I have replaced at least 10 Compaq 40/80 DLT drives since the beginning of the year. In all cases, the drives pull the tape in part way and then stop with all four LEDs on the right side flashing. I have tried updating the drive to firmware V080 and the same problem exists. These are all with different customers and some with brand new tapes. One thing I noticed with the cover off is when the drive spool is pulling in the tape, it seems to slow down just before the drive goes failed, causing the tape to sort of "back up" on the spool.
Has anyone else experienced similar issues? I've contact HP/Compaq and they have no known problems.
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4 LEDs flashing on the right hand side indicates a mechanical or servo problem. Usually this is a symptom of what's known as the "dropped leader problem". You should check *each* of your cartridges for the presence of the buckling loop at the start of the tape, it may be missing or broken on one or more of them. Look under the flap at the front of the cartridge.
Every drive you insert such a tape into will be rendered inoperative and need to be returned for repair.
I am familiar with dropped leaders and although similar symptoms, it is not the case in these situations. I have reseated the leader and placed brand new tapes in these faulty drives, only to have the drive pull the tape in a bit and then stop with the flashing LEDs.
OK, then it must be another mechanical or servo problem. I'd suggest collecting a HP Library & Tape Tools support ticket from this drive. Near the end, you should see a "Drive Error Log" section. Open that and look at the error packets for clues about what might be the cause. Check for Axxx error events especially.
I have replaced 5 Compaq 40/80 DLT drives... in THREE months... I get exactly the same problem... on the backup Software (Veritas 8.6 media server is installed on Windows 2000 server, the device shows up as in red as off-line. Also, now all the LEDs on the right are flashing and the device is making a churning noise... HP also advise me they do not know of the problem??? I have also updated to the relevant firmware and also the problem stays... surely they do not expect us to just keep changing the tape devices every five seconds!!! There must be a fix!!!!
I am having this problem now. I have read all the questions and answers to this on the site and none seem to be exactly what is going on to me. After returning from X-mas break I was performing my latest back-up when it happened. All the lights on the right side of my 40/80 drive are lit up and flashing. Everytime I hit the unload button I hear the drive grind and after a minute or so the lights are flashing again. My drive is less than a year old along with my tapes. Is there a way to get the tape out and possibly save the drive - or has it given up the ghost?
> Everytime I hit the unload button I hear the drive grind and after a minute or so the lights are flashing again. My drive is less than a year old along with my tapes. Is there a way to get the tape out and possibly save the drive - or has it given up the ghost?
Off hand, I can't remember if you can also do this on a standalone drive (I think you can). However, if your drive is still under warranty, don't attempt this unless the call center walks you through it. The standlaone DLT manual doesn't cover removal of stuck tapes.
> I have tried updating the drive to firmware V080 and the same problem exists.
The current firmware for all HP/CPQ DLT8000 drives is V86. You can used HP Library & Tape Tools (www.hp.com/support/tapetools) to update your firmware.
> I am familiar with dropped leaders and although similar symptoms, it is not the case in these situations. I have reseated the leader and placed brand new tapes in these faulty drives, only to have the drive pull the tape in a bit and then stop with the flashing LEDs.
After a failure, run HP L&TT and generate a support ticket. Post the support ticket here, and I can review the drive error logs. That should give us a clue as to what is going on.
I have followed David's advice and I did get my tape out. Took a while since it looked like the tape ran all the way to the end and I had to rewind by hand. Now that I got the tape out and drive put back in, it still thinks that there is a tape in the drive! I have the internal 1 tape DLT 40/80, using the MS Backup feature on NT4.0 SP6. Is there some way to reset it?
> Took a while since it looked like the tape ran all the way to the end and I had to rewind by hand. Now that I got the tape out and drive put back in, it still thinks that there is a tape in the drive!
If the drive had a tape half spooled down the tape, and would not retention and rewind the tape after being power-cycled, it most likely indicates that it is having hard servo problems (or it's possible that the tape had packing problems, and the drive could not maintain correct tension).
Can you run HP L&TT and generate a support ticket? I'd like to see what it is returning for SCSI Test Unit Ready status, and also what the drive event/error logs contain. You can just post the support ticket here (.ltt file).
>If the drive had a tape half spooled down the tape, and would not retention and rewind the tape after being power-cycled, it most likely indicates that it is having hard servo problems (or it's possible that the tape had packing problems, and the drive could not maintain correct tension).
>Can you run HP L&TT and generate a support ticket? I'd like to see what it is returning for SCSI Test Unit Ready status, and also what the drive event/error logs contain. You can just post the support ticket here (.ltt file).
>Can you run HP L&TT and generate a support ticket? I'd like to see what it is returning for SCSI Test Unit Ready status, and also what the drive event/error logs contain. You can just post the support ticket here (.ltt file).
These happened 44 and 69 hours back. An A209 bugcheck is a servo timeout on an operation. It is usually either a dropped leader or a whir (where the gears don't mesh with the tape hub).
You can look into the mouth of the drive and should see the drive leader portion attached to a little arm. If you don't, the leader is most likely wound up in the drive.
>If it doesn't have a dropped leader, it most likely has other mechanical/electical problems.
Looks like it does. I reset the leader, it was not on very well from my last reset. The drive looked good, then I put in my cleaning cartdrige (so I would not risk any backup data) and the same error resulted. I took the drive out and looks like it is partially on the take up spool. Here is the error file from this.
The drive has 2 A402 (Drive Error Log) entries, and the sub error is 84H (Servo under speed error).
I've not seen that particular sub error code before, so I can't offer any advice.
If you are getting repeat dropped leaders or tape unspooling (e.g. all the tape ends up in the drive), one common cause is a clogged BOT/EOT sensor. This is an optical sensor in the middle of the tape path that watches for the BOT/EOT holes in the tape. The receiver part of the sensor looks through a little hole in the plastic leader guide that can get clogged up with debris (e.g. shed oxide from the tape) over time.
If your drive is out of warranty, and you're having that problem, you can try cleaning it out with some compressed air (before reattaching the leader).
I've seen exactly the same behaviour: all leds are flashing at the right side. The leader is not dropped. You see the reel spin and then slow down, at this point you see that the tape slacks. When this happens, all leds start blinking at the right side. After removing the tape, removed the power and checking the drive I noticed that when you manually turn the reel there is too much resistance. Only replacing the drive resolved the problem. In my opinion this error can occur when: the drive firmware is below V86 and the backup software is set that it has to do a eject after backup. There is an issue that if you do an eject after backup, you have to remove the tape as soon as possible. If you don't do this, like most customers, there is a possibility to damage the drive. V86 prevents this, after an eject you have a short periode of time to remove the tape. If not the drive will remount the tape.
I have heard the 'grinding' noise' described by other users. I think with the last 6 months have had problems with this particular drive of ours and have had them replaced at least 3 or 4 times. One time I had a backup blow up somewhere in the beginning and tried to do it again on a different drive. Same results. I ended up using an entirely different tape and decided to have a look at the bad DLT cartridge. Near the beginning the tape had excessive slack and you can physically see where the tape wasn't aligned and practically almost wrapped up and almost binded the inside of the tape cartridge. We had similar errors with the drive servo going bad in the units. In my case the tape was all the way in, during the rewind of tape, since we do not dismount/unload after our backups. We physically have to unload the tapes and at the begininng of the backups the cartridges are rewinded to beginning by the system. We outsource our backups offsite. Maybe there is an issue with transportation. Just wanted to give a little input with this problem. If it helps anyone.
Just a last update from me. I took out the back up, used 2 cans of air to make sure everything was cleaned out, and put it back in. Works great now. Thanks David for all of your help.
Leon mentions a problem caused by having a cartridge just sit in the drive ... and that firmware V86 changes a timer to prevent problems ... my question, I have three drives that have this blinking light situation ... do I just throw them away ?
I'm hoping there is some easy cheap fix :-) (in addition to upgrading the firmware of course once they are working again)
Here is the description of the V86 change (taken from the LTT firmware details): Fixed between versions V059 and V086 Added a low power mode used while waiting for the drive handle to be opened. If after 10 minutes the handle has not been opened, the handle will lock and the holding tension on the tape will be reduced. At this point, the eject button, a SCSI unload command, or library unload command must be used to open the handle and remove the cartridge. A SCSI load command or library load command will load the cartridge and also remove the drive from the low power state.
That was the release notes for the OML3 (library version) of the firmware. For HP standalone drives, I think the change was around V89. Here's a support document extract: ---
QUESTION: Is there a problem if I cannot lift the unload handle and the green operate handle LED is flashing?
ANSWER: An improved LED sequence was introduced with V89 firmware. If the unload handle is not operated within ten minutes of a back up completing, the drive enters a low power mode and the unload handle is locked. The amber In use LED is illuminated and the green Operate Handle LED flashes. To unload the tape the unload button should be pressed and the green Operate Handle LED will illuminate and the unload handle can be operated after two seconds.
There is no change to the unload process if carried out within ten minutes of a backup completing. ---
This thread may be four years old, but it's still fresh and exciting. I just extracted a tape and rethreaded a leader on a Compaq 40/80 DLT an hour ago.
DAVID, thanks for those details ... but my original problem is still here :-) Whatever burns out has burnt out on me ... so is there any way to fix my 3 broken drives, or do I now have some new doorstops?
p.s. even though the drive will not load a tape, I was able to use LTT to upgrade the firmware to v89 ... but it made no difference (i.e., I still get the 4 flashing LEDs and the drive will not load a tape)
The one provided above is where LTT finds it's files. The easiest way to see what the latest version of firmware is however is directly within LTT. Just use "File -> Get Files from Web", and you can see the latest version of firmware for all support products and all the various personalities. The latest revision often depends on the drive personality. The standalone and autoloader/library versions are often different.
> DAVID, thanks for those details ... but my original problem is still here
I wanted to clarify the change in behavior with the newer code and flashing operate handle LED.
If you have ALL lights flashing on either the right or left side of the drive, the drive has a hard error. The user manual says:
If all the right side or left side lights flash on the front panel: There is a fault with the drive. 1 Try turning the power switch on the drive off and then on again. 2 If the problem persists, call for service.
One common cause is a dropped leader (perhaps due to a clogged BOT/EOT sensor). That was covered earler in this thread.
Another cause of the flashing lights would be a power-on self test (POST) failure. That could be something like a RAM error or a mechanical problem (i.e. unable to turn the motors).
If you can run LTT (which it sounds like you can, since you could flash firmware) then the drive is alive enough to talk on the bus. In that case, you can run LTT, select the drive, click on the support tool, and then save the support ticket. Post the support ticket here (as someone had done earlier) and we can review the drive event log to see what type of errors are logged (such as POST failures).
> since it was suggested to start a new entry, ...
Since your problem seems similar, there's no reason you need to start a new post. A number of folks (like me) may still have this one set for email notification and are curious for new info.
The only downside is you can't award any points to folks providing you with assistance. No big deal.
Maybe I am missing something, but in using LTT on OpenVMS (v7.3-2, Alpha 4100), I could not get the SAVE function to work ... it kept making a zero length file.
So I cut/pasted from an Xwindow the on-screen display ... I hope that will be helpful (attached to this entry, all text but I was worried about ITRC formatting of it).
If there is a better way to get info via LTT on VMS, please let me know :-)
If push comes to shove, I could try to find a SCSI card and put the tape drive onto a WinXP box ... for diagnostic purposes.
Upon power-up, the drive seems to pass POST. Then we insert a tape and things go downhill from there. We cleaned (well, tried to clean :-)) a sensor as well as blew it out well ... it will hook the leader and wind that onto the takeup reel, then it continues to wind forward a bit, searching for something, then gives up and flashes all 4 LEDs on the right, then recovers and advances the tape some more, then flashes again.
If we let it go, I assume it would slowly move thru the entire cartridge :-)
With v89 firmware, it finally stops actually (or stops right away, I forget) ... it was with the old v80 firmware that it would just keep on going ...
or I am confused... maybe I had to press the UNLOAD button (right hand button) for the retrys ... in any case it would never ever rewind :-) One test tape we were able to rewind, the others we cut the tape and manually pulled it from the takeup reel and threw the tape away.
With 3 to play with, I have tried so many things and am so frustrated ... sorry for not having a more detailed accurate description above :-)
> Maybe I am missing something, but in using LTT on OpenVMS (v7.3-2, Alpha 4100), I could not get the SAVE function to work ... it kept making a zero length file.
I don't have OpenVMS to try (not a real common OS), but I've let the LTT_team know about this.
> So I cut/pasted from an Xwindow the on-screen display ... I hope that will be helpful
Yep, that works. The only problem is I believe you had this set to "normal" detail level, which supresses some detail in the error logs. If you can change the display to say "everything" (in the command line, I beleve you set the detail level to a higher number [like 4?]). If you can the provide the same type of capture, that will help.
You are correct - there are no POST errors.
There are some SCSI errors (unknown event) which could be a cabling/termination issue.
There's also an A402 error logged at the same Power on Hour as the current hour. In the hex data shown at the higher detail level, it will have specific error codes I can look up.
Yes, the .ltt file is exactly what we need. The .ltt file has all the detail levels stored (which you can change while viewing).
The earlier text file snapshot you had was at the normal (default) level.
You can change it in the CSI (command screen) interface. I had to log into my hp-ux box to remember how to do it :-).
When viewing the ticket (in the CSI), you type "detail 4" to set the detail to everything. Anyway, we have all the details now in the .ltt file.
I'll analyze this later today. There's also a bugcheck logged in the same power-on hour. A bug check is basically an unhandled error condition. These are either software bugs, unexpected error conditions, or unhandled hardware faults. I'll see if there's a known decode of a BE09 bug check.
It would be interesting to know if the other 2 drives have similar errors.
The BE09 bugcheck (as best I can determine) is related to the head preamplifier not reaching stability. It could be a side effect of mechanical problems tensioning and/or moving tape.
The A402 drive error log entry seems to better explain the problem. The drive error code detail logged is an error 5B. This is defined as "Load Nb error". The "Nb" refers to motor B, which is the internal take-up reel. The error code definition states "During loading of the tape, the calculation of the diameter of the take-up reel tape distribution was outside of reasonable limits, but the diameter of the supply reel was okay.".
Have you tried manually removing the current tape and reattaching the leader, and then loading a known good tape?
It could be a problem being caused by the specific tape still in the drive. If not, then its more likely an electrical failure in the motor or motor control circuitry.
Lastly, the "SCSI Event: Unknown" entries include the ASC/ASCQ data which says Hardware error - Internal Target failure. That is likely related to the load errors.
Is there some magic way to force the tape drive to rewind? ... some way to issue it a direct SCSI command to do so?
I hate to keep cutting tapes and manually pulling the tape off the take-up reel (after taking the case off of course) :-)
The few things I have tried under VMS all want the tape to be mounted to VMS first, but of course the drive will not mount in its current condition :-) (but LTT can talk to it just fine)
> Is there some magic way to force the tape drive to rewind? ... some way to issue it a direct SCSI command to do so?
Yes, you can but the drive will not accept it until the tape is tensioned (i.e. loaded).
Power-cycling a DLT drive will rewind the tape automatically after it's tensioned. However, if it can't tensiion the tape, the only way out is a manual rewind and unload.
> Is there some magic way to force the tape drive to rewind? ... some way to issue it a direct SCSI command to do so?
The few things I have tried under VMS all want the tape to be mounted to VMS first, but of course the drive will not mount in its current condition :-) (but LTT can talk to it just fine)
Most OS'es will not send any operations (including just "opening" the device) to the drive until the device is "ready", LTT doesn't really care. If you look in the LTT support ticket, it reports:
|__ SCSI Test Unit Ready returns a check condition ||__ SCSI Info : 0x02 0x0403 (Logical Device: device does not report ready)
The 0x02 sense key is "Not Ready". The 0x0403 additions sense code/qualifier is "Logical unit not ready, manual intervention required".
After you've manualled removed a tape and re-attached/threaded the leader, if the drive will not load a known-good tape, then it has some type of electro/mechanical fault.
That's actually the LTT event log, but it contains a support ticket within it. I renamed it to a .ltt file and I can view it.
This drive is reporting:
|__ SCSI Test Unit Ready returns a check condition ||__ SCSI Info : 0x02 0x3003 (Unit Not Ready, incompatible Media (Cleaning Cartrige) Installed)
So it think's that a cleaning tape is installed. The cleaning tape sensing is actully done by checking the position and number of holes at the start of the tape, so it's possible that mechanical or sensor problems are causing it to believe a regular tape is a cleaning tape.
The event log also has a BE09 bug check, along with many A402 drive errors. The specific error code is 0x0082 which means "Brake Timeout Error".
I'd guess this drive is having motor control/sensing problems.
We swapped motors on one unit from front to back and realized the front motor was bad.
We then took a back motor from another drive to replace the bad front motor and VOILA we have a working drive now with v89 firmware !!
The motors looked absolutely identical ... and it works.
But that leaves us with two dead drives (I started out with three drives all with a stuck tape and blinking LEDs).
I found one website that sells DLT8000 motors for $140 each ...
I was hoping this "burnout after leaving dismounted cartridge" issue that was addressed in firmware 89 with a timer would amount to a design or manufacturing defect, and there would be a cheap or free way to get them all fixed ...
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