If the tape backup software does not detect the tape drive or to obtain the
latest operating system drivers and/or firmware upgrades, see the Dell Support
website at support.dell.com.
Troubleshooting the Drive
Power-On Self-Test (POST) and Drive Connectivity Failures
Every time you turn on or reset the drive, it conducts a Power-On Self-Test
(POST). This test ensures that the drive is working properly and is ready to
use. While POST is in progress, watch the front panel LEDs to see the progress
and results of the test. See Operating
the Tape Drive in Using the Tape Drive for details
on normal LED activity during during POST.
A successful POST will always finish with a solid Ready LED. POST takes approximately
eight seconds with no tape loaded and up to several minutes with a tape loaded,
depending on the position of the media in the tape path. When a tape is loaded,
other expected LED indications may exist. See Operating
the Tape Drive in Using the Tape Drive for details.
Any unexpected LED indications during POST may indicate a failure. Use the information
in Table 1 to troubleshoot the drive.
If the condition persists, contact Technical Support.
Table 1. Troubleshooting errors indicated
by front panel LEDs
Symptom
Problem
Solution
None of the drive�s LEDs illuminate.
The drive is not receiving power.
Check the drive's power cable. If an external drive,
check the power cable connections. Plug the power cable into a different
power outlet.
Media LED: Slow blink
Unsupported format, unsupported cartridge
type, or damaged cartridge.
Loading an unsupported cartridge, such
as a DLTtape™III, an SDLT cartridge, or an incompatible cleaning cartridge,
damaged media, a DLTtape� IV cartridge that is either blank or was written
using an unsupported format such as DLT4000, DLT7000 or DLT8000, or an unsuccessful
buckle operation causes this condition. The drive ejects the cartridge.
Inspect cartridge and confirm format, type, and integrity. If repeatable
with a known-good cartridge, replace drive or call Technical Support.
Media LED: Illuminated
A DLT1 (DLT VS80) format DLTtape™ IV cartridge
is loaded.
The PowerVault 110T DLT VS160 Tape drive can
read, but not write, this cartridge. If attempting to read, no action is
required. Because this cartridge cannot be written, if you attempt a write
operation, your backup application should return a "Write Protected"
message.
Clean LED: Slow blink
Calibration error or permanent write/read error.
The drive cannot read the calibration tracks on
the tape or has encountered a permanent write or read error. If the failure
is the result of a calibration error, the drive ejects the cartridge. If
the failure is the result of a permanent read/write error, the drive does
not eject the cartridge. Try a known-good cartridge. If condition persists
with a particular cartridge, discard or degauss that cartridge. If repeatable
with a known-good cartridge, try cleaning the drive. If cleaning does not
help, replace the drive or contact Technical Support.
Clean LED: Illuminated
Cleaning required.
Drive continues to function, although increased
soft error rates may be encountered. Clean the drive at your earliest convenience.
LED indication remains until drive is cleaned.
Fault LED: Slow blink
User initiated write/read diagnostic failed.
Eject tape, power cycle or reset drive. Try diagnostic again with a different,
known-good tape.
NOTICE:This
feature overwrites any data currently on the cartridge. Confirm that the
selected cartridge does not contain important data.
If this condition persists with a known-good cartridge, contact Technical
Support.
Fault LED: Fast blink
Servo or mechanical error.
Power cycle or reset the drive. Try
the operation again with a known-good cartridge. If condition persists,
contact Technical Support.
Fault LED: Illuminated
Internal firmware error.
Power cycle or reset the drive. Try the operation
again with a known-good cartridge. If condition persists, contact Technical
Support.
Other LED Indications
Unspecified.
If you encounter any LED indications that are not
covered in this manual, contact Technical Support. See Front
Panel Controls and Indicators in Introduction
for a complete LED indicator reference.
Table 2 helps you troubleshoot other
drive and connectivity problems.
Table 2. Drive and connectivity troubleshooting
Symptom
Problem
Solution
The host server does not recognize
the drive.
The drive's SCSI ID might not be unique.
Regardless of the number of SCSI devices attached to the server that
is to be the host for the PowerVault 110T DLT VS160 Tape Internal
drive, each must have a unique SCSI ID. Check the SCSI IDs on all other
SCSI devices on the selected server, including the SCSI host adapter,
and select an unused SCSI ID for the PowerVault 110T DLT VS160 Tape
Internal drive.
NOTE: If you attach the drive to a narrow (50-pin)
bus, you can only use SCSI IDs 0 through 7.
The SCSI host adapter might be incorrectly configured.
Check the SCSI host adapter configuration. Refer
to the SCSI host adapter manuals for instructions.
The SCSI cable might be loose.
Check both ends of the SCSI cable, both for the
external and internal drives.
The SCSI terminator might be loose or missing.
Make sure an active Low-Voltage Differential/Single-Ended (LVD/SE)
terminator is properly seated on the open SCSI connector on the rear
panel of the external drive or on the last device on the SCSI bus.
Make sure an active LVD/SE terminator is in place on the SCSI ribbon
cable for the internal drive.
The SCSI bus might be improperly terminated.
If the PowerVault 110T DLT VS160 Tape drive is the last or only
device on the SCSI bus, make sure the drive is properly terminated.
If the PowerVault 110T DLT VS160 Tape drive is not the last or
only device on the SCSI bus, check all SCSI cable connections and make
sure the last device on the SCSI bus is terminated.
Make sure termination is set properly on the SCSI host adapter.
If you attach the drive to a narrow (50-pin) SCSI bus, you must use
a customer-supplied 68-pin to 50-pin adapter that terminates the unused
18 pins. These adapters are sometimes labeled "high-byte termination."
Regardless of which device is used to terminate the SCSI bus, it
must have power applied and be turned on for proper termination to occur.
The SCSI terminator might not be at the end of
the SCSI bus or more than two terminators might be present on the SCSI bus.
Make sure the terminators are placed only at each
end of the SCSI bus � normally one at the host adapter and one on the last
device on the bus. However, if both internal and external devices are attached
to the same SCSI host adapter, the adapter may be positioned in the middle
of the SCSI bus and should not be terminated. In that case, the SCSI devices
on each end of the bus must be terminated.
The SCSI host adapter might be in a defective expansion
slot.
Move the SCSI host adapter to a different expansion
slot.
The SCSI bus might be too long.
Make sure the total length of the SCSI bus does
not exceed the ANSI SCSI standard of 19 feet (6 meters) for a Single-Ended
(SE) bus, 40 feet (12 meters) for a Low-Voltage Differential (LVD) SCSI
bus with multiple devices, or 82 feet (25 meters) for an LVD SCSI bus with
a single device. If you attach the drive to an SE bus or if there are any
SE devices attached to the bus, the bus is limited to the maximum cable
lengths of an SE bus.
There are fatal or nonfatal errors
for which you cannot find the cause.
The SCSI bus might be improperly terminated.
If the PowerVault 110T DLT VS160 Tape drive is the last or only
device on the SCSI bus, make sure the drive is properly terminated.
Make sure only the last device is terminated.
If the PowerVault 110T DLT VS160 Tape drive is not the last or
only device on the SCSI bus, check all SCSI cable connections and make
sure the last device on the SCSI bus is terminated.
Make sure termination is set properly on the SCSI host adapter.
If you attach the drive to a narrow (50-pin) SCSI bus, you must use
a customer-supplied 68-pin to 50-pin adapter that terminates the unused
18 pins. These adapters are sometimes labeled "high-byte termination."
Regardless of which device is used to terminate the SCSI bus, it
must have power applied and be turned on for proper termination to occur.
The AC power source may not be properly grounded
(PowerVault 110T DLT VS160 Tape External drive only).
Plug the PowerVault 110T DLT VS160 Tape External drive's power
cable into a power outlet on the same circuit as the host server.
Plug the PowerVault 110T DLT VS160 Tape External drive�s power
cable into a different power outlet.
The backup application does not recognize the drive.
Application not compatible or improper device drivers
installed.
If the operating system recognizes the drive, but
not the backup application, confirm that you are using a compatible backup
application. Also confirm that you have the proper device drivers, if necessary,
installed. See the Dell Support website at support.dell.com
to obtain the latest operating system drivers and/or firmware upgrades.
The drive cannot write data to or read data from
a cartridge.
If you are attempting to write data, make sure you are using a DLTtape VS1 cartridge.
Make sure that the cartridge has not been exposed to harsh environmental
or electrical conditions and is not physically damaged in any way.
Many backup applications do not read or write to cartridges that were
created using a different backup application. In this case, you may
have to perform an erase, format, or label operation on the cartridge
using your backup application.
Make sure you understand any data protection or overwrite protection
schemes that your backup application may be using, any of which could
prevent you from writing to a given cartridge.
Retry the operation with a different, known-good cartridge.
Network, cartridge, SCSI bus, backup data set,
or backup application problem.
Check the network bandwidth from the host server. If you are backing
up data over a network, compare to a local-only backup for relative
backup speed indication.
Make sure that the drive is on its own SCSI bus and not daisy-chained
to another tape drive or to the hard drive being backed up.
Try a new cartridge. A marginal cartridge can cause performance problems
due to bad spots on the tape requiring retries.
Make sure that the data is being compressed. See your backup application
user documentation for details.
Check the size of the files in the backup set. Small file size can
impact performance.
Confirm that the backup application is using block sizes of at least
32KB, and preferably 64KB. See your backup application user documentation
for details.
The drive does not eject a cartridge.
Timing or drive problem.
Allow sufficient time for the drive to complete any operations, such
as POST, reset, load, unload, rewind, etc. Worst case is when powering
up or resetting the drive with the tape positioned at the physical end
of the media. Recovery from this state could take several minutes.
Allow sufficient time for the backup application to release any hold
it may have on the drive. Worst case could be several minutes. Confirm
that the backup application is not set to prevent media removal.
Try a software eject, using your backup application, allowing sufficient
time for the command to execute.
If the drive still does not eject the cartridge, power down the drive
and remove all connectors except power from the rear of the tape drive.
Apply power to the drive and allow it to complete POST. Press the Unload/Eject
button, allowing sufficient time for the command to execute. See Unload/Eject
Button Features in Using the Tape Drive
for detailed instructions.
If the drive still does not eject the cartridge, contact Technical
Support.
The drive repeatedly rejects a cartridge.
Cartridge or drive problem.
The PowerVault 110T DLT VS160 Tape Drive rejects any unsupported
cartridge, such as a DLTtape� III, an SDLT cartridge, an incompatible
cleaning cartridge, damaged media, a DLTtape� IV cartridge that is either
blank or was written using an unsupported format such as DLT4000, DLT7000
or DLT8000, as well as any cartridge that causes an unsuccessful buckle
operation. Inspect the cartridge and confirm format, type, and integrity.
If repeatable with a known-good cartridge, try cleaning the drive. If
cleaning does not help, replace the drive or call Technical Support.
If the Drive Becomes Unresponsive
On rare occasions, the drive may become unresponsive. If this should happen,
use this procedure to reset the drive and unload the cartridge:
Press and hold the Unload/Eject button for approximately 27 seconds
until all four LEDs are steadily illuminated (not blinking).
Release the Unload/Eject button while all four LEDs are steadily
illuminated. The drive initiates a device reset, then performs a POST. See
Indicator Activity During
Power-On Self-Test (POST) in Introduction for
information on normal POST LED activity.
Upon completion of POST, press and release the Unload/Eject button
as soon as the Ready LED begins to blink and/or you hear tape motion. The
drive attempts to eject the cartridge as soon as the device reset is complete
and the drive completes a mid-tape load. This may take several minutes, depending
on the where the media is positioned in the tape path.
If you do not press the Unload/Eject button again as indicated in
Step 3, the cartridge in the drive is ready to use after the drive resets
and loads the cartridge.
Double-click the PowerVault Tools icon to run the diagnostic application.
Note that when the application runs, it creates a log file in the application
folder. As a result, you should not run the application directly from the
CD as this prevents the application from creating the log file. The log file
is useful for Technical Support in the event that troubleshooting the drive
becomes necessary.
The diagnostic application searches for attached PowerVault 110T DLT1, PowerVault
110T DLT VS80, or PowerVault 110T DLT VS160 Tape drives, which it then displays
on the left pane of the application main window.
Click the drive on which you want to run diagnostics.
Select the Test tab.
Choose the test you want to run on the selected drive from the pull-down
menu under Select Test To Run. View the README file in the folder d:\Diags,
where d: is the drive letter of the CD drive, on the Dell PowerVault
110T DLT VS160 Tape Drive User's Manual and Drivers CD for details on each
available test.
Click the Run Test button.
For more detailed instructions on using the diagnostic application, view the
README file in the folder d:\Diags, where d: is
the drive letter of the CD drive, on the Dell PowerVault 110T DLT VS160 Tape
Drive User's Manual and Drivers CD.
Reinstalling the Tape
Backup Software
See the User's Operating Guide supplied with your Tape Backup software application.
Reinstalling Drivers
for Windows 2000/Server 2003
NOTE: The device drivers supplied on the Dell
PowerVault 110T DLT VS160 Tape Drive User's Manual and Drivers CD are required
if you intend to use native operating system backup applications. Commercial
backup applications provide all necessary device driver support. See Installing
the Tape Backup Software in Getting Started and
Setup for a list of compatible backup applications.
Microsoft® Windows® 2000:
Make sure that you are logged on to the host server with Administrator
privileges.
Insert the Dell PowerVault 110T DLT VS160 Tape Drive User's Manual and
Drivers CD into the CD drive on the host server.
Right-click the My Computer icon on the Windows desktop, click Manage,
then click Device Manager.
The PowerVault 110T DLT VS160 Tape drive should be listed under the "?
Other Devices" item as "QUANTUM VS160 SCSI Sequential Device."
Right-click the QUANTUM VS160 SCSI Sequential Device listing, click
Uninstall, and then click the OK button to confirm that you
want to remove the device.
Click the Action button in the upper-left corner of the Computer
Management dialog box or right-click anywhere in the right-hand pane of the
dialog box.
Click Scan for Hardware Changes. Windows 2000 now scans for the PowerVault
110T DLT VS160 Tape drive. The PowerVault 110T DLT VS160 Tape drive appears
under "? Other Devices" again.
Right-click the QUANTUM VS160 SCSI Sequential Device listing and
click Properties.
Click the Reinstall Driver button.
When the Upgrade Device Driver Wizard appears, click the Next button.
Click Display a list... and then click the Next button.
Click the Tape Drives item in the list. You may have to scroll down
to see this item.
Click the Have Disk button, type d:\Drivers\W2K,
replacing d: with the drive letter for the CD drive into which you
inserted the Dell PowerVault 110T DLT VS160 Tape Drive User's Manual and Drivers
CD, and click the OK button.
Click the DLT VS Tape Drive entry and click the Next button.
Click the Next button to install the driver.
Click the Finish button.
Close the Device Properties dialog box.
The drive now appears in Device Manager under Tape Drives, listed as "DLT
VS Tape Drive," and is ready to use.
Microsoft® Windows® Server� 2003:
Make sure that you are logged on to the host server with Administrator
privileges.
Insert the Dell PowerVault 110T DLT VS160 Tape Drive User's Manual and
Drivers CD into the CD drive on the host server.
Click the Start button on the Windows taskbar, point to Programs,
click Administrative Tools, and click Computer Management.
Click Device Manager.
The PowerVault 110T DLT VS160 Tape drive should be listed under the "?
Other Devices" item as "QUANTUM VS160 SCSI Sequential Device."
Right-click the QUANTUM VS160 SCSI Sequential Device listing, click
Uninstall, and then click the OK button to confirm that you
want to remove the device.
Click the Action button in the upper-left corner of the Computer
Management dialog box or right-click anywhere in the right-hand pane of the
dialog box.
Click Scan for Hardware Changes. Windows Server 2003 now scans for
the PowerVault 110T DLT VS160 Tape drive. The PowerVault 110T DLT VS160 Tape
drive appears under "? Other Devices" again.
Right-click the QUANTUM VS160 SCSI Sequential Device listing and
click Properties.
Click the Driver tab, then click the Update Driver... button.
When the Hardware Update Wizard appears, click the Next button.
Click the Finish button.
Click the Close button to close the Device Properties dialog box.
The drive now appears in Device Manager under Tape Drives, listed as "Dell(TM)
PowerVault(TM) VS160," and is ready to use.
Drive Makes Noises
During System Startup
During system startup, the computer accesses the tape drive and retensions
any tape cartridge in the drive to prepare the drive for operation. The noise
and vibration associated with this activity are normal for this technology and
do not indicate a problem with the drive.
Drive Failures
During Backup or Restore Operations
Make sure you are using the correct type of tape cartridge.
Make sure tape cartridge is not write-protected.
Remove and reinsert the tape cartridge.
Try a different tape cartridge, preferably a new one.
Clean the tape drive read/write head.
Verify drive settings in the system setup program.
Check all cable connections.
Tape-Backup
Software Errors
DMA conflicts during backup or compare operations.
Media unreadable.
See the User's Operating Guide supplied with your Tape Backup software application
for more information.
NOTICE: This
feature overwrites any data currently on the cartridge. Confirm that the
selected cartridge does not contain important data.
NOTE: If you attach the drive to a narrow (50-pin)
bus, you can only use SCSI IDs 0 through 7.