Dell PowerVault ML6000 - DR045 - Resolve Drive Tapealert 1, 5, 6 - Read;Write Problem

388 Troubleshooting the Tape Library
7 You have three options:
a. Select Close to close the ticket now.
b. Select Exit to leave the ticket open for future troubleshooting.
c. Select Back to return to the Diagnostic Resolution.
DR045 - Resolve Drive TapeAlert 1, 5, 6 - Read/Write Problem
This DR provides customer resolution steps for:
• T035
on page 233
• T036
on page 234
• T180
on page 352
• T187
on page 359
Problem: A drive reported a read or write problem. While TapeAlert 1 and 2 identify a warning, indicating
severe trouble reading or writing, TapeAlert 5 and 6 indicate read or write failures. The problem requires
further analysis, as it may be caused by the specific tape cartridge or drive, or interaction of the tape
cartridge and drive.
1 Note the ticket details to determine the drive location and reason details.
2 If the reason details do not indicate an undetermined root cause of the issue, but actually isolated the
problem to the drive or tape cartridge due to saved historical information, consider media or drive
replacements to prevent the issue in the future.
3 If the ticket identifies Drive Tape Alert 5 and the reported drive error code lists error 7122 for a drive, the
Format Identification Dataset (FID) is not properly recorded and data cannot be written to tape. The tape
cartridge does not contain data and needs to be discarded and replaced.
4 If step 3 does not apply, check whether ticket T034 - Drive
TapeAlert 4 – Media Error has also been
reported for this tape cartridge.
a. If T034 - Drive
TapeAlert 4 – Media Error has been reported:
• Attempt to copy all required data to another tape cartridge.
• Discontinue use and discard the faulty tape cartridge.
• Restart the current operation with the new tape cartridge.
b. If T034 - Drive
TapeAlert 4 – Media Error has not been reported:
• Collect a tape drive log.
• Retry the operation with the same tape cartridge in a different drive.
• If the operation continues to cause this failure in more than one drive, copy all required data
to a new tape cartridge and discontinue use of the defective media.
• If the tape cartridge is read fine in other drives, use a known good tape cartridge to test the
drive by performing read/write operations from a host application or utility.
• If the problem is also reported for the known good tape cartridge, perform a drive cleaning
operation, then re-test the drive.
5 If the problem is not resolved, contact Service for assistance in analyzing the drive log, as well as
assistance regarding a possible tape drive firmware update.