Re: problem with scsi device

On Sat, 24 Jan 2004, Roberto Nunnari wrote:

> Thanks for your reply. I was convinced that it was a hardware problem, too..
> ..so I installed another OS on that same machine.. just to
> make sure it was a hardware problem.. big surprise! it worked
> without a problem.. ..went back to FreeBSD and the problem
> is again there..
>
> Do you believe that even after that it could still be a hardware
> problem? or a mix of hardware bug and software bug? May it be that
> FreeBSD software uses some buggy hardware features that the other
> OS just don't use?

Thats entirely possible, or some other SCSI command triggers a firmware
bug that makes the drive spaz out.

We went around for 6+ months with SpetraLogic and Sony on a firmware
problem on the AIT-2 drives that ADSM triggered.  It pretty much came down
to getting a SCSI recorder to see what the offending transactions were,
getting that sent off to Sony, and Sony issuing a fix.  By the time it got
fixed, the company was in the process of being acquired, and that whole
backup setup got repurposed. :)

You might check if there is a firmware update for your drive.

>
> Doug White wrote:
> > On Wed, 21 Jan 2004, Roberto Nunnari wrote:
> >
> >
> >><ARCHIVE Python 06408-XXX 9050> Removable Sequential Access SCSI-3 device
> >
> >
> >>it seams that if I use a new tape, then I can dump on it..
> >>but if I try to overwrite the tape, it starts behaving funny.
> >>also.. anytime I try to write to a non new tape, it will
> >>make errors and turn on the dirt led.
> >>The result is that it's not possible to make any reliable
> >>dump/restore on it.
> >>
> >>the tape drive is less than 1 year old and the tapes are
> >>of good quality.
> >
> >
> > My experience with this on DLT tapes is that this is caused by a damaged
> > head assembly or something is seriously out of alignment. In other words,
> > its not something you can fix. If it is less than a year old, then it
> > should still be under warranty. I suggest you take advantage of that.
> >
>
>
>

-- 
Doug White                    |  FreeBSD: The Power to Serve
dwhite_at_gumbysoft.com          |  www.FreeBSD.org