Diagnostic Tools - HP VS160 - StorageWorks DLT Tape Drive Troubleshooting Manual

Diagnostic tools

HP Library & Tape Tools
HP StorageWorks Library & Tape Tools is the recommended diagnostic and support tool for
your HP tape storage product. It is available from a link on the CD shipped with your product
or as a free download from the HP web site. It is supported on nearly all major operating
systems.
See www.hp.com/support/tapetools for compatibility information, updates and the
latest version of the tool.
Note HP Support will also request that you use Library & Tape Tools should you need to contact
them in the future, so it is a good idea to have it installed.
Troubleshooting with Library & Tape Tools
When Library & Tape Tools is first run, it will scan for HP tape drives and libraries on your
system and ask you to select the one to work with. At this time you can see the HBA
configuration of your server, how your devices are connected and the SCSI IDs of those
devices.
Once you have selected your device you have a number of choices for troubleshooting.
• Device identification: shows part number, serial number and information about any
cartridge loaded
• Firmware upgrade: allows you to locate and upgrade to the latest firmware. You will need
to be connected to the internet for this.
• Run tests: allows you to run proactive tests on your drive, such as the drive assessment test,
which will verify the functionality of your drive in around 20 minutes. HP recommends
running this test before calling HP Support. You will need to provide a 'trusted' cartridge that
can be written to during this test.
• Generate a support ticket: this is a full dump of the drive logs along with interpretation and
is used by HP Support to learn about the condition of your drive. Most useful is the device
analysis section which is the output from approximately 20 rules forming a comprehensive
analysis of the health of your drive. These rules may give advice such as cleaning the head
or trying a different tape if issues are found. The support ticket can be sent to HP Support
for further analysis.
• Run the performance tests: the tests to measure the write/read performance of your tape
drive and the data generation rates of your disk subsystem are also integrated into Library
& Tape Tools. Use these tests to find the performance bottleneck in your system.
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