Virtual TapeServer 8.4 Release Notes

Troubleshooting | 49
Troubleshooting
This section includes information about how to troubleshoot problems and notes about items
that may need clarification.
Hardware, configuration, and hardware replacement
 IBM iSeries v7r1 does not discover VTLs when MF52479 PTF is applied. This is
realized by the failure of the strsst (menu options 1,7,2,1) failing to show tape library
devices. It is recommended that this PTF not be applied to avoid losing the detection and
operation of physical and virtual changers. (TL-7608)
 SCSI speed for an AS/400 initiator to a VTD is less than 160MB/sec. The AS/400
initiator is not performing SCSI parallel protocol request (PPR) negotiations as required
for U160+ speeds. (TL-4139)
WORKAROUND: U
se a terminator as documented in the Quick Start Guide.
 Starting a VTD on the NonStop results in two errors logged to debug.log.
Immediately after the NonStop command “SCF START TAPE $VTAPE00” is issued to
start a virtual tape device, one or more of the following messages may appear on the VTS
server in /usr/local/tape/log/debug.log:
Mon Jun 23 14:31:33 2008: [cli_tape 0x05000007] read ERROR on message
rc = 1
These messages are benign and may be ignored. (TL-1802)
 Fibre Channel ports do not initiate link status and lasers are off if ports are set
to target mode and VTDs are not defined. When a Fibre Channel port is enabled for
target mode, the port will not initiate link status until a VTD has been defined on that
port and the lasers will be off. The port will appear to be disconnected unless a VTD has
been defined. Likewise, when TapeServer is stopped, the Fibre Channel ports will drop
link status, to emulate the function of a physical tape drive with the power turned off.
(TL-2641)
 Must run /usr/local/tape/bin/grub-serial.bash to access GRUB from the console.
When VTS boots, you must press a key when prompted if you wish to see the GRUB
menu. The /usr/local/tape/bin/grub-serial.bash command will modify the system boot
configuration to provide serial console access to the GRUB boot menu. This command
must be run as root. In some cases, it may cause the system boot time to be greatly
increased, although the normal boot time is only expected to increase by 10 seconds after
running this command. (TL-2255)
 VTDs set as device type 519x show up as FUJITSU M2483B drives. According to
the HP web site, the 5190 drive reports itself as a Fujitsu drive. (TL-1107)
 VTD with no connection to a logical tape is still presented on the bus. If a VTD is
created and connected to a logical tape then the VTD is disconnected, the VTD is still
shown to the client. An SG device is created and an Inquiry command succeeds. However,
a Status command does not and the VTD cannot actually be used. (TL-2324)
 I/O fails to resume after Fibre Channel cable is disconnected and HBA times out.
If you disconnect the Fibre Channel cable to the VTS for a time period that exceeds the
VTS FC HBA driver timeout value, I/O is interrupted and will not recover. (TL-1886)
WORKAROUND: R
ediscover the Fibre Channel devices on the initiator or reboot the
initiator.