On Thu, 27 Jul 2006, Birger Blixt wrote: >> When a tape is loaded directly into a drive from a mailslot, some >> changers classify it as "unknown"
>> Data Transfer Element 0:Full (Unknown Storage Element >> Loaded):VolumeTag = ALOW0041 >> ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ >> Data Transfer Element 1:Full (Storage Element 26 Loaded):VolumeTag = >> ALOW0056 >> Storage Element 44 IMPORT/EXPORT:Full :VolumeTag=ALOW0040 >> Storage Element 45 IMPORT/EXPORT:Empty >> >> This completly breaks "update slots", because "mtx-changer loaded" >> will tell Bacula there is no tape at all in drive 0. Needless to say >> the cascade effects (subsequent MTX calls dying when bacula attempts >> to load tapes) and job failures are not nice. >> > I don't get that result in my adic scalar 480, but your problem is that > you load the tape from the mailslot, you > should use mtx transfer to move a tape from the mailslot to an empty > slot first, then you can see a slot for the tape > in the drive. (see my script) . That's a workaround, not a fix. :-) > If you think about it, it's very logical to say Unknown storage element > for a tape that don't have a reserved slot, since > the mailslot may be busy when you unload 0. Of course, but the code/scripts need to take it into account and more importantly, the BUG of mtx-changer deciding no tape is loaded needs to be addressed. MTX is fairly smart about full slots - if the slot is full, it will attempt to unload to the next available one (top slots wraps around to slot 1) >>> On my changer, an incoming tape is marked IMPORT/EXPORT:Full , but an >>> outgoing >>> tape has also the volumetag. >> >> That is because you don't have a barcode reader. >> >> This is also why you need the inventory command instead of just using >> "status" > I have a barcode reader, but it don't scan the tape until the transfer > is done. Interesting. It just goes to show the differences between various changers. is there a configuration option in the Adic to scan loaded mailslots? >> That is only an option for small backup sets - it doesn't scale up to >> multiple mailslots or magazine changes - which even small site admins >> tend to do as feeding 15 tapes into a library one at a time is >> extremely tedious. >> > Well, I just test in a small scale and have only 2 TB data to backup , > so my 80 tapes in the changer is enough so far. Yes, but as is so often the case, what works ok for testing doesn't scale into production. >> Polling would do it. >> >> Be aware that MTX may be activated by 3rd party programs, so that >> needs to be taken into account too. >> > My $MTX is a wrapper that make sure that the real mtx don't be called > from 2 processes at the same time. My experience of this under Linux and Solaris is that the second MTX blocks until the first one releases the device. >> Additionally, some changers require _2_ status calls to return the >> IMPORT/OUTPUT slots in normal operations after an open-door action - >> the first pass simply ends at the last slot line. >> >> I have seen simlar behaviour with 500 slot CD changers too - in that >> case MTX only returned the first 64 slots after the cabinet door was >> closed, requiring a second call to see the full 500. > > My mtx wrapper do a wait until I see slot 82, which can take some time > after inventory. This must be completely rewritten if I start to remove > magazines. I was going to point this out - as I showed on an earlier post this week, adding/removing magazines changes the number of available slots reported and hardcoding any number becomes one more configuration item to become confused over. AB ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Take Surveys. Earn Cash. Influence the Future of IT Join SourceForge.net's Techsay panel and you'll get the chance to share your opinions on IT & business topics through brief surveys -- and earn cash http://www.techsay.com/default.php?page=join.php&p=sourceforge&CID=DEVDEV _______________________________________________ Bacula-users mailing list Bacula-users@lists.sourceforge.net https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/bacula-users
