Troubleshooting hardware-related issues

If you have trouble with your hardware, review the following questions.

Table: Hardware-related questions

Question

Answer

My drive is not listed in Backup Exec’s Devices list. The drive is connected, powered on and recognized in the Windows Device Manager. What should I do?

First, make sure that your devices are supported by Backup Exec.

You can find a list of compatible devices at the following URL:

http://entsupport.symantec.com/umi/V-269-2

If your device is listed on the Hardware Compatibility List, try running Backup Exec’s Device Configuration wizard and installing Symantec device drivers.

See About configuring tape devices by using the Tape Device Configuration Wizard.

The Symantec Device Driver Installation wizard will find and install the most suitable driver for your storage device.

Note:

The Hardware Compatibility List is frequently updated with newly supported devices.

My drive appears as offline. Why?

If the device is offline, this message is displayed. No operations are allowed on the device until it is online again. When the device is online, no message is displayed.

Backup-to-Disk folders may go offline in the following situations:

  • The drive containing the Backup-to-disk folder is full.

  • The drive containing the backup-to-disk folder is offline.

  • The remote server containing the Backup-to-disk folder is offline.

Other storage devices may go offline in the following situations:

  • The device was turned off after Backup Exec was started.

  • The device was being used by another application (such as a Windows 2000/XP/Server 2003/2008 backup utility) when Backup Exec was started.

  • The device is removed from the computer.

  • A tape drive failure occurred (check the Event Log to troubleshoot the problem).

  • A tape is stuck in the drive.

  • The firmware of the drive was updated; Backup Exec will behave as if the drive with its old name or identity no longer exists.

To place the device online, try the following:

  • Check to make sure the device has power and that cables are properly attached. Turn the device on and reboot the server, or stop and restart the Backup Exec services.

  • Stop the utility that is using the device, and then restart the server, or stop and restart the Backup Exec services. You can restart services from Tools > Backup Exec Services.

If the drive’s firmware has changed, delete the drive and restart Backup Exec services. After the drive appears with its new firmware identity, retarget all jobs that were using the old drive name to the new drive name.

I set up bar code rules through the Tools menu by selecting Options, and then selecting Bar Code Rules. However, my bar code rules don’t seem to be working. Why?

After setting up bar code rules, you must perform the following two steps in order for the bar code rules to work.

  • You must enable the bar code rules for the robotic library by selecting the bar code rules option on the Configuration tab in the robotic library’s properties.

  • In addition to setting the bar code rules for each type of media you use, for each drive in your mixed media library you should indicate what type of media can be used and whether that media can be used for read or write operations.

See Bar code rules in mixed media libraries.

How do I get the latest device drivers for my hardware?

You can find a list of compatible devices at the following URL:

http://entsupport.symantec.com/umi/V-269-2

Backup Exec doesn’t detect my robotic library. What could be wrong?

Be sure that Windows operating system properly recognizes the device. This can be verified by checking the Windows Device Manager.

See About robotic libraries in Backup Exec.

I’m getting an error “Storage device [device] reported an error on a request to read/write data to/from media. Error reported: Data error (cyclic redundancy check).” What should I do?

The cyclic redundancy check (CRC) error can be caused by many factors.

The following list contains the most common reasons for this error and potential ways to resolve the problem:

  • Contaminated read/write heads of the tape device. Check with the hardware manufacturer for proper cleaning techniques.

  • Bad media. Replace the media. Try a new tape that is certified by the hardware manufacturer.

  • Tape driver. Load the appropriate Backup Exec tape driver.

  • You can find a list of compatible devices at the following URL:

    http://entsupport.symantec.com/umi/V-269-2

  • SCSI controller wide negotiation not configured properly. If the device is a wide (68 pin) SCSI device, then wide negotiation may and should be used. If the device is a narrow (50 pin) SCSI device, disable wide negotiation. Use the manufacturer’s SCSI setup program to disable wide negotiation on the SCSI controller card.

  • SCSI controller transfer rate is too fast. Use the manufacturer’s SCSI setup program to lower the SCSI transfer rate. Check with the controller and backup device manufacturer for the proper configuration for the SCSI transfer rate.

  • SCSI controller synchronous negotiation enabled. Use the manufacturer’s SCSI setup program to disable synchronous negotiation on the SCSI controller card. Check with the controller and backup device manufacturer for the proper configuration for SCSI synchronous negotiation.

  • Incorrect termination
    or bad cables. Verify that the SCSI cable is good and that it is configured to provide proper SCSI termination. Do not mix passive and active termination.

  • Confirm that the tape drive is functioning properly. Check with the tape drive manufacturer for diagnostic software to test the condition of the tape drive hardware.

  • General SCSI problems. Isolate the tape drive on its own controller card or try a different SCSI card.

Why does my DLT tape drive pause when cataloging some tapes?

The DLT tape drive maintains internal information about the tape on a tape directory track. The directory track is updated before the tape is ejected from the drive. If the drive is powered off without ejecting the tape first, this information is lost.

Re-generating the tape directory information takes several hours to complete, which makes it seem like the drive is hung. Allow sufficient time for the operation to complete and then eject the tape. Normal operation will resume after the directory track has been updated.

A backup to my DLT tape drive is stuck at 99% complete. What should I do?

The backup most likely fails to complete because the Eject media after job completes option is selected on tape drives that require you to manually remove the tape (such as Digital Linear Tape (DLT), Linear Tape-Open (LTO), Travan, and Onstream drives).

To remedy this situation, either deselect the Eject media… option or using BEUTILITY, you can configure Backup Exec to set automatic responses to the media alert.

See About configuring tape devices by using the Tape Device Configuration Wizard.

See How to get more information about alerts and error messages.

See How to improve Backup Exec’s performance.

Troubleshooting hardware-related issues