IBM Support

Tape drive is not seen during the POST/Startup SCSI scan - Servers and IntelliStation

Troubleshooting


Problem

If the tape device is not detected during POST/startup, please check the following: Check the cable to ensure that the device is connected properly and that there are no bent pins. Check SCSI termination. Termination must be set on either the bu

Resolving The Problem

Symptom
A tape drive attached to the system is not detected by the system at POST/Startup, and does not appear in the SCSI scan.

Affected configuration
A ll SCSI tape drives attached to any IBM system.

Solution
The starting point of tape drive hardware problem determination begins with ensuring that the tape drive is detected and recognized properly by the SCSI host adapter. Ensure that the Tape Drive/Library is recognized at a hardware level on it's SCSI chain. This is determined in the SCSI controller's BIOS utility. Two examples of SCSI BIOS Configuration Utilities are:
  • Adaptec SCSIselect utility (press Ctrl+A at bootup when prompted) - when attaching drives to an Adaptec SCSI controller.
  • IBM ServeRAID Mini-config utility (Press Ctrl+I at bootup when prompted) - when attaching drives to an IBM ServeRAID controller.

If a device is seen at a hardware level in the adapter BIOS, then backup software configuration might be the cause of the problem. If device is not recognized, perform SCSI bus problem determination.

If a tape drive does not appear in a SCSI BIOS scan during system bootup, please check the following:
  • Check SCSI termination. Termination must be set on either the bus (cable), or a device but not both.
  • Ensure that only the device at the end of each ribbon is terminated, and that no other SCSI device on the chain is terminated.
  • Ensure that a Fast/Wide (16 bit) cable is not terminated by a Fast (8 bit) device on its last drop using a 16/8 bit converter (p/n 32G3097, fru 92F0324). It must be terminated by a Fast/Wide device. Also,16/8-bit converters cannot be turned around backwards in some cases. These converters are for attaching Fast devices to a Fast/Wide cable only. Fast/Wide devices require Fast/Wide cables and controllers.
  • Check that SCSI ID's are not conflicting between devices on the chain.
  • Ensure that there are no duplicated SCSI IDs on the devices attached to the SCSI cable.
  • SCSI chains with attached hot-swap backplanes only have SCSI ID 6 available for a non hot swap device, (with the exception of the PC Server 704 and Netfinity 7000 whose backplanes use ID 6 for their own ID). Any other attached device will conflict with a backplane position on that chain. Remember that hot swap drives take the ID equivalent to their bay position minus one.
  • The SCSI ID of the Host Adapter should always be set to 7. No ID higher than 7 is supported, even if the controller allows it.
  • Remove the tape drive from the SCSI cable to verify there are no bent pins, then re-attach it to the cable to ensure the connection is firm and seated properly.
  • Check to ensure that the male to female connection from the tape drive to the SCSI connector is aligned properly. Misaligning the connection between the tape drive and SCSI cable and/or to a 16/8 bit converter is a common source of problems.
  • Check the cable to ensure that the device is connected properly and that there are no bent pins.
  • Try a different SCSI cable.
  • Try temporarily removing all other SCSI devices from the SCSI bus, then re-adding them back one at a time to determine if other devices on the SCSI bus are causing interference with the tape drive.
  • Ensure that the transfer speed of the tape device is setup properly in the SCSI BIOS configuration utility.

 

Document Location

Worldwide

Operating System

IntelliStation Pro:All operating systems listed

System x:All operating systems listed

Older System x:Operating system independent / None

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Document Information

Modified date:
28 January 2019

UID

ibm1MIGR-40342

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