Powervault 124T LTO4-120-1 -- can't get rid of exclamation point in Device Manager

Hello Dan,

The yellow ! that you are getting is normally means that there is an issue with the driver for the unit.  What you will need to do is to remove the old driver from the Library & the drive and then remove the filter for the drives in the registry.  Once that is done then you will need to power off the PV124 and remove the sas cable and reboot the server.  Make sure that the server comes up without any errors and then power the server off and connect the PV124 back to the SAS card and power on the PV 124T & wait till it is at a ready state before powering on the server.  Let the server see the drive & install the dell drivers for the Library & drive.  Once that is done all should be good.  Here is the link to the Drivers for the PV124T and the steps that need to be done in the registry.

Drivers

http://www.dell.com/support/drivers/us/en/555/DriverDetails/Product/powervault-124t?driverId=F9F31&osCode=WNET&fileId=3000846503

Registry edit:

To solve this issueyou need to install our driver using the installer application that comes with the drivers. Make sure you do this apposed to just pointing the windows driver search to the folder containing the Dell Drivers. The default path that you find the install application for the TL2000/4000 as of the date this was written is:

C:\dell\drivers\R215140\v6189_2003x86 for the Tape Bus Enumerator 
C:\dell\drivers\R215140\v6189_2003x86\6189_TapeLibrary for te Changer bus Enumerator.
(NOTE: This is for server 2003 32bit, there will me multiple folder in C:\dell\drivers\R215140\ that let you pick between 2k3 and 2k8 as well as 32 bit vs 64 bit.)

The Default Path for the install application for the ML6000 series as of the date this was written is:
C:\dell\drivers\R232225\LTO3_LTO4_Win_Driver\Windows_2003\Windows_2003_x86
(NOTE: in the C:\dell\drivers\R232225\LTO3_LTO4_Win_Driver Directory you get to pick between 2k3 and 2k8, then under that 32bit or 64bit.)

After you get the Change Bus and Tape Bus enumerators installed you will have to reboot. Then you can install the Symantec drivers. If that still doesn't work you may need to fall back to just the Dell drivers.



Second Issue:
To solve this issue you need to make a registry edit. This is similar to a issue with CD/DVD drives with yellow bangs in device manager. That CD/DVD issue can be found in microsoft KB article http://support.microsoft.com/kb/314060.
To solve them follow these steps:

1.  Open regedit(Start > Run > "Regedit")
2. Navigate to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Class
3. The cdrom is usually listed under the registry subkey: {4D36E965-E325-11CE-BFC1-08002BE10318}
4. The tape drives I have seen were listed under the registry subkey: {6D807884-7D21-11CF-801C-08002BE10318}
5. The medium changer is usualy listed under registry subkey: {CE5939AE-EBDE-11D0-B181-0000F8753EC4}
6. In the right pane look for LowerFilters and UpperFilter.  Select these and delete.
7. Reboot the server and the drivers should load without errors.

Note:  You may need to check the other registry subkeys to find the tape drive as I am not 100% they are all listed under this subkey: {6D807884-7D21-11CF-801C-08002BE10318} or {CE5939AE-EBDE-11D0-B181-0000F8753EC4} 

            Also, the subkey may not list both LowerFilter and UpperFilter.  Delete whichever is listed.

Let us know if have any other questions.

Sam,

Thanks to you I seem to be getting closer.  The exclamation (!) has disappeared from the auto-loader driver but not the tape drive driver.  

I may have gone wrong while following your "Registry Edit" section:  My 124T tape drive shows as Windows driver "IBM Ultrium-HH4 SCSI Sequential Device", and according to the 124T Configuration web interface it is an "LTO4-120-1" .  So I got a bit confused when you mentioned the TL2000/4000 & the ML6000 tape drives since those aren't what my 124T seems to have.  Was I correct, therefore, to drill down to C:\dell\drivers\F9F31\LTO4_120-1_IBM_SAS_Drive\Win2003 (per the driver link you provided me) and run WindowsServer2003-kb971650-x64-enu.exe  ?  I suspect that wasn't what you wanted me to run (it seems to be a Microsoft hot fix) but it was the only LTO4 executable in c:\dell\drivers\F9F31 .

Maybe you do mean for me to run the installer application for either the TL2000/4000 or the ML6000?

Hello Dan,

The error is most commonly seen on the TL2000/4000 or ML6000 but is also seen the same error in the PV 124T.  Yes you were correct to run the first set to ensure that the patch was there.  Once that is done then you need to do the second issue to remove the sub key to ensure that we get that faulty driver out.

Let us know if have any other questions.

The tape drive driver still shows the (!).  Just to be sure I'm following your instructions in the correct sequence I'll list them below in the sequence I think your instructions indicate:

1. Delete the library driver and the tape drive driver from Windows Device Manager
2. Remove the filter from the registry (the "Second Issue" section)
   1. I did find "lowerfilters" but no "Upperfilter". 
3. Power off 124T & then remove the SAS cable from the 124T
4. Reboot server and make sure no errors (in event viewer?) occur
5. Power off server, connect SAS cable to 124T, power on 124T and wait for it to go to Ready state
6. Power on server.  Windows will automatically add the library driver and tape drive driver (showing exclamation point on, at least, tape drive driver)
7. "Install Dell driver using the installer application that comes with the drivers" using this link:  http://www.dell.com/support/drivers/us/en/555/DriverDetails/Product/powervault-124t?driverId=F9F31&osCode=WNET&fileId=3000846503
   1. Note that the drivers from the above link do not include an "installer application".  The only executable that seems to apply to my LTO4 124T is the Microsoft Hot Fix.   Therefore my only choice was to do what you said not to do -- point the windows driver search to the folder containing the Dell drivers.  This is where I think I am somehow not following the instructions as you intend but I don't see an alternative.
   2. Note that, despite attempting to use the "windows driver search" Windows simply told me that "the wizard could not find a better match for your hardware than the software you currently have installed."  I pointed the Windows driver search at the following folders: 
      
      1. LTO4-120_SAS_Drive
      2. LTO4_120-1_IBM_SAS_Drive
      3. LTO4_IBM_SAS_Drive
      4. Loader_DRV

Does it sound like I'm doing the right things in the right sequence?  Again, step 7 is where I have my doubts.

Dan

Note that I have also tried the above instructions except I did step #2 above last -- the "lowerfilters" item never re-appeared.

Hello Dan,

Use this to remove the sub key as it is easier & should resolve your issue.  Use this to ensure that the sub eky has been removed.

Second Issue:

To solve this issue you need to make a registry edit. This is similar to a issue with CD/DVD drives with yellow bangs in device manager. That CD/DVD issue can be found in microsoft KB article support.microsoft.com/.../314060.

To solve them follow these steps:

1. Open regedit(Start > Run > "Regedit")

2. Navigate to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Class

3. The cdrom is usually listed under the registry subkey: {4D36E965-E325-11CE-BFC1-08002BE10318}

4. The tape drives I have seen were listed under the registry subkey: {6D807884-7D21-11CF-801C-08002BE10318}

5. The medium changer is usualy listed under registry subkey: {CE5939AE-EBDE-11D0-B181-0000F8753EC4}

6. In the right pane look for LowerFilters and UpperFilter.  Select these and delete.

7. Reboot the server and the drivers should load without errors.

Note:  You may need to check the other registry subkeys to find the tape drive as I am not 100% they are all listed under this subkey: {6D807884-7D21-11CF-801C-08002BE10318} or {CE5939AE-EBDE-11D0-B181-0000F8753EC4}

           Also, the subkey may not list both LowerFilter and UpperFilter.  Delete whichever is listed.

I guess it's time for me to suspect the tape drive itself is defective since I still have the tape drive driver exclamation point.

Hello Dan,

Can you pull a support log from your PV 124T so I can review it.  You can do so by using the Web utility & going to the Error log & diagnostic page then choose save logs & it will give you the option to save the log on your machine.  I will send you a private message & you can reply with the file.

There is a tool that we can use to test the drive but with the driver issue it may not see it but if we can get a log it would be great. Here is a link to download a tool to test the drive.  ftp://ftp.dell.com/tape-dev/DELL_POWERVAULT-LTO4-120HH--_A08_R309321.exe

You will need to install the ITDT.exe.  You will need to stop all backup services for your backup software.  When you start ITDT you will need to do a scan for the drive & if it finds the drive then need to select the tab that states Dump & choose retrieve drive log or Drive dump.  If you can send that log as well that would be great.

Note that there is now a Dell Service Request #: <ADMIN NOTE: Request number removed per privacy policy> for this problem -- they decided to open this ticket when I called to find out what a new Dell SAS 5/E adapter would cost.  He worked with me some on this and suggested you could reference his notes in the service request if you like.  One thing he mentioned was that the adapter should be in a PCIe x8 slot; after I got off the phone w/him I looked and found that the adapter is in an x4 slot.  Do you think that might be contributing to the problem?  I only have one x8 slot and it's being used by my Perc 6/E Raid adapter.

yes, your SAS controller should be in an 8x slot. And just in case this hasn't been resolve, don't forget to remove all ghost devices in device manager. Open a CMD prompt and type:

set devmgr show_hidden_devices=1

then

start devmgr.msc

Then device manager under "view" select "show hidden devices", then under tape drives and medium changers, remove all instances of both and then restart the server. Once you're back up, reinstall firmware/drivers for the tape drive and set the driver to the medium changer as 'unknown'

this has fixed this issue for me on a few tape devices