Very Computer

I'm trying to use a Travan tape device on a IBM Netfinity 3500. Testing
simple tar returns io errors (really?).
Now, first thing, this tape is on a scsi bus on a ServeRaid Raid Array
Controller, behind three RAID5 disk drives. (Is that OK?)

distrib is RH 6.1
kernel is 2.2.12.20
ServeRaid bios is 3.60.21
kernel SCSI support: yes,
scsi tape support: st in module

#mt -f /dev/st0 retension
or
#tar -cvf /dev/st09 /etc
makes It wheeeeerrr and blink and prints on screen(among other things):

st0: Error with sense data: [valid=0] Info fld=0x0, Current st09:00: sense
key Unit Attention
Additional sense indicates Power on, reset, or bus device reset occurred
st0: Error with sense data: [valid=0] Info fld=0x0, Current st09:00: sense
key Not Ready
Additional sense indicates Logical unit is in process of becoming ready
st0: Error with sense data: [valid=0] Info fld=0x0, Current st09:00: sense
key Not Ready
Additional sense indicates Logical unit is in process of becoming ready
st0: Error on write filemark.

Here's what dmesg has to say on SCSI

scsi0 : IBM PCI ServeRAID 1.00.00  <ServeRAID 3L>
scsi : 1 host.
  Vendor:  IBM      Model:  SERVERAID        Rev:  1.0
  Type:   Direct-Access                      ANSI SCSI revision: 01
Detected scsi disk sda at scsi0, channel 0, id 0, lun 0
  Vendor:  IBM      Model:  SERVERAID        Rev:  1.0
  Type:   Processor                          ANSI SCSI revision: 01
  Vendor: Seagate   Model: STT20000N         Rev: 7A51
  Type:   Sequential-Access                  ANSI SCSI revision: 02
SCSI device sda: hdwr sector= 512 bytes. Sectors= 71094272 [34714 MB] [34.7
GB]
sda: sda1 sda2 < sda5 sda6 sda7 sda8 sda9 >
(scsi1) <Adaptec AIC-7895 Ultra SCSI host adapter> found at PCI 3/1
(scsi1) Wide Channel B, SCSI ID=7, 32/255 SCBs
(scsi1) Downloading sequencer code... 374 instructions downloaded
(scsi2) <Adaptec AIC-7895 Ultra SCSI host adapter> found at PCI 3/0
(scsi2) Wide Channel A, SCSI ID=7, 32/255 SCBs
(scsi2) Downloading sequencer code... 374 instructions downloaded
scsi1 : Adaptec AHA274x/284x/294x (EISA/VLB/PCI-Fast SCSI) 5.1.20/3.2.4
       <Adaptec AIC-7895 Ultra SCSI host adapter>
scsi2 : Adaptec AHA274x/284x/294x (EISA/VLB/PCI-Fast SCSI) 5.1.20/3.2.4
       <Adaptec AIC-7895 Ultra SCSI host adapter>
scsi : 3 hosts.

#mt -f /dev/st0 status
SCSI 2 tape drive:
File number=0, block number=0, partition=0.
Tape block size 512 bytes. Density code 0x47 (unknown to this mt).
Soft error count since last status=0
General status bits on (41010000):
BOT ONLINE IM_REP_EN

Thanks for your help,

Andrew.

(this message has previously been sent to comp.os.linux mistakenly , sorry
for that)

Check all the usual suspects:

- IDs - make sure every device on the bus has a unique ID
- Termination - make sure you have active termination, and that there
  are exactly two terminators - one at each end - on each SCSI bus.
  Don't forget to count any termination that your host adapter may
  provide.
- Cabling.  For Ultra3 (aka Ultra160), you need a twisted-pair cable and
  have a 6m limit.  For Ultra2, you have a 12m limit.  For Ultra-Wide,
  you have a 1.5m limit.  For Ultra, you have a 3m limit.  For Fast-Wide
  and Fast, you have a 6m limit.  For the purpose of cable lengths
  assume that your actual limit is the shortest limit of all your
  drives and host adapters.
- Mixing narrow and wide devices on a single bus will result in some
  unusual termination requirements:
    - If you attach a wide-SCSI device to a narrow bus, be sure to
      terminate the upper-half of the bus on the drive.  You will
      probably need an adapter that provides this termination.
    - If you attach a narrow device to a wide bus, internally, make sure
      it is attached to the middle of the cable and use an adapter that
      does not provide termination.
    - If you attach a narrow device to a wide bus, externally, make sure
      it is attached after the last wide device.  Use a cable adapter
      that terminates the upper-half of the bus.
    - if your host adapter has both narrow and wide connectors, and you
      use them both, make sure the adapter termiantes the upper half of
      the bus.
- If your host adapter has three connectors on the same bus (like the
  Adaptec 2940UW), you can not use all three connectors at once.  If you
  attempt to use all three at once, you'll end up creating a Y-shaped
  topology, which will be unreliable.

Quote:> Here's what dmesg has to say on SCSI

> scsi0 : IBM PCI ServeRAID 1.00.00  <ServeRAID 3L>
> scsi : 1 host.
>   Vendor:  IBM      Model:  SERVERAID        Rev:  1.0
>   Type:   Direct-Access                      ANSI SCSI revision: 01
> Detected scsi disk sda at scsi0, channel 0, id 0, lun 0
>   Vendor:  IBM      Model:  SERVERAID        Rev:  1.0
>   Type:   Processor                          ANSI SCSI revision: 01
>   Vendor: Seagate   Model: STT20000N         Rev: 7A51
>   Type:   Sequential-Access                  ANSI SCSI revision: 02

I would expect to see a line something like:

        "Detected scsi tape st0 at scsi0, channel 0, id 1, lun 0"

or something similar.  Is this line somewhere in your dmesg log?  Or is
the line truly missing.

I think you've definitely got a SCSI ID conflict here.  Make sure your
tape drive and SERVERAID devices are configured for different IDs.

The SERVERAID direct-access part is set to ID 0 - which dmesg shows.
The other two devices, however - the SERVERAID processor and the tape
drive - don't have SCSI information indicated, leading me to believe
that they're also set to ID 0 - which would be wrong.

Quote:> SCSI device sda: hdwr sector= 512 bytes. Sectors= 71094272 [34714 MB] [34.7
> GB]
> sda: sda1 sda2 < sda5 sda6 sda7 sda8 sda9 >
> (scsi1) <Adaptec AIC-7895 Ultra SCSI host adapter> found at PCI 3/1
> (scsi1) Wide Channel B, SCSI ID=7, 32/255 SCBs
> (scsi1) Downloading sequencer code... 374 instructions downloaded
> (scsi2) <Adaptec AIC-7895 Ultra SCSI host adapter> found at PCI 3/0
> (scsi2) Wide Channel A, SCSI ID=7, 32/255 SCBs
> (scsi2) Downloading sequencer code... 374 instructions downloaded
> scsi1 : Adaptec AHA274x/284x/294x (EISA/VLB/PCI-Fast SCSI) 5.1.20/3.2.4
>        <Adaptec AIC-7895 Ultra SCSI host adapter>
> scsi2 : Adaptec AHA274x/284x/294x (EISA/VLB/PCI-Fast SCSI) 5.1.20/3.2.4
>        <Adaptec AIC-7895 Ultra SCSI host adapter>
> scsi : 3 hosts.

-- David

Quote:> If no SCSI-related output follows this,
> then it would appear that you do not have anything attached to them.

In any case, the tape drive shouldn't be on the same channel as the
array.  That's just asking for problems.  I don't know how RAIDport
cards work; do they actually provide one or more new channels, or do
they use the ones on the motherboard?  If they use the ones on the
motherboard, it's possible you plugged your tape drive into the 50-pin
connector, expecting it to be a third or different channel.

--

"Dude... my hands are huge.  They can touch anything but themselves...
 oh, wait."

Quote:> In any case, the tape drive shouldn't be on the same channel as the
> array.  That's just asking for problems.  I don't know how RAIDport
> cards work; do they actually provide one or more new channels, or do
> they use the ones on the motherboard?  If they use the ones on the
> motherboard, it's possible you plugged your tape drive into the 50-pin
> connector, expecting it to be a third or different channel.

-- David