUN: Command script SCRATCH completed successfully.

tsm: VWARCOSSTSM01>Q ACTLOG SEARCH=DP0701L5

Date/Time                Message
--------------------     ----------------------------------------------------------
05/10/2018 16:13:15      ANR8810I Volume DP0701L5 has been labeled in library
                          LIBTSM_IBM. (SESSION: 13384, PROCESS: 438)
05/10/2018 16:30:25      ANR8337I LTO volume DP0701L5 mounted in drive DRIVE2
                          (\\.\Tape0). (SESSION: 13406)
05/10/2018 16:30:25      ANR1340I Scratch volume DP0701L5 is now defined in storage
                          pool T_WINTEL_SERVERS. (SESSION: 13406)
05/10/2018 16:30:29      ANR0511I Session 13406 opened output volume DP0701L5.
                          (SESSION: 13406)
05/10/2018 16:33:48      ANR2017I Administrator SVIDELA issued command: QUERY
                          ACTLOG SEARCH=DP0701L5  (SESSION: 13384)

tsm: VWARCOSSTSM01>Q ACTLOG SEARCH=DP0703L5

Date/Time                Message
--------------------     ----------------------------------------------------------
05/10/2018 16:14:44      ANR8810I Volume DP0703L5 has been labeled in library
                          LIBTSM_IBM. (SESSION: 13384, PROCESS: 438)
05/10/2018 16:17:28      ANR2017I Administrator SVIDELA issued command: DP0703L5
                          (SESSION: 13384)
05/10/2018 16:17:28      ANR2000E Unknown command - DP0703L5. (SESSION: 13384)
05/10/2018 16:32:39      ANR8337I LTO volume DP0703L5 mounted in drive DRIVE1
                          (\\.\Tape1). (SESSION: 13411)
05/10/2018 16:32:39      ANR1340I Scratch volume DP0703L5 is now defined in storage
                          pool T_WINTEL_SERVERS. (SESSION: 13411)
05/10/2018 16:32:43      ANR0511I Session 13411 opened output volume DP0703L5.
                          (SESSION: 13411)
05/10/2018 16:34:24      ANR2017I Administrator SVIDELA issued command: QUERY
                          ACTLOG SEARCH=DP0703L5  (SESSION: 13384)

tsm: VWARCOSSTSM01>Q ACTLOG SEARCH=DP0704L5

Date/Time                Message
--------------------     ----------------------------------------------------------
05/10/2018 16:16:15      ANR8810I Volume DP0704L5 has been labeled in library
                          LIBTSM_IBM. (SESSION: 13384, PROCESS: 438)
05/10/2018 16:17:29      ANR2017I Administrator SVIDELA issued command: DP0704L5
                          (SESSION: 13384)
05/10/2018 16:17:29      ANR2000E Unknown command - DP0704L5. (SESSION: 13384)
05/10/2018 16:34:41      ANR2017I Administrator SVIDELA issued command: QUERY
                          ACTLOG SEARCH=DP0704L5  (SESSION: 13384)

Sure we can wait.

This is my view of what happened:
1. The tapes in question already had internal labels, and someone put for some unknown reason new barcode labels on them which didn’t match the internal labels.
2. These tapes were checked in using the “wrong” barcodes,  thus the library knew them under a name which didn’t match the internal one.
3. The first time  they were mounted the server detected the mismatch and changed “scratch “ to “private” to remove them from the scratch pool.

Adding the “overwrite “ option makes the server instruct the library to load each tape and change the internal labels to what’s on the external barcode labels.

Wool , as always, your troubleshooting was the right one. Thanks a lot