Dell Lto5 Manual

							LTO-5 Tape Drive User’s Guide57
Chapter 6
Troubleshooting Guide
This chapter provides best-practice installation guidelines for getting the 
most out of your LTO-5 Tape Drive and troubleshooting information you can 
use to identify and resolve tape drive problems.
Topics covered in this chapter are:
•Installation Best Practices
•Troubleshooting Suggestions on page 58
Installation Best Practices
Following SCSI Best 
Practices
Always follow SCSI best practices when installing an LTO-5 Half-Height Tape 
Drive to ensure trouble-free installation and operation. 
Using a Serial-
attached SCSI Host 
Bus Adapter
To achieve the very best performance from your LTO-5 Half-Height Tape 
Drive and optimize your backup operations, always attach the drive to a 
serial-attached SCSI controller that supports 3 GBytes per sec. per port 
transfer rate. 
						

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Troubleshooting Suggestions
58LTO-5 Tape Drive User’s Guide
HBA Preinstallation 
Checks
Before installing the HBA, check and record your current system 
configuration. For example: 
Refer to your operating system documentation for specific information 
on reviewing your system configuration. 
After installing the SCSI HBA, restart the system. Then, ensure that the 
operating system recognizes the HBA and that there are no conflicts 
with other adapters. 
Troubleshooting Suggestions
If a problem occurs, the first step is to try to establish whether the 
problem lies with the cartridge, the drive, the host computer and 
connections, or the way the system is being operated.
Has the system just been installed?
There could be an installation problem:
1Check through the information in the relevant installation chapter 
of this guide (Chapter 2, Installation Procedures
). In the . . . operating 
system,You can find information on any currently 
installed SCSI HBA by . . .
Windows 20001 Double-clicking 
Administrative Tools in 
the Control Panel
2Clicking 
Computer Management > Device 
Manager
3 Clicking the SCSI host adapters listed
4Clicking 
Properties to view the Resources 
tab
UNIX/Linux Viewing the boot log text file. 
						

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Troubleshooting Suggestions
LTO-5 Tape Drive User’s Guide59
2Has the system booted? If not, check that all hard disks are correctly 
seated in the hard disk bay and then check the cabling between the 
disks and the SAS controller.
3Does an error appear during the boot sequence about a change to 
the RAID configuration? This error only appears if you have used the 
supplied cable to replace an existing SAS cable. Check the cabling 
between the disks and the SAS controller. If the problem persists, 
you have probably disconnected a hard disk drive bay that was in 
use. 
4Has the system booted but the operating system has not seen the 
tape drive? Check that the drive has power, the READY light should 
be illuminated. If it is not, check that the power cord is connected 
correctly to the tape drive. If READY is illuminated, check the 
cabling between the tape drive and the SAS controller. Ensure that 
the HBA port to which the drive is connected is enabled. If an 
external drive was powered on after the server, power cycle the 
server.
5Are appropriate Tape drivers as well as supported application 
software installed on the host?
6Check the environmental conditions against the specified limits (see 
table 11
).
Table 11  Environmental 
Specifications for the LTO-5 
Ta p e  D r i v e
Temperature Range Non-condensing humidity range
Operating50° to 95° F (10° to 40° C) at a 
minimum of 8 CFM airflow20 to 80% RH (non-condensing)
Storage-40° to 151° F (-40° to 66° C) 10 to 95% RH (non-condensing) 
						

							Chapter 6  Troubleshooting Guide
Troubleshooting Suggestions
60LTO-5 Tape Drive User’s Guide
Are you using new cartridges or a different brand of 
cartridge? Have you been using the particular cartridge for a 
very long time?
The problem could lie with the cartridge:
1Check through the Chapter 3, Operation
 and table 3 on page 31.
2Check that you are using an Ultrium cartridge. Compatible media 
can be recognized by the Ultrium logo, which is the same as the 
logo on the front of your drive.
3Use the correct media type:
• Ultrium 3TB R/W or Ultrium 3TB WORM cartridges with LTO-5 
tape drives
• Ultrium 1.6TB R/W or Ultrium 1.6TB WORM cartridges with LTO-
4 tape drives
• Ultrium 800 GB R/W or Ultrium 800 GB WORM cartridges with 
LT O - 3  t a p e  d r i v e s
• Ultrium 400 GB R/W cartridges with LTO-2 tape drives
4Has the cartridge been write-protected, see Write Protecting a Tape 
Cartridge on page 29?
5Clean the tape heads with the cleaning cartridge, see Cleaning the 
Ta p e  D r i v e on page 34. Make sure you are using the Ultrium 
Universal cleaning cartridge, C7978A.
6If the Ta p e  L E D is flashing, the cartridge is probably faulty. Try using 
a different cartridge.
7Try the operation again.
8If the problem still occurs and you have not yet replaced the 
cartridge, try using a different cartridge.
9If the problem is still there, the problem probably lies with the drive 
or the host computer. 
						

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Troubleshooting Suggestions
LTO-5 Tape Drive User’s Guide61
Has the drive been moved recently? Have any cables been 
disconnected and reconnected? Has the environment 
changed—unusually hot, cold, damp or dry? Has there been 
dust or dirt near the drive. Have reasonable precautions 
against static been taken?
The problem could lie with the drive:
1Check the cables and connectors.
2Clean the tape heads with the cleaning cartridge.
3If the problem persists, check the environmental conditions against 
the specified limits, see table 11
 on page 59. Perhaps move the drive 
to a more suitable site.
Has a new operating system been installed in the host 
computer? Has new backup software been installed?
The problem could lie with the host or the software. Consult the 
computers operating manuals, the software manual, or seek help from 
a service engineer. 
						

							Chapter 6  Troubleshooting Guide
Understanding LED Sequences
62LTO-5 Tape Drive User’s Guide
Understanding LED Sequences
As shown in figure 18 (half-height) and figure 19 (full-height), the LTO-5 
Tape Drive front panel display has five LED indicators that reflect the 
operating condition of the drive:
The LEDs are either on steady or blinking at different rates in various 
combinations to indicate the various drive conditions as shown in table 
12.
Note:The tape drive LED table below (table 12) does not include the 
Encryption LED. Refer to table 13
 for encryption LED 
information.
Figure 18  Front Panel Display 
(Half-Height)Cartridge door
Encryption LEDReady LED
Ta p e  L E D
Drive LED
Clean LEDEject button 
						

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Understanding LED Sequences
LTO-5 Tape Drive User’s Guide63
Figure 19  Front Panel Display 
(Full-Height)
Cartridge doorEject button
Emergency reset button
Ready LED
Ta p e  L E D Drive LED
Clean LED
Encryption LED 
						

							Chapter 6  Troubleshooting Guide
Understanding LED Sequences
64LTO-5 Tape Drive User’s Guide
Table 12  Tape Drive LED 
Sequences
LED Sequence 
(Half-Height)LED 
Sequence 
(Full-Height) Cause Action Required
All LEDs OFF
 
All LEDs OFFDrive may not have power, may 
be faulty or may have been 
power cycled or reset during a 
firmware upgrade.Make sure the drive is 
switched on. The power on/
off switch on an external 
drive incorporates a green 
LED.
Check the power cord 
connection and replace the 
cable if necessary. On 
external drives, you can use 
the power cord from your 
monitor or another device to 
check that the connection is 
working. 
If the power supply is 
present and all LEDs remain 
off, power cycle or reset the 
drive. If it still fails, call for 
service.
Ready and Clean 
OFF, Drive and 
Ta p e  F L A S H
 
Ready and 
Clean OFF, 
Drive and Tape 
FLASHThe drive has failed to execute 
power-on self test (POST).Power cycle or reset the 
drive.
If the error condition 
reappears, call for service. 
						

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Understanding LED Sequences
LTO-5 Tape Drive User’s Guide65
Ready is ON.
 
Ready is ON.The drive is ready for 
operation.None. This is normal.
Ready FLASHES.
 
Ready 
FLASHES.The drive is carrying out a 
normal activity (read, write).None.
If the drive is upgrading 
firmware, do not reset or 
power cycle it.
Ready FLASHES 
fast.
 
Ready 
FLASHES fast.The drive is downloading 
firmware.None.
Do not reset or power cycle 
the drive. LED Sequence 
(Half-Height)LED 
Sequence 
(Full-Height) Cause Action Required 
						

							Chapter 6  Troubleshooting Guide
Understanding LED Sequences
66LTO-5 Tape Drive User’s Guide
Ready is OFF, 
others are ON
 
Ready is OFF, 
others are ONFirmware is being 
reprogrammed.None. Do not reset or power 
cycle the drive.
Clean FLASHES
 
Clean 
FLASHESThe drive requires cleaning. Load the Ultrium cleaning 
cartridge, see Cleaning the 
Ta p e  D r i v e on page 34.
If the Clean LED is still 
flashing when you load a 
new or known good data 
cartridge after cleaning, call 
for service.
Ready FLASHES 
and Clean is ON
 
Ready 
FLASHES and 
Clean is ONCleaning is in progress. None. The cleaning cartridge 
will eject on completion.
The cleaning cycle can take 
up to 5 minutes to 
complete. LED Sequence 
(Half-Height)LED 
Sequence 
(Full-Height) Cause Action Required