Date: Sun, 25 Oct 1998 13:31:04 +1030
From: Greg Lehey <grog@lemis.com>
To: Harlan Stenn <Harlan.Stenn@pfcs.com>
Cc: questions@FreeBSD.ORG
Subject: Re: debugger("bt742a")?
Message-ID: <19981025133104.G16609@freebie.lemis.com>
In-Reply-To: <8421.909283837@brown.pfcs.com>; from Harlan Stenn on Sat, Oct 24, 1998 at 10:50:37PM -0400
References: <19981025123814.C16609@freebie.lemis.com> <8421.909283837@brown.pfcs.com>
next in thread | previous in thread | raw e-mail | index | archive | help
On Saturday, 24 October 1998 at 22:50:37 -0400, Harlan Stenn wrote: > Thanks for the response. > > (I have a third machine that is running -current; it has no tape drive on > it. I'm hesitant to upgrade the second machine to -current as it is almost > a production box, and it's my network's backup machine. I would agree entirely. Wait until you can trust it. > It might be better for me to hack a tape drive on to the -current > box, even though it only has a cheap NCR SCSI controller in it, just > to make sure things work.) Well, there's nothing wrong with the NCR controllers. > I have a second system with an Adaptec SCSI controller and a second tape > drive of identical vintage. > > That system also has problems reading (and writing) tapes. What kind of problems? > The second system has this to say: > > (snip) > chip2 <Intel 82371SB IDE interface> rev 0 on pci0:7:1 > ahc0 <Adaptec 2940 SCSI host adapter> rev 0 int a irq 11 on pci0:10:0 > ahc0: aic7870 Single Channel, SCSI Id=7, 16 SCBs > ahc0 waiting for scsi devices to settle > (ahc0:0:0): "TOSHIBA MK537FB/ 6258" type 0 fixed SCSI 2 > sd0(ahc0:0:0): Direct-Access 1015MB (2079838 512 byte sectors) > (ahc0:3:0): "SEAGATE SX410800N 7102" type 0 fixed SCSI 2 > sd1(ahc0:3:0): Direct-Access 8347MB (17096357 512 byte sectors) > (ahc0:5:0): "ARCHIVE Python 28388-XXX 4.98" type 1 removable SCSI 2 > st1(ahc0:5:0): Sequential-Access density code 0x24, 512-byte blocks, write-enabled > (ahc0:6:0): "TOSHIBA CD-ROM XM-3501TA 3384" type 5 removable SCSI 2 > cd0(ahc0:6:0): CD-ROM can't get the size Hmm. My main machine has: > ahc0: <Adaptec 2940 SCSI adapter> rev 0x03 int a irq 11 on pci0.9.0 > ahc0: aic7870 Single Channel A, SCSI Id=7, 16/255 SCBs > ... > sa0 at ahc0 bus 0 target 3 lun 0 > sa0: <EXABYTE EXB-8505SMBANSH2 0793> Removable Sequential Access SCSI2 device > sa0: 5.0MB/s transfers (5.0MHz, offset 11) > sa1 at ahc0 bus 0 target 4 lun 0 > sa1: <ARCHIVE Python 28849-XXX 4.CM> Removable Sequential Access SCSI2 device > sa1: 5.0MB/s transfers (5.0MHz, offset 15) > sa2 at ahc0 bus 0 target 5 lun 0 This machine works. > I tried reading a tape on this system and this is what I got: > [driver vomit omitted] > SEQADDR = 0x99 SCSISEQ = 0x12 SSTAT0 = 0x5 SSTAT1 = 0x2 > st1(ahc0:5:0): no longer in timeout > ahc0: Issued Channel A Bus Reset. 3 SCBs aborted > st1(ahc0:5:0): HARDWARE FAILURE asc:44,a5 Vendor Specific ASCQ > st1(ahc0:5:0): HARDWARE FAILURE asc:44,a5 Vendor Specific ASCQ > st1(ahc0:5:0): HARDWARE FAILURE asc:44,a5 Vendor Specific ASCQ These last messages are the tape drive trying to tell you it's feeling sick, and saying it in a foreign language. By the looks of the product number, I'd guess that your tape is a DDS-1 (or possibly DDS-2). Correct? In that case, it's probably dying. DDS drives must be the most unreliable piece of hardware available, unless it's an Exabyte. How old is it? If it's a DDS-1 and more than 6 months old, or a DDS-2 and more than 18 months, it probably needs an overhaul. You can delay this point by rigorous cleaning, but you can't stop it. My Archive tape (a DDS-2 changer) is less than 2 years old and also needs overhauling. That makes it the most *reliable* of the 5 DDS drives I've had. Greg -- See complete headers for address, home page and phone numbers finger grog@lemis.com for PGP public key To Unsubscribe: send mail to majordomo@FreeBSD.org with "unsubscribe freebsd-questions" in the body of the message
Want to link to this message? Use this URL: <https://mail-archive.FreeBSD.org/cgi/mid.cgi?19981025133104.G16609>