SCSI tape drive doesn't work - problems with AHA 2940UW?

William H. Bowen bowenw at whbowen.com
Wed Mar 31 01:02:11 UTC 2004


*This message was transferred with a trial version of CommuniGate(tm) Pro*
Date sent:      	Tue, 30 Mar 2004 15:57:36 -0800
From:           	Rick Stevens <rstevens at vitalstream.com>

> Milen Dimitrov wrote: >  Hi, > > I have installed AHA-2940UW Dual SCSI adapter
> and external HP SureStore > DAT 24 Tape drive > on my linux box running RedHat
> 9. > On the next boot RedHat detected the new hardware. > When using RedHat
> Hardware browser I see it in the list of hardware > devices : > SCSI devices:
> > ---AHA-2940UW/AHA-38XX/AIC-7895 > ---AHA-2940UW/AHA-38XX/AIC-7895 >
> -------------Manufecturer : Adaptec > -------------Driver: aic7xxx > Tape
> Drives: > ---HP C1537A > -------------Manufecturer : Unknown >
> -------------Driver: none or buil-in > -------------Device : /dev/st > > The
> problems - cannot access tape drive: Here are the commands and the > error
> messages: > #mt status > #/dev/tape: No such file or directory > # mt -f
> /dev/st status > #/dev/st: No such file or directory > # mt -f /dev/st0 status
> > #/dev/st0: No such device or address > > Additional info: > # cat
> /proc/scsi/scsi > Attached devices: none > # > > How can I check/prove if AHA
> 2940 driver is working properly ? > Any ideas how to solve the problem and
> make the tape drive work? > > Thank you for the help in advance! > Milen >
> ====================================================== > P.S. > I'm posting
> the ouput of lsmod and dmesg commands bellow: > > Here is the output of lsmod
> command: (you can see st, scsi_mod i the list) > #lsmod > # > Module          
>        Size  Used by    Not tainted > st                     31660   0 
> (autoclean) > nls_iso8859-1           3516   0  (autoclean) > udf             
>       98432   0  (autoclean) > r128                   88408   1 > agpgart     
>           48128   3 > parport_pc             19076   1  (autoclean) > lp      
>                8996   0  (autoclean) > parport                37056   1 
> (autoclean) [parport_pc lp] > autofs                 13268   0  (autoclean)
> (unused) > 8139too                18120   1 > mii                     3976   0
>  [8139too] > microcode               4668   0  (autoclean) > ide-scsi         
>      12208   0 > scsi_mod              107544   2  [st ide-scsi] > ide-cd     
>            35712   0 > cdrom                  33728   0  [ide-cd] > keybdev   
>              2976   0  (unused) > mousedev                5556   1 > hid      
>              22244   0  (unused) > input                   5856   0  [keybdev
> mousedev hid] > usb-uhci               26412   0  (unused) > usbcore          
>      79040   1  [hid usb-uhci] > ext3                   70784   2 > jbd       
>             51924   2  [ext3] >
> ============================================================= > scsi1 :
> Adaptec AIC7XXX EISA/VLB/PCI SCSI HBA DRIVER, Rev 6.2.8 >     <Adaptec
> 2940/DUAL Ultra SCSI adapter> >     aic7895: Ultra Wide Channel A, SCSI Id=7,
> 32/253 SCBs > > scsi2 : Adaptec AIC7XXX EISA/VLB/PCI SCSI HBA DRIVER, Rev
> 6.2.8 >     <Adaptec 2940/DUAL Ultra SCSI adapter> >     aic7895: Ultra Single
> Channel B, SCSI Id=7, 32/253 SCBs > > Vendor: HP        Model: C1537A         
>   Rev: L907 > Type:   Sequential-Access                  ANSI SCSI revision:
> 02 > blk: queue decd7014, I/O limit 4095Mb (mask 0xffffffff) > st: Version
> 20030406, bufsize 32768, max init. bufs 4, s/g segs 16 > Attached scsi tape
> st0 at scsi2, channel 0, id 2, lun 0 > scsi : 1 host left.
> 
> Well, your system saw it initially and called it /dev/st0 but it
> seems to have gone away now.
> 
> Whenever I see this kind of thing, I immediately have to suspect SCSI
> bus termination issues.  Make sure the drive is at the end of the cable
> and that it either has its termination resistors installed and enabled
> OR that it's not at the end of the cable and the cable has a terminator
> on it.  Remember, on SCSI buses, the last device at each end of the
> cable must be terminated.  The controller usually is...it's up to you
> to make sure the other end is.

Milen,

  Just checked out my RH9 system, which is set up similar to yours 
(same SCSI board but an older model HP external DAT drive).

  When I run the "mt -f /dev/st0 status" command, I ger the following 
response:

SCSI 2 tape drive:
File number =0, block number=0, partition=0.
Tape block size 0 bytes. Density code 0x13 (DDS (61000 bpi)).
Soft error count since last status=0
General status bits on (41010000):
 BOT ONLINE IM_REP_EN

I also get info on the device if I run "cat /dev/scsi/scsi"

This will give you an idea of what the correct response will be. I'll 
second Rick's idea that you just might have a termination problem. I'd 
also doublecheck the setup of the 2940 (hit the "CRTL-A" key 
combination when the Adaptec SCSI BIOS screen comes up during 
POST of the machine). Make sure your termination is set correctly for 
the external channel on the card (it should be ON if you have no other 
devices connected to the external channel except for the HP tape 
drive) and make sure you have the termination turned ON in the tape 
drive or (and this is how my old SureTape 5000 works) an external 
termination device attached to the second SCSI connector on the back 
of the drive.

Regards,
  Bill Bowen
  Sacramento, CA USA

> ----------------------------------------------------------------------
> - Rick Stevens, Senior Systems Engineer     rstevens at vitalstream.com -
> - VitalStream, Inc.                       http://www.vitalstream.com -
> -                                       -
> -        "More hay, Trigger?" "No thanks, Roy, I'm stuffed!"         -
> ----------------------------------------------------------------------
> 
> 
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