File Name: diags.txt IBM Tapetool diags.txt Version 1.01 CONTENTS --------- 1.0 Overview 2.0 Change History 3.0 Supported Tape Drives 4.0 Diagnostic Usage By Program 5.0 Troubleshooting/Special Conditions/Known Problems 6.0 Trademarks and Notices 1.0 Overview -------------- This README file contains the latest information for using the diagnostics and utilities provided on the Tapetool CD. 2.0 Change History ------------------ 1.01 Added sections on QXLINK, SDLT160, VXA2 1.00 Initial release of Diagnostic Usage Guide 3.0 Supported Tape Drives --------------------------- The following is the list of supported tape drives. 3.1 TR5/TR7/NS20/DDS3/DDS4 drives 00N7991 20/40GB DDS/4 4mm Internal Tape Drive 00N7992 120/240GB Internal DDS/4 4mm Tape Autoloader 09N4041 12/24GB DDS3 4mm Internal Tape Drive 09N4042 10/20GB NS20 Internal SCSI Tape Drive 20L0549 10/20GB TR5 IDE Tape Drive 48P7042 20/40GB TR7 IDE Tape Drive These devices are supported by the following diagnostic utilities SGTAPE STDIAG 3.2 Quantum DLT drives 00K7900 35/70GB DLT Internal SCSI Tape Drive 00N7990 40/80GB DLT Internal SCSI Tape Drive 01K1174 35/70GB DLT External SCSI Tape Drive 04K0149 35/70GB DLT Internal SCSI Tape Drive 09N4040 20/40GB DLT Internal SCSI Tape Drive These devices are supported by the following diagnostic utilities DLTDIAG WINDLT SAVEPG7 QXLINK 3.3 Quantum SDLT drives 00N8015 110/220GB SDLT Internal Tape Drive 59P6736 160/320GB SDLT Tape Drive These devices are supported by the following diagnostic utilities WINDLT QXLINK 3.4 Exabyte 8mm drives 00N8017 60/120GB 8mm M2 SCSI Tape Drive 01K1325 20/40GB 8mm Internal Tape Drive These devices are supported by the following diagnostic utilities EXPERT M2MONITOR 3.5 LTO drives 00N8016 100/200GB LTO Tape Drive These devices are supported by the following diagnostic utility NTUTIL Please consider diagnostic features built in to the device. See the Tape drive User Guide for instructions on accessing these functions. In addition these devices are supported by IBM Real Time Diagnostics. These are available for download from http://www-3.ibm.com/pc/support/site.wss/MIGR-41427.html 3.6 Half-High LTO drives 24P2396 100/200GB Half-High LTO Tape Drive These devices are supported by the following diagnostic utility LIBRARY AND TAPE TOOLS 3.7 DLTVS drives 24P2398 40/80GB Half-High DLTVS SCSI Tape Drive These devices are supported by the following diagnostic utility VS-TOOLS QXLINK 3.8 DLT Tape libraries D/T3447 D/T3502 These devices are supported by the following diagnostic utilities DLTDIAG WINDLT SAVEPG7 QXLINK 3.9 LTO Tape libraries D/T3600 These devices are supported by the following diagnostic utilities LIBRARY AND TAPE TOOLS 3.10 SDLT Tape Autoloader D/T3607 IBM 3607 SDLT Tape Autoloader These devices are supported by the following diagnostic utilities QXLINK 3.11 VXA2 drive 59P6746 80/160GB VXA-2 Tape Drive These devices are supported by the following diagnostic utilities VXA-2 Tool 4.0 Diagnostic Usage by program -------------------------------- 4.1 SGTAPE This is a DOS-based utility suitable for use on Travan and DDS/DAT devices. It communicates directly with the tape drive via an ASPI interface, so can bypass errors such as those caused by incorrect device driver setup within the installed operating system. It may be launched directly from the Tapetool Menu. We recommend the Read/Write test as an excellent tool for basic problem determination on supported devices. A minimum test size of 1000MB should be specified when testing a device. Should the utility encounter problems during a test please follow the on-screen guidance. A full list of messages from the utility is presented here: ASPI interface found. The diagnostic program communicated with the tape drive's controller successfully. ASPI interface not found. The Advanced SCSI Programming Interface (ASPI) cannot be found. Check your SCSI Adapter configuration. Host adapter not responding. Your SCSI host adapter is not responding. Check your SCSI Adapter configuration. Tape data compare failure. Attempting to read a test made with another backup software product may produce this error. This program can ONLY read data cartridges, written by this program. (For example: if a user has a data cartridge written by Backup Exec and attempts to use the diagnostic application to read it, they will receive the error message listed above.) Tape data successful compare. The diagnostic program has successfully compared the data that was written to the tape against the information stored on the hard disk. Tape drive found. The diagnostic program communicated with the tape drive successfully. Tape drive not found. The diagnostic program could not communicate with the tape drive. Check your SCSI troubleshooting basics. Is the tape drive securely attached to the SCSI Host adapter card? Please check the following: Is the ASPI driver being loaded during the system boot? Is the tape drive securely attached to the SCSI adapter card or port? If this is an internal drive, is the power connector securely attached? Tape drive passed the test. Test completed successfully. Tape Error. If there are excessive errors written to the tape the test will fail. Excessive errors may be the result of dust or debris inside the tape drive, a bad data cartridge, or improperly configured tape drive. Clean your drive; try with a new data cartridge, verify the configuration for recommended settings. If these steps do not correct the problem you may need to contact IBM Technical Support for assistance. Tape I/O failure. This tape drive is getting too many errors during communication operations. Please try the following: Clean the tape drive head and rerun the test. See your user's manual for complete instructions. Try another tape, preferably a brand new data cartridge and rerun the test. If these steps do not correct the problem, the drive may be damaged or defective. Tape load failure. The program could not load or detect the data cartridge. Remove the data cartridge, cycle power to the drive and try again. If results are the same, try using a different or new data cartridge. Tape Read Error Limit Exceeded. This tape drive is getting too many errors during read operations. Please try the following: Clean the tape drive head and rerun the test. See your user's manual for complete instructions. Try another tape, preferably a brand new data cartridge and rerun the test. If these steps do not correct the problem, the drive may be damaged or defective. Tape read failure. The program was unable to read from the data cartridge. This may be caused by excessive dust or debris inside the tape drive, corrupt data, or damaged data cartridge. Clean the tape drive and try the test again, if the results are the same try using a different or new data cartridge. Tape rewind failure. The drive is unable to rewind the tape. This error may be caused by a damaged tape drive or data cartridge, replace the data cartridge and try the test again. If these steps do not correct the problem, the drive may be damaged or defective. Tape rewound. The drive has rewound the tape. Tape write failure. This error occurs when the drive cannot write to the tape due to major physical damage or data corruption. Try a new data cartridge and re-run the test. Test unit ready failure. A signal is sent to the drive by the test program asking if it is ready to receive data, if a signal is not sent back by the drive the test will fail. Before attempting the test make sure, the drive has finished loading the tape and there is no movement in the drive. Check all cables. Cycle power to the drive and try the test again. If these steps do not correct the problem, the drive may be damaged or defective. Unexpected attempt to read beyond the end of data. The number of megabytes to be written/read to the tape for testing is a user entry field. This message results from exceeding the capacity of the Tape. Retry the read-only portion of the test and set the number of megabytes to less than or equal to previously written data or perform the Read/Write test followed by the read only test. User terminated the test. User has manually aborted test. Your tape drive is functioning normally. Should SGTAPE report the tape drive is functioning correctly and the backup application is not functioning properly, additional troubleshooting within the operating system environment maybe necessary. 4.2 STDIAG This is similar in function to SGTAPE but must be installed and run from within an operating system. It offers some more testing function and log retrieval , but cannot isolate problems caused by incorrect device driver and operating system setup. A graphical user interface is provided for Windows operating systems. Command line operation is supported under Windows, Novell and Linux environments. When using STDIAG under Windows 2000/XP it is essential for reliable operation of the tool that the 'Removable Storage' service is stopped. This can be achieved via Control Panel -> Administrative tools -> Services. If you do not disable this service, false errors may be reported. The IBM suggested minimum data size for the Read/Write or Compression test is 1000MB. When testing Travan devices (TR5/TR7/NS20) please ensure that the "Retention tape before test" option is selected. Full details of the diagnostic may be found at http://www.seagate.com/support/kb/tape/ref/stdiag_user_guide.html For further details on command line usage please review the file X:\tools\STDiags\Linux\usrguide.txt (where X: represents your CD ROM drive.) 4.3 DLTDIAG This is a DOS-based utility suitable for use on Quantum DLT devices. It communicates directly with the tape drive via an ASPI interface, so can bypass errors introduced by the installed operating system. It may be launched directly from the Tapetool Menu. We recommend the GO-NOGO test as an excellent tool for basic problem determination on supported devices. To run the GO-NOGO test a scratch tape should be loaded into the drive. The 'Tape in Use' light should be illuminated solidly, with the cartridge capacity indicated by the lights on the left of the drive. Boot the Tapetool CD and choose the menu option for DLT Diags. Press the ESC key to pass the disclaimer screen then select the host adapter to which the tape drive is attached. Information on the unit will be presented onscreen. Select OK, and then uncheck 'device protection'. From the menus at the top of the screen choose, Functions, Diagnose, Go-nogo. The tests will then run automatically taking approximately 30 minutes. The exact timing will depend on factors such as tape drive type and cartridge condition. At the completion of the test a Pass/Fail indication will be displayed onscreen. 4.4 WINDLT This diagnostic runs under Windows NT/2000 and is designed for Quantum DLT devices. It requires an ASPI layer to be installed before it can operate. Primary usage of this tool is to retrieve log page information from the device and to update firmware. 4.5 SAVEPG7 Use only when directed by IBM Technical Support. This utility retrieves internal drive logs from Quantum DLT devices which may be required for complex problem determination. The tool runs from the command line as follows SAVEPG7 filename adapter# scsi-id# The adapter# and scsi-id# required can normally be established during the load of the DOS ASPI drivers when the Tapetool CD starts. To save the logs from adapter 0, scsi-id 5 to a filename dltlog.txt could be achieved with the following command SAVEPG7 dltlog.txt 0 5 4.6 EXPERT This is a DOS-based utility suitable for use on Exabyte Mammoth and Mammoth2 devices. It communicates directly with the tape drive via an ASPI interface. It may be launched directly from the Tapetool Menu. A basic test procedure is as follows. At the first screen press enter to progress past the introduction screen. Insert a blank or scratch tape into the drive to be tested. Using the arrow keys highlight the SCSI ID and device that corresponds to the tape drive to be tested. Device details will be shown on the right hand side of the screen. Select the device using the enter key. Use the right arrow key to highlight '-W/Rd' and press [Enter] for a full write/read test. The results will appear in the Operation column to the right of the drive being tested and indicate whether the drive passed or failed the test. For a more lengthy test of around one hours duration it is possible to start the utility with a command line switch as follows. Choose Expert from the menu but immediately exit back to a command prompt. With a good scratch tape loaded issue the following command X:\EXPERT /BATCH (where X: represents your CD ROM drive.) 4.7 M2MONITOR This diagnostic runs under Windows NT/2000 and is designed for Exabyte Mammoth devices. It requires an ASPI layer to be installed before it can operate. This tool does not provide any standard test operations but it may be used under the guidance of IBM Technical support. 4.8 LIBRARY AND TAPE TOOLS This diagnostic runs under Windows NT/2000 and can be used on Half-High LTO drives and the 3600 Tape Library. LTT can operate in two modes, either via the miniport or ASPI interface, selectable when the utility starts. To use the 'miniport' interface you will not need to install any additional software, however you may need to stop all backup related services via the control panel to ensure reliable operation. To use the ASPI interface you must seperately install this, which will require a reboot. Basic test operation for a single drive is as follows. Boot into your operating system and start Tape Tools . Click on the device once detected. This will bring up a picture of the device and additional information like serial number/firmware revision on the right side of the screen. Now click the 'Test Icon' (Red Tick). Select the device (a tick appears) and now run the following series of tests, checking the results after each stage. Results are accessed via the 'test results' tab, and will indicate pass, pass with warnings or fail. A suggested test procedure is to run tests in the following order Device Analysis Device Self Test Connectivity Test Read/Write Test Media Validation Data Compression Test Device Analysis (second pass) 4.9 VS-TOOLS This diagnostic runs under Windows NT/2000 and can be used on Benchmark DLTVS drives. It uses the miniport interface and does not requires an ASPI layer to be installed before it can operate. The utility can be run directly from the CD, but it is best to copy to the machine under test, since the utility writes a trace file during operation into the current directory. This file is called VS_TRACE.TXT and may be requested by IBM Technical Support. When the utility starts it attempts to stop the 'Removable Storage Service' to enable a clean interface to the miniport driver. It then displays any supported devices found along with basic attachment and firmware details. The 'Check Device Status' button will run device Self Test and Buffer RAM tests. To access further tests select the Test tab. There are four tests listed, of which the fourth, Library move media test is not applicable to standalone drives. 'Unit Self Test' runs the same tests as the 'Check Device Status' button. 'Non destructive media read test' does a short read of the loaded cartridge and takes approximately five seconds. The 'Media Write Read test' takes less than one minute but will test the basic functionality of the drive to accurately read data written to a scratch cartridge. On exiting the tests the 'Removable Storage Service' will be restarted. 4.10 NTUTIL This tool runs under Windows NT/2000 and can be used on IBM LTO drives, both standalone and when installed in an automation product. It requires IBM LTO device drivers for Windows NT/2000 to be installed before it can operate. The tool provides the ability to retrieve detailed information regarding drive operation, but does not feature any diagnostic tests. Use of this tool may be requested under the guidance of IBM Technical Support during complex problem determination. The following example shows how to use the tool to gather dump information from a drive. Install both IBM Ultrium LTO Tape Drive device drivers in Device Manager from the latest IBM Tape Tools CD. Close the tape drive software application. Go into the Windows NT/2000 Services tab and record the associated tape software services that are set to Automatic and change them to Manual. Shutdown and reboot the server. Once server is back up, run the NTUTIL program from a MSDOS prompt. Select (1) for Manual Test and press Enter. Select (20) to open the tape drive device and press Enter. Select (1) for open module (RW) and press Enter. Select (81) to read dump and press Enter. Enter name, e.g. DRIVE1, instead of default dump.000 and press Enter twice. Select (99) to return back to main menu. Select (9) to exit the NTUTIL Diagnostic Program Go back into the Windows NT/2000 Services tab and set the recorded tape drive services back to Automatic and revert back to your tape software tape driver. 4.11 QXLINK This diagnostic runs under Windows NT/2000 and can be used on all DLT, DLTVS and SDLT drives. It uses the ASPI interface and this will be added during installation of the tool if its presence is not detected. The machine must be rebooted before the tool will run correctly. The tool provides sophisticated log analysis as well as lengthy read write tests to ensure accuracy of diagnosis. When started the tool will detect applicable devices. The code features a default 'Healthcheck' script designed to fully test the functionality of the drive. After the tool starts use the 'Select Device' button to ensure the correct device is chosen for testing. The drive and serial number are shown at the bottom right of the screen. Then click on 'Run Test' and confirm the use of 'Heathcheck.SCS'. Note the warning regarding the use of 'scratch media'. Click yes to continue through to the testing. The first three tests, SCSI Interconnect Test Collect Log Page 7 Status Analyze Log page 7 Pre DO NOT require media to be loaded. If these tests pass you will then be prompted to load a cartridge. Please insert a piece of 'scratch media' and click OK. The following tests then run Tape Load Operation Quick Write Read Test Small Buffer Write/Read Test System Level Test Bug Check 8008 Test Multi-Pattern Test Drop Out Screen Test (5GB) Collect Log Page 7 status Analyze Log Page 7 Post The tests will take approximately one hour to complete, and test results are reported on screen and are saved in the \logs directory. 5.0 Troubleshooting/Special Conditions/Known Problems ------------------------------------------------------- 5.1 DLTDIAG on LSI SCSI Chipset The DOS DLTDIAG utility does not function correctly on systems where the DLT drive is attached to a SCSI controller featuring the LSI 1030 chipset. 6.0 Trademarks and Notices ---------------------------- THIS DOCUMENT IS PROVIDED "AS IS" WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND. IBM DISCLAIMS ALL WARRANTIES, WHETHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING WITHOUT LIMITATION, THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND MERCHANTABILITY WITH RESPECT TO THE INFORMATION IN THIS DOCUMENT. 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