Windows NT frequently asked questions
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frequently asked questions
"How do I tell if my tape drive and drivers are correctly set up?"
contents of this section
related topics
tape drive not recognised
checking the cables
checking the HBA driver
how to get further information
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This topic is available in English only
tape drive not recognised
There can be several reasons why a tape drive attached to the system is not
recognised by backup software:
1.
Cabling may be too long, too many devices connected, no bus termination,
non-shielded internal cables being used for external applications, badly
seated connectors, tape drive has same SCSI ID as another device etc.
2.
Tape Drive not switched on, or faulty.
3.
HBA faulty.
4.
HBA Driver not loaded, or incorrect driver loaded.
5.
Tape Device driver or ASPI driver not loaded, or incorrect driver loaded.
6.
Tape Device driver does not support tape drive. HP SureStore DAT and
DLT drives have wide tape device driver connectivity - see the answer to
the question
"What HP SureStore DAT and DLT tape drives are certified by
Microsoft, ISV's and IHV's for use on Windows NT?"
for full details.
7.
Backup Application does not support tape drive - HP SureStore DAT and
DLT drives have wide backup application connectivity - see the answer to
the question
"What HP SureStore DAT and DLT tape drives are certified by
Microsoft, ISV's and IHV's for use on Windows NT?"
for full details.
In our experience, faulty tape drives and HBAs are unlikely to be the cause of the
problem, so all other possibilities should be checked first.
checking the cables
The simplest way to check that the cabling is not at fault is to look for the SCSI
Inquiry string of the Tape Drive, which should be displayed by the SCSI HBA
BIOS (of the HBA to which the drive is attached) when the system is booting.
If the SCSI Inquiry string of the tape drive is seen at boot time, then it is unlikely
that the problem is one of the first three listed above. However, this will not
preclude any SCSI errors which arise from marginal cabling, and which generally
show up during high-speed synchronous data transfer (when performing
backups/restores).
Some systems will not display the SCSI Inquiry strings when booting. However all
Adaptec and Symbios SCSI controllers with a BIOS should do this.
checking the HBA driver
In order to check that HBA and Tape drivers are working correctly, use the
method described in the answer to the question
"How do I know what drivers I am
using at the moment, and what drivers do I need for running tape backups?"
.
Note, however, that this method cannot be used for tape drivers for applications,
such as ArcServe, which do not use the standard Windows NT Tape Driver
architecture.
In the Windows NT 4.0 Tape Devices applet, if the tape driver is displayed, but not
shown as loaded, then it is likely that the driver does not support the device. See
the answer to the question
"How do I know what drivers I am using at the moment,
and what drivers do I need for running tape backups?"
for which tape drives are
supported by Windows NT out-of-the-box. If using ISV Backup Software, consult
the particular Backup Software's documentation to find out which tape drives are
supported by the ISV's drivers.
how to get further information
In order to check that the Backup Application supports the tape drive, check with
the ISV, or check
"http://www.hp.com/go/connect".
next question
Go to the next question
"Are there any important points I need to be aware of
when changing drivers in my system?"
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file:///C|/Documents%20and%20Settings/topher.COL-SPRINGS/Desktop/dltvs80%20manual/document/common/drivers_faqs/eng/nt_q3.htm [11/29/2001 8:35:50 AM]
