Troubleshooting Guide

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Refer to this table of symptoms or errors that might occur with the tape library and the installed tape drives.

The table provides actions to correct the problems.
Attention: If the problem is not listed in the table, or if the problem persists after you have taken all the troubleshooting steps contact IBM support.
Table 1. Resolving errors
Problem Solution
Event code/Attention information on Management GUI or Library
Event code that is shown on the Management GUI.
Library or drives tape alerts that are shown on the Management GUI. See the section Tape Alert flags.
Failure/Attention Indication on Management GUI Library Dashboard Tap the icon to see information about the event.
Event Notification on Host, SNMP, or Email
Host receives error message.
SNMP Monitoring system receives trap. Check Events in Management GUI.
Event is received by email notification. Check Events in Management GUI.
Other Library Problems
The library does not power on.
  • Check all power cord connections.
  • Check the LEDs on the power supplies.
    The Electronics Tray has two power supplies. Each one has 3 LEDs.
    1. Information indicator
    2. AC indicator
    3. DC indicator
    Figure 1. Power Supply LEDs
    Table 1. Power supply display meaning
    LED LED name LED color LED on indicates: Blinking LED indicates: No LED indicates:
     1  Information yellow Power Fault: Replace the power supply. Power Fault: Replace the power supply. No power.
     2  AC indicator green +5 V dc or +12 V dc is present at drive During reset, LED may blink, indicating drive is attempting to unload cartridge prior to actual reset process +5 V dc or +12 V dc is missing at drive
     3  DC indicator green +5 V dc or +12 V dc is present at drive During reset, LED may blink, indicating drive is attempting to unload cartridge prior to actual reset process +5 V dc or +12 V dc is missing at drive
  • Make sure that Power button on the back door panel was pressed, and the green Ready LED is lit.
  • Make sure that the outlet has power. Try another working outlet.
  • Replace the power cords.
The library is unresponsive. Follow these steps in order.
  1. If you just powered on the library, turn the power off and then back on again.
  2. Reset the Electronics Tray by pushing the reset button (See  1  in Figure 2) with a pointed object, for example a pen or straightened paper clip.
    Figure 2. Electronics Tray reset button
  3. If the reset does not solve the problem, replace the Electronics Tray. Preserve the Compact Flash (CF) card and install it in the new Electronics Tray.
    See videos: Electronics Tray/Compact Flash for Steps 3 and 4.
  4. If Step 3 did not resolve the problem, reinstall the previous Electronics Tray, except this time install a new CF card.
The Service Magazine is not functioning. Check the LEDs on the Service Magazine:
Refer to Figure 3 and Table 3.
  1. Power indicator
  2. Cartridge present in magazine
  3. Indicator for information, such as error messages
Figure 3. Service Magazine
Table 2. LTO Service Magazine LED display meaning
LED LED name LED color LED on indicates: Blinking LED indicates: No LED indicates:
 1  Service magazine power green +5 V dc or +12 V dc is present at drive During reset, LED may blink, indicating drive is attempting to unload cartridge prior to actual reset process +5 V dc or +12 V dc is missing at drive
 2  Magazine status green
  • Cartridge present
  • There are 1- 9 cartridge present in the magazine.
  • Cartridge not present
 3  Information blue There is a problem. More information is available on the management GUI. N/A N/A
Administrator or user account locked.

When you press the Access Recovery button, you have 15 minutes to log into the library and reset the administrator password with a temporary password. You must enter a new administrator password when you log out and back in again.

Figure 4. Access Recovery button
Access Recovery button
  1. Press the Access Recovery button  1  on the front of the electronics tray.
  2. If a remote connection is not available, connect a laptop to the service port  2 .
  3. Log into the GUI by using "admin" for the user name and password.
User account locked.
  1. Log into the Management GUI using "admin" for the user name and password.
  2. Go to Access > Users and right-click on the user name and:
    • Select Unlock to unlock the account.
    • Select Reset Password to change the password
Tape Drive or Media Problems
Drives are not being cleaned

In the Management GUI, go to Monitoring > Events and look for the 0210. If that event was recently posted, there is a problem with the cleaning cartridges. Make sure that the cleaning cartridges are not expired. A cleaning cartridge expires after 50 cleaning cycles.
A cartridge that is recently imported from a different environment is causing issues. Media that is moved from one environment to another can cause issues until it acclimates to the new conditions. A cartridge must be acclimated for at least 24 hours before it’s used, particularly if it was stored at a substantially different temperature or level of humidity than the device.
Single Character Display (SCD) is shown on LTO drive.
SCD code Description
0 No Error. Ran successfully.
1 Cooling problem.
2 5V dc power problem. Tape drive detected that the Drive Power Supply is approaching the specified voltage limit (drive is still operating) or is outside the specified voltage range (drive is not operating).
3 Tape drive determined that a microcode error occurred.
4 Microcode or tape drive problem. Tape drive determined that a microcode or tape drive hardware failure occurred.
5 Tape drive problem. Tape drive determined that a hardware failure occurred.
6 Tape drive or media error. Tape drive determined that an error occurred, but it cannot isolate the error due to faulty hardware or to the tape cartridge.
7 Media error.
8 Tape drive, SCSI bus or fibre channel error.
9 Tape drive or RS-422 error.
A Tape drive hardware problem.
B No error or message is assigned.
C Tape drive needs to be cleaned.
D No error or message is assigned.
= The Unload button on the drive was pushed in and did not release.
Connection Problems
Attention: In addition to the information below, see the topic: Resolving communication errors
Fibre Channel connection problems

Check Drive Status screen to check the link connection for your tape drive.

  • For each available port, run a drive Wrap Test.
    1. Unplug the Fibre Channel cable, then plug in the Fibre Channel wrap tool.
    2. Go to Drives > Fibre Channel Ports right-click on the port and choose FC Wrap Test.
    3. If the drive test fails replace the drive. See the video replacement procedures: Drives.
    4. If the FC Wrap Test passes, continue with the next steps.
  • Check that the Fibre Channel speed is set to either match the HBA/switch speed or set to Auto
  • Verify that cables aren’t damaged.
  • Verify that cables are securely connected on both ends.
  • Verify Host Connectivity.
  • Use ITDT to debug the problem.
SAS connection problems
Check Drive Status screen to check the connection for your tape drive.
  • For each available port, run a drive Wrap Test.
    1. Unplug the SAS cable, then plug in the SAS wrap tool.
    2. Go to Drives > SAS Ports right-click on the port and choose SAS Wrap Test.
    3. See the video replacement procedures: Drives.
    4. If the SAS Wrap Test passes, continue with the next steps.
  • Verify that cables aren’t damaged.
  • Verify that cables are securely connected on both ends.
  • Verify Host Connectivity.
  • Use ITDT to debug the problem.
Can’t connect to the Management GUI.
  • Verify that the three Ethernet cables are securely connected to the LCC Ethernet ports. See  1  in Figure 5.
    Figure 5. Electronics Tray management Ethernet ports
  • Using the Service Ethernet port (The one with the wrench icon), verify that the library is configured with a valid static network address or DHCP is enabled so the device can obtain a network address. See your network administrator to ensure these values are valid.
  • Enter the library’s IP address into the address bar of a web browser that is connected to the same LAN as the device. If the Management GUI page doesn’t display, ping the device's IP address. If the ping fails, check that no firewalls or other obstructions to network traffic exist between the computer with the web browser and the device. See your network administrator for help.
Can’t connect to Key Management Server for LME.
  • Run the Encryption Connectivity Check or Key Path Diagnostics and review the results message.
  • Validate that the server configuration properties file includes support for TLS 1.2. See the encryption server documentation.
  • If SKLM v2.7 or higher is used and you’re using the Library Self-Signed Certificate. For one time only, you might need to reset your encryption settings to clear out old versions of the self-signed certificate, reconfigure encryption, then accept the new self-signed certificate on the encryption server.
  • Check that your certificate algorithm is supported by your version of the server.

Host application reporting SCSI timeout
Attention:
  • The tape drive must rewind the tape before it is ejected. The amount of time for this procedure can vary, depending on how the tape was used.
  • The tape drive performs media optimization on the first load of a cartridge. The amount of time for this procedure can vary.

The procedure for SCSI timeouts varies depending on whether timeout is consistent or intermittent, and on your drive configuration. Follow these steps to troubleshoot a SCSI timeout:

  1. Stop all Host Activity.
  2. Go to the Drives page in the in the management GUI. If the drive is in the middle of performing an operation, wait until the drive is idle before attempting any further steps.
  3. Validate that the drive has the latest firmware.
  4. Check with software application provider for any updates.
  5. Check whether the tape drive power is on.
  6. Power down the drive.
  7. Verify that the SAS or FC cable is connected properly to the server and to the tape drive.
  8. Replace SAS or FC cable if it shows any signs of damage.
  9. Power on the drive and wait until the tape drive is idle or ready.