PV124T Drv Comm Failure Type (6E)

Question

Getting a Drv Comm Failure Type (6E) error on my PowerVault 124T LTO5 library. I've reset the power, the cable, the SAS card multiple times but still get error. It's connected to a PowerEdge 2950 running Veeam 8. The drive/library no longer appear under Windows Devices but the SAS card does.

Hard Queue:

Drv Comm Failure
Type (6E)
POC:00004
POH:00730:19:02 #000

Drv Comm Failure
Type (6E)
POC:00004
POH:00736:45:30 #001

Drive Cmd Abort
Type (65)
POC:00004
POH:00737:12:13 #002

Drive Cmd Abort
Type (65)
POC:00004
POH:00740:24:21 #003

Drv Comm Failure
Type (6E)
2016-Jun-29
21:47:35.890    #004

Drv Comm Failure
Type (6E)
2016-Jun-30
06:52:51.811    #005

Drv Comm Failure
Type (6E)
2016-Jun-30
22:02:36.707    #006

Drv Comm Failure
Type (6E)
POC:00033
POH:00000:05:37 #007

Communication
Error
Type (6F)
POC:00033
POH:00000:16:11 #008

Drv Comm Failure
Type (6E)
POC:00034
POH:00000:05:37 #009

Communication
Error
Type (6F)
POC:00034
POH:00000:11:16 #010

Drv Comm Failure
Type (6E)
POC:00035
POH:00000:05:37 #011

Communication
Error
Type (6F)
2016-Jul-01
12:32:51.135    #012

Drv Comm Failure
Type (6E)
2016-Jul-01
16:58:44.476    #013

**** Tape Alert Queue ****

Block 0, 017/017 entries @  26 bytes each, wrap @ 000, erase @ 001
0000: 2015-Dec-04, 13:08:26.688, Label:[CLNU00L1] Flags:0020080000000000
0001: 2016-Jan-07, 16:02:46.294, Label:[GO6639L5] Flags:0000080000000000
0002: 2016-Jan-07, 16:04:30.998, Label:[CLNU00L1] Flags:0020080000000000
0003: 2016-Feb-04, 05:55:08.406, Label:[GO6623L5] Flags:0000080000000000
0004: 2016-Feb-04, 05:56:47.272, Label:[CLNU00L1] Flags:0020080000000000
0005: 2016-Feb-19, 18:09:48.620, Label:[GO6639L5] Flags:0000080100000000
0006: 2016-Feb-19, 18:11:32.744, Label:[CLNU00L1] Flags:0020080100000000
0007: 2016-Mar-23, 06:14:22.355, Label:[JT4141L5] Flags:0000080100000000
0008: 2016-Mar-23, 06:15:53.550, Label:[CLNU00L1] Flags:0020080100000000
0009: PC: 00029 POH: 00271:38:48 Label:[GO6624L5] Flags:0000080000000000
0010: PC: 00029 POH: 00271:40:24 Label:[CLNU00L1] Flags:0020080000000000
0011: 2016-May-09, 15:00:12.535, Label:[GO6636L5] Flags:0000080000000000
0012: 2016-May-09, 15:01:53.153, Label:[CLNU00L1] Flags:0020080000000000
0013: 2016-Jun-02, 02:44:06.871, Label:[JT4147L5] Flags:0000080000000000
0014: 2016-Jun-02, 02:45:45.495, Label:[CLNU00L1] Flags:0020080000000000
0015: 2016-Jun-12, 11:38:38.966, Label:[GO6630L5] Flags:0000080000000000
0016: 2016-Jun-12, 11:40:10.171, Label:[CLNU00L1] Flags:0020080000000000

**** Tape Alert Flags currently set on the Drive ****	None

**** Tape Alerts associated with Cartridges located in the library ****

A tape with no label is located in the drive, no Tape Alerts logged.
GO6639L5 is located in slot 1

	"CleanPeriodic" (21) was set 2 times.
	  Description =	
	  Class =	Media
	  Serverity =	Unknown
	  Action =	Clean Drive.

	"Interface" (32) was set 1 time.
	  Description =	The drive has detected an interface fault
	  Class =	Hardware
	  Serverity =	Warning
	  Action =	Unknown..

JT4140L5 is located in slot 2, no Tape Alerts logged.
GO6636L5 is located in slot 3

	"CleanPeriodic" (21) was set 1 time.
	  Description =	
	  Class =	Media
	  Serverity =	Unknown
	  Action =	Clean Drive..

JT4147L5 is located in slot 4

	"CleanPeriodic" (21) was set 1 time.
	  Description =	
	  Class =	Media
	  Serverity =	Unknown
	  Action =	Clean Drive..

JT4148L5 is located in slot 6, no Tape Alerts logged.
GO6626L5 is located in slot 7, no Tape Alerts logged.
CLNU00L1 is located in slot 8

	"CleaningMedia" (11) was set 9 times.
	  Description =	Tape is a Cleaning cartridge
	  Class =	Operational Information
	  Serverity =	Informational
	  Action =	No Action Required.

	"CleanPeriodic" (21) was set 9 times.
	  Description =	
	  Class =	Media
	  Serverity =	Unknown
	  Action =	Clean Drive.

	"Interface" (32) was set 2 times.
	  Description =	The drive has detected an interface fault
	  Class =	Hardware
	  Serverity =	Warning
	  Action =	Unknown..

GO6627L5 is located in slot 9, no Tape Alerts logged.
JT4149L5 is located in slot 10, no Tape Alerts logged.
JT4141L5 is located in slot 11

	"CleanPeriodic" (21) was set 1 time.
	  Description =	
	  Class =	Media
	  Serverity =	Unknown
	  Action =	Clean Drive.

	"Interface" (32) was set 1 time.
	  Description =	The drive has detected an interface fault
	  Class =	Hardware
	  Serverity =	Warning
	  Action =	Unknown..

JT4150L5 is located in slot 12, no Tape Alerts logged.
JT4142L5 is located in slot 13, no Tape Alerts logged.
GO6632L5 is located in slot 14, no Tape Alerts logged.
GO6633L5 is located in slot 15, no Tape Alerts logged.
GO6634L5 is located in slot 16, no Tape Alerts logged.

tapelibraryfixer · Answer

more than likely a drive issue but cant be 100% sure

sgoldhorn · Answer

I'm using Veeam 9 as well, and it was working fine after the upgrade from 8 to 9. It stopped working several weeks ago during a Veeam Backup to Tape job. Here's the first error I had:

Failed to prepare to start new tape session: StartSessionTape failed
StartSessionTape failed
When accessing a new tape of a multivolume partition, the current block size is incorrect.
Tape read error
When accessing a new tape of a multivolume partition, the current block size is incorrect.

Then when it tried to run the next night I got this:

Loading tape JT4141L5 from Slot 11 to Drive 1 (Server: Local Tape Server, Library: DELL PV-124T 0090, Drive ID: Tape0) Error: The specified network resource or device is no longer available.
DeviceIoControl(ChangerGetElementStatus) with eAddress = '10' and number = '1', symLink = '\\?\scsi#changer&ven_dell&prod_pv-124t#8&557cb16&0&000301#{53f56310-b6bf-11d0-94f2-00a0c91efb8b}'
--tr:Error code: 0x00000037
--tr:Timed out waiting for device ready status on ChangerGetElementStatus operation, element 'ChangerSlo

I'll try contacting Veeam support as well, maybe it's a software bug?

BEAIS · Answer

I'm having the exact same problem, except I'm using Veeam 9, didn't have the issue until I upgraded.

BEAIS · Answer

I tried contacting Veeam and they told me they couldn't do anything unless the device drivers appeared..

I tried installing a new device driver and we have a 2008 R2 server (64-bit) and I just get an error saying the driver needs to be installed on a 64-bit server. I've tried the latest version of the driver all the way to the oldest I could find on the website. None of which work. I'm kind of at a loss.

BEAIS · Answer

Anyone have any additional updates on this? I still can't get mine to work.

BEAIS · Answer

It absolutely could be, we've been having troubles with it the past few months, only getting some jobs to run properly. After upgrading to Veeam 9 it just doesn't work at all now and continues to throw errors.

Communication Error

Drv Comm Failure Type (6E)

Software Error Type (24)

Drv Prev Removal Type (46)

Uknown Error Type (00)

tapelibraryfixer · Answer

i would have thought if the library is giving you an error its library/drive related and not the software

tapelibraryfixer · Answer

i think either way you need to get someone to look at it to confirm that its a library issue that way you can say its not your software or vice versa.

DELL-Sam L · Answer

Hello sgoldhorn,

With getting the 6E error that is normally a driver issue with the tape drive or a drive issue. You stated that the drive & the library is not seen in device manager but the SAS card is. If you reboot the server and on post when it scans the SAS card does it see the tape library & drive or no? If the library is not seen and the drive is not seen as well then I would say that the issue is with the drive.

If the drive is seen on post then I would check to see if there are any uninstalled devices listed in device manager. You also stated that you updated your Veem software but did you do any updates to your PV124T? What is the current version of firmware for both the Library and the LTO5 drive?

Please let us know if you have any other questions.

sgoldhorn · Answer

Thanks for the response. I ended up having to order a T1000 to replace this unit. I will say that when I tried to eject some tapes from the library it had another error (I didn't note it as I was retiring it anyway) so it makes me thing that the unit itself is to blame because it couldn't even do a simple eject function. I ended up having to eject the magazines and manually removing the tapes.

I never updated the drivers on the drive or library as I was told not to by Veeam tech support (and Symantec before it) because that could cause problems with the backup software.

sgoldhorn · Answer

UPDATE: I did a search for repairs on PV124T and found a company www.StrategicSupport.com. I emailed them the logs, and they said:

"based on this information the LTO5 is in a failed state that is preventing the library from communicating with the tape drive. Based on this statement listed in the report “A tape with no label is located in the drive, no Tape Alerts logged.” This leads me to believe that there is a tape stuck in the drive. Whether this is due to a bad tape cartridge or a defective drive is yet to be determined."

So I took the cover off (many tiny torx screws) and sure enough, there was a tape in the drive. Rather than try to manually eject it, I decided to power up the library with the cover off. The library booted up seemingly ok, and I was able to eject it using the front panel. I think in removing the cover it gives the chassis enough flex that whatever wasn't lining up properly to eject now allowed it to eject. I put it back together and will do further testing to see if it's still viable, as I still have some new LTO5 tapes I'd like to use up, and my new LTO7 library can't write to those tapes, it can only read.

My takeaway from this experience is to not rely on Dell for answers. They wanted $599 just to speak with me, yet www.StrategicSupport.com was able to figure out the issue with one simple email at no cost.

sgoldhorn · Answer

UPDATE: I did a search for repairs on PV124T and found a company www.StrategicSupport.com. I emailed them the logs, and they said:

"based on this information the LTO5 is in a failed state that is preventing the library from communicating with the tape drive. Based on this statement listed in the report “A tape with no label is located in the drive, no Tape Alerts logged.” This leads me to believe that there is a tape stuck in the drive. Whether this is due to a bad tape cartridge or a defective drive is yet to be determined."

So I took the cover off (many tiny torx screws) and sure enough, there was a tape in the drive. Rather than try to manually eject it, I decided to power up the library with the cover off. The library booted up seemingly ok, and I was able to eject it using the front panel. I put it back together, loaded up two tapes then reconnected it to the server. Everything looked normal again with both the library and drive appearing under Device Manager, and Veeam seeing the library online again.However upon attempting to run a backup to tape job similar issues popped up again, this time with an error of "Drive Cmd Abort Type (65). A tape appears to be stuck in the drive again, so it's pretty clear that it's a hardware issue. I think in removing the cover it gave the chassis enough flex that whatever wasn't lining up properly to eject now allowed it to eject, and reassembling it caused the same issue to happen again. I just don’t know if it’s the drive itself, the alignment of the picker with the drive, or the mechanism that moves the tape from the picker into the drive. But the magazines/library seem fine.

I have 8 new LTO5 tapes that I'd like to be able to use, as the LTO7 drives can't write to them, only read from them so I may attempt to remove the drive and connected the drive directly to the server until I use up my tapes, then be done with it.

I'd recommend anybody that needs to fix their library to contact www.StrategicSupport.com as they were able to help me via email, and provide a repair quote at no cost. Sure beats $599!

PowerVault

PV124T Drv Comm Failure Type (6E)

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