Re: Ecrix VXA-1 drive errors
From: Rob Turk (_wipe_me_r.turk_at_chello.nl)
Date: 11/20/05
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Date: Sun, 20 Nov 2005 19:33:36 +0100
"Captain Dondo" <yan@NsOeSiPnAeMr.com> wrote in message
news:pan.2005.11.20.17.01.56.56652@NsOeSiPnAeMr.com...
> On Sun, 20 Nov 2005 09:08:55 +0100, Rob Turk wrote:
>
> Thanks. The drive seems to be behaving erratically. I did download the
> LED info page and it didn7t shed any light on the situation; the blinking
> LED simply meant 'tape loading/unloading'.
>
> I ended up rebooting the system and then the tape ejected. The drive
> passes its own diagnostics, but sometimes it throws off a parity error::
>
> Nov 20 08:55:33 tooth kernel: sym0: SCSI parity error detected: SCR1=1
> DBC=11000000 SBCL=29
> Nov 20 08:55:33 tooth kernel: sym0: SCSI parity error detected: SCR1=1
> DBC=1000000 SBCL=29
>
> This is the only indication I have that something is wrong. I suspect it
> may be cabling - this system was in pieces in storage and it's possible
> the cabling is corroded/damaged/etc...
>
> I also don't discount damaged tapes; the tapes are a few years old as well
> and have been in storage - but they were in a conditined space and should
> be OK....
>
SCSI parity errors, in combination with the SCSI device resets and aborts
you saw too, may indicate that your SCSI cables and/or terminator are bad.
The Ecrix drives are LVD/SE compliant, but Exabyte (the current owner of VXA
technology) explicitely warn against running in Single Ended mode. Make sure
the SCSI adapter, the cables and the terminator are all LVD. If you *must*
run SE, keep the cables very short and don't daisy-chain with other
equipment.
Tape is hardly ever the issue. I have tapes here that don't even have an
official label on them (factory samples) that still work just fine.
When the drive comes back up, run a test with Exabyte's vxaTool diagnostics
for Linux. It may give you a better indication on drive/tape health. Also
gives you an opportunity to get the latest-and-greatest firmware loaded. By
the way, only do firmware upgrades over the SCSI bus if you are *absolutely
certain* that your SCSI bus is working properly. Don't wanna end up with a
boat anchor, do you now? ;-)
Last but not least, check the power supply. Bad power supplies can cause
many weird problems. Very early batches of external units had a higher
failure rate due to a bad capacitor on the power supply.
Rob
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