CMS No tape drive installed

[phonegirl27]

Went to run a backup on the CMS and I'm getting the error No tape drive installed. how do I reinstall the tape drive?

 

[nohuhu]

phonegirl27,

had an issue like that. go to cms command prompt, su to root and run "mt -f /dev/rmt/0 status" command. if it says "no such file or directory" or gives any other error, try "mt -f /dev/rmt/1 status". if that will also fail, you have a hard case and need to perform some shamanic dances around to get it up. try mt and post results here.

 

[phonegirl27]

Dwalin,

So do you know these dances? I try those commands and get the error mt-f: not found....

 

[nohuhu]

phonegirl27,

yeah, i was able to get it working after all. took some sweat but i did it. run "mt -f", with space between "mt" and "-f".

 

[phonegirl27]

Dwalin,

Well that's better but now I'm getting no such device or address on both options

 

[nohuhu]

phonegirl27,

*sigh* that's what i thought. a hard case indeed. what is the cms platform and tape drive you're running?

 

[multibus2]

If you are sure the tape drive is physically ok and connected and assuming this is a SUN based system.

Do this

login as root

cd /dev/rmt
make sure there is no tape in the tape drive

rm 0* 1*

drvconfig

(what for the prompt)

tapes -r /

If no links appear in the /dev/rmt directory the drive is not conected correctly or the tape drive is faulty.

If you do have to replace the tape drive. Before you power the system down type touch /reconfigure

This will automatically do a boot -r on the next reboot.





"Been there, done that and got the teeshirt

 

[phonegirl27]

Mulitbus2,

Thanks for the help, however when I type the command cd /dev/rmt I recieve the error /dev/rmt: not found

Other suggestions?

 

[adminman3]

curious..my tape drive is not detected unless there is a tape IN THE DRIVE. For instance, preparing for a full system backup, I'll leave the daily tape in the drive until the system tells me to label a backup tape and hit ENTER. No tape, no drive...according to the logic on the system. Check by using a new tape...?

 

[qz01gs]

Have you tried using a cleaning tape then a new tape???

 

[phonegirl27]

So far according to Avaya it appears the system board may have died. We have had problems with the server keeping time, now this and the link to the switch is down and not coming back up. Does this sound correct?

 

[qz01gs]

Wow quite a few problems.

CMS gets it time from the switch and if the link goes down it gets it from the solaris, is there anytime differential setup on the box?

What type of system is it?

Is it rebooted often?

I had a case at work when they wondered why CPU was 94% and then I saw it hadn't been rebooted for 407 days!!!!!! One task which had been runnin g for ages was using up 92% cpu lol

 

[phonegirl27]

qz01gs,

The time differntial is maybe 30 seconds now, but we do have to keep resetting the server every day or so to keep it that close.

It's a CMS version 8 running on a Sun Ultra 5 hardware

It is rebooted every month but due to the tape drive not working they weren't doing the montly boot. Botting it was the very first thing I tried.

 

[qz01gs]

I try a cleaning tape and new tape.

Thats the first thing Sun will tell Avaya to do.

I get this problem all the time and often it is resolved by inserting a new tape.

But in your case it might be the tape drive.

At the same time it is quite an old machine so I guess its bound to play up a bit after a while.

 

[multibus2]

adminman3 you are correct when you are trying to do a backup but when you are trying to re-create the Solaris links if there is a tape in the drive Solaris will not create the tape drive links. If it does not create links in /dev/rmt then its the tape drive or the SCSI card.

"Been there, done that and got the teeshirt