tape loaded no job running

The technical support forum for Firestreamer (the virtual tape library).
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rockitadmin
Posts: 4
Joined: 18 Oct 2010, 13:40

Post by rockitadmin »

Microsoft DPM 2010, I have a tape in the drive without any jobs running and I cannot remove it. The inventory fails due to the tape in the drive. Please advise.
jsf
Cristalink Support
Posts: 300
Joined: 29 Aug 2010, 09:03

Post by jsf »

- What are the error messages in DPM and in the Activity view of the Firestreamer Snap-In?
- What did you do to remove the tape?
- Is the tape displayed in the Current State view of the Firestreamer Snap-In?

A similar issue has been reported before, when DPM shows a tape drive as being in use without any jobs running. If the tape is not displayed in the Current State view of the Firestreamer Snap-In, then it's a DPM problem. Try rebooting your server. If it doesn't help, you need to contact Microsoft to resolve the issue.

You may want to Google for the following: "DPM 2010" "in use" "tape drive" jobs. In particular, the following link comes up: Tape Drive is always in use. It contains the following answer (copied and pasted):

NOTE: Make a backup of the DPMDB Sql database before proceeding using the following command:

DPMBACKUP -db

(The database will be saved in the C:\Program Files\Microsoft DPM\DPM\Volumes\ShadowCopy\Database Backups folder.

1) Cancel any and all tape jobs - if one of the jobs is a tape cleaning job - that cannot be canceled in the DPM GUI, so simple stop - restart the DPM service.
2) Open SQL Enterprise manager and connect to the Server_name\MSDPM2010 instance.
3) Under DATABASES - expand out the DPMDB entry and then expand the TABLES so you have a list of SQL tables
4) Check the following tables and Column entries. You need to righ-click the table, then choose "open table " option to view the column values.

Code: Select all

SQL_TABLE_NAME          COLUMN_HEADING     DESIRED   value meaning
===============         =================  =======   ============
dbo-tbl_MM_TapeDrive    DriveStatus           0      0=none 1=Need scleaning 2=Needs Servicing
dbo.tbl_MM_Glogal_Drive ReservationLevel      0      0=none 1 or 2 = reserved by some task.
dbo.tbl_MM_Drive        OperationOccuring     0      0=none >0=operation in progress
5) After changing any of these settings, click on the "save all" icon - the blue icon that looks like three floppy disks in the toolbar.
6) Exit the DPM console and re-start it - then kick off a tape job and see if the tape drive works again.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Regards, Mike J [MSFT] This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights.
Proposed As Answer byMike JacquetMSFT, ModeratorFriday, July 30, 2010 12:25 AMMarked As Answer byParag Agrawal [MSFT]MSFT, ModeratorFriday, August 06, 2010 10:16 AM
[/size]
Best regards,
John Smith
Cristalink Support
rockitadmin
Posts: 4
Joined: 18 Oct 2010, 13:40

Post by rockitadmin »

no errors...
the point is that it is in the drive and there are no jobs running
tape does not show up

I see a lot of the issues with this product are resolved in rebooting the server..

that does not seem to be a very good fix, can you shed some light on this?
jsf
Cristalink Support
Posts: 300
Joined: 29 Aug 2010, 09:03

Post by jsf »

see a lot of the issues with this product are resolved in rebooting the server.. that does not seem to be a very good fix, can you shed some light on this?
Did you mean Microsoft DPM? No, it's not a very good fix. But please forward any complaints to Microsoft. We have no control over Microsoft DPM.
Best regards,
John Smith
Cristalink Support
rockitadmin
Posts: 4
Joined: 18 Oct 2010, 13:40

Post by rockitadmin »

No I meant yours, but you are saying it is a microsoft issue not firestreamer issue. My research into this product (Firestreamer not Microsoft) comes up with the common fix of rebooting the server so this concerns me as I fully understand there are Microsoft issues as well, it is an uncommon practice even with Microsoft to just reboot the server without trying to determine the root cause as a general practice.

Can you give me some more detail as to how you have determined that? What is rebooting actually accomplishing? What services for example are impacting Firestreamer? is it not possible that the firestreamer service is not responding for one reason or another?
What services can be restarted instead of rebooting that might help determine the root cause?

I like the product if it works, and I just cannot believe that pointing the finger either way is going to help us want to use this product. I would hope that as a professional organization such as yours, assistance in determining the root cause of these issues is forthcoming so that we can all be successful at our jobs.

Thanks,
Dave
jsf
Cristalink Support
Posts: 300
Joined: 29 Aug 2010, 09:03

Post by jsf »

Dave,

The problem is specific to Microsoft DPM because it happens not only with Firestreamer but with physical tape libraries, too. You can easily confirm it by searching the Internet.

If you looked at the post that I mentioned in my original reply, you would see a Microsoft representative essentially acknowledging the DPM problem by offering a "hack" with the DPM database. We suggested a restart as an alternative solution, but one cannot blame us for that. Obviously, there is a bug in Microsoft DPM that causes the DPM database not being updated properly when a tape job finishes. As you can see, the "drive in use" condition is merely a field in the DPM database, and it has nothing do to with the actual tape drive. Like a physical tape drive, Firestreamer is not aware of Microsoft DPM, let alone of its SQL database. Like a physical tape drive, Firestreamer plays an entirely passive role. If it's "in use", then it's being used by Microsoft DPM, or at least the latter believes so.

If you want to determine the "root cause", you need to contact Microsoft. It's their software that misbehaves. We have absolutely no way to tell why it behaves one way or another, unless we reverse engineer the DPM to understand what really happens inside it.

Instead of restarting the server, you can try restarting all DPM services to see if it helps.
My research into this product (Firestreamer not Microsoft) comes up with the common fix of rebooting the server
Could you share your "research" with us? What are the "lots of issues" with Firestreamer that can only be solved by a reboot? Most importantly, how have you come to the conclusion that those issues are caused by Firestreamer and not, for example, the backup software?

Thank you!
Best regards,
John Smith
Cristalink Support
rockitadmin
Posts: 4
Joined: 18 Oct 2010, 13:40

Post by rockitadmin »

Research the issues in search engines and boards the common result is the 'reboot the server' fix. I did also talk to Microsoft about this issue and they said to talk to you guys.

We, the user, are in the middle. Thank you for letting me know that you have no ability to assist in resolving issues such as this. As a VAR and end user, it is very important to fully know the capabilities of the vendor and their support staff and the willingness to work with their customers to work through the issues.

I have worked with DPM since 2006 versions, as well as Symantec Veritas versions, CA etc... and have received this type of response in some cases and in some cases they (the support staff) were willing to assist in detail to determine the root cause and the best approach to work with such anomolies, like they actually cared about our experience since we are so dependent upon successful backups.

We have physical tape libraries at multiple customer sites with DPM 2007 and 2010 and do not have these problems except once. I did have an issue with a Dell Tape Library and 2007, which was very similar to this particular issue and it turned out to be a Dell driver issue.

I don't know what the problem is, I don't know it is not Microsoft, I don't know it is not your software. I need to fix it if I will be able to use this product and not have to reboot the server every time I have this issue. These are production servers that backup critical data and are running all the time.

So thanks for letting me know now what type of support I am going to get if we proceed. I really like the concept and feel it is worth the money if I can get it to work successfully consistently. My customers don't want tape drives anymore and it makes it easier to move the data off-site.
jsf
Cristalink Support
Posts: 300
Joined: 29 Aug 2010, 09:03

Post by jsf »

Thank you for your feedback. All we (and anyone else in our position) can do is contact the DPM team at Microsoft and ask them to investigate the issue which they already know about. I will update this topic if we have any news.
Best regards,
John Smith
Cristalink Support
jsf
Cristalink Support
Posts: 300
Joined: 29 Aug 2010, 09:03

Post by jsf »

The reply from Microsoft was, the customer should contact Microsoft Support.
Best regards,
John Smith
Cristalink Support
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