tape changer, but not tape drive

[Dan Langille]

Dan Langille wrote:
> Adam McDougall wrote:
>> Dan Langille wrote:
>>> Adam McDougall wrote:
>>>> On Tue, Oct 27, 2009 at 09:39:07PM -0400, Dan Langille wrote:
>>>>
>>>>   I first encountered this problem in April, now I'm back to it:
>>>>        
>>>> http://lists.freebsd.org/pipermail/freebsd-scsi/2008-April/003452.html
>>>>     In short, the system has tape library.  The library has worked 
>>>> in the   past (http://www.freebsddiary.org/digital-tl891.php) but 
>>>> now it does   not.  I can see either the tape library or the tape 
>>>> drive.  Which I see   depends upon the cable configuration.
>>>>        http://www.freebsddiary.org/images/tape-libraries-cables.jpg
>>>>     As shown above, that's how I would expect things to work 
>>>> normally.   However, in that configuration, I do not see the tape 
>>>> drive.  The cable   going down, goes to the computer.  If I 
>>>> reconnect that cable to the plug   to the left of the terminator, 
>>>> the system can see the DLT drive, but not   the tape library.
>>>>     Under 6.3-STABLE FreeBSD, I can see either one device or the other.
>>>>     ch0 at ahc0 bus 0 target 0 lun 0
>>>>   ch0:  Removable Changer SCSI-2 device
>>>>   ch0: 20.000MB/s transfers (10.000MHz, offset 8, 16bit)
>>>>   ch0: 10 slots, 1 drive, 1 picker, 0 portals
>>>>     or
>>>>     sa0 at ahc0 bus 0 target 1 lun 0
>>>>   sa0:  Removable Sequential Access SCSI-2 device
>>>>   sa0: 20.000MB/s transfers (10.000MHz, offset 8, 16bit)
>>>>   acd0: FAILURE - INQUIRY ILLEGAL REQUEST asc=0x24 ascq=0x00 
>>>> sks=0x40 0x00   0x01
>>>>     Any ideas?
>>>>     Full dmesg output here:  http://www.langille.org/tmp/dmesg.boot
>>>>     TIA.
>>>>   Is it possible the middle cable is broken in some way?  Perhaps you
>>>> could swap it with another cable to try to find out, such as with
>>>> the cable going from the library to the 2944 card.  Might be 
>>>> intermittant
>>>> and start working if bent or moved. 
>>>
>>> I did try that.  I used the cable from my stand-alone DLT drive, 
>>> which has been used before (and after) and is known to be good.
>>>
>>>> Also can you see the connectors
>>>> inside the library (on the back side of the external plate) to check
>>>> if they are well seated or damaged?
>>>
>>> I'll pull the unit apart and have a look.  I have been in there 
>>> before.   Since it last worked, the unit has gone through two moves.
>>>
>>> > You could also try swapping the
>>>> first and second connection or the third and fourth, or both, if it is
>>>> hooked up like I think it is, those should have an equal chance of 
>>>> working
>>>> and might reveal a bad port or partially bad port.  
>>>
>>> I did try moving the looped cable to plugs 1&2 and connecting my 
>>> computer to plug 3.
>> The two plugs for each device (library, tape1, tape2) are probably 
>> tied directly together in a Y
>> shape to the internal device so you can use them as an In/Out, so 
>> putting the looped cable on
>> plugs 1 and 2 probably does nothing and isolates that device from the 
>> rest.  As long as the looped
>> cable is not between 1&2 or 3&4, you can probably use any other order 
>> although the manufacturer
>> may have recommendations.  I see nothing wrong with the way you appear 
>> to have cabled it but
>> variations may reveal something.
> 
> I looked inside.  Nothing obviously disconnected etc.
> 
> I tried connecting the computer into plug 1, leaving 2 and 3 empty. 
> Regardless of whether or not the terminator is in plug 4, FreeBSD does 
> not see the tape drive.
> 
> FWIW, I went into the SCSI utility for the SCSI card during boot.
> 
> ahc0: <Adaptec 2944 Ultra SCSI adapter> port 0x9400-0x94ff mem 
> 0xfb400000-0xfb400fff irq 16 at device 9.0 on pci0
> ahc0: [GIANT-LOCKED]

Is this the appropriate card to be using with this device?

There is a label on the back of the library saying: SCSI DIFF

I know the unit is configured to use SCSI-2

> The card itself sees only the library, not the drive.  Thus, I conclude 
> this is something outside FreeBSD (so far).
> 
>>>
>>>> Also try leaving off
>>>> the terminator or one/both ends of the middle cable just to see if the
>>>> system can tell the difference especially while booting, just to 
>>>> confirm
>>>> if it makes any negative difference at all.  
>>>
>>> OK, I will try that.
>>>
>>> Thank you.
> 
> No difference.
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