Fibre Channel Tape Controllers

This section displays general and status information about Fibre Channel tape controllers. Select a Fibre Channel tape controller entry from the Mass Storage list to display a submenu containing separate entries for tape controllers, tape storage systems, and tape drives. The following items display:

Tape Controller Information

Tape Storage System Information

Tape Drive Information

Fibre Channel Connections


Tape Controller Information

Select the FC Tape Controller item from the Mass Storage submenu to display the following information:

Controller Status displays the status of the tape controller. The following values are valid:

Firmware Version displays the tape controller firmware revision number. If the worldwide name is not supported, this field displays N/A.

WorldWide Name displays the WorldWide Name of the controller. This value can be used to further identify a particular tape controller. If the worldwide name is not supported, this field displays N/A.


Tape Storage System Information

Select the Tape Storage System Information entry from the Mass Storage submenu to display the following information.

Status displays the status of the tape storage system. The following values are valid:

Serial Number displays the unit serial number for the tape library. Use this value for identification purposes.

Door Status displays the status of the door. The following values are valid:

Total Moves displays the number of tape moves for the library loader arm.

Model displays the model name of the tape library. Use this value for identification purposes.

Firmware Revision displays the firmware revision level of the tape library. The level can be used for identification purposes.

Service Hours displays the number of hours of operation for the library.

Last Known Error displays the last error returned by the tape library.

Associated Tape Drives displays a list of tape drives associated with the tape storage system.


Tape Drive information

Select one of the tape drive entries from the Mass Storage submenu to display the following information about that drive.

Status displays the status of the tape drive. The following values are valid:

Model displays the model name of the tape drive. Use this value for identification purposes.

Firmware Revision displays the firmware revision level of the tape drive. Use this value for identification purposes.

Serial Number displays the unit serial number for the tape drive. Use this value for identification purposes.

Tape Errors displays the total number of read and write errors encountered. This value is maintained from the moment the Tape Hardware Interface driver was loaded.

Tape errors may occasionally occur. If this value rises dramatically, clean the device. If you continue to have errors, you may have a problem. Some common causes of tape errors include radio frequency interference (RFI) on the bus cables, bad or missing terminating resisters on the drives, or having more than one device with the same SCSI ID. Ensure the bus cable is free of obstructions and that the devices on the bus are properly configured.

Uncorrectable displays the total number of read and write errors that could not be corrected. This value is maintained from the moment the Tape Hardware Interface driver was loaded.

Uncorrectable errors may occasionally occur. If this value rises dramatically, clean the device. If you continue to have errors, you may have a problem. Some common causes of uncorrectable errors include radio frequency interference (RFI) on the bus cables, bad or missing terminating resisters on the drives, or having more than one device with the same SCSI ID. Ensure the bus cable is free of obstructions and that the devices on the bus are properly configured.

Rereads displays the number of times blocks that had to be reread from the device. This value is maintained from the moment the Tape Hardware Interface driver was loaded.

Reread errors may occasionally occur. If this value rises dramatically, clean the device. If you continue to have rereads, you may have a problem. Some common causes include radio frequency interference (RFI) on the bus cables, bad or missing terminating resisters on the drives, or having more than one device with the same SCSI ID. Ensure the bus cable is free of obstructions and that the devices on the bus are properly configured.

Rewrites displays the number of times blocks that had to be rewritten to the device. This value is maintained since the Tape Hardware Interface driver was loaded.

Re-write errors may occasionally occur. If this value rises dramatically, clean the device. If you continue to have rewrites, you may have a problem. Some common causes include radio frequency interference (RFI) on the bus cables, bad or missing terminating resisters on the drives, or having more than one device with the same SCSI ID. Ensure the bus cable is free of obstructions and that the devices on the bus are properly configured.

Tape Drive Heads Need Cleaning indicates whether the tape drive heads need to be cleaned. To clean the tape heads, insert a cleaning tape into the device and run through a cleaning cycle.

The following values are valid:

Cleaning Tape Needs Replacement indicates whether the cleaning tape that is inserted in an autoloader needs to be replaced because its cleaning capability is exhausted (it is at the end of the tape).

This variable can be in one of the following states:

NOTE: This variable is only applicable to autoloader tape drives.


Fibre Channel Connections

Select the Fibre Channel Connections item from the Mass Storage menu to display the following information.

Host Controller displays the condition and model name for the controller.

WorldWide Name displays the unique Fibre Channel name for this controller.

Status displays the status for this controller. The following values are valid:

Slot displays the physical slot where the host controller resides in the system. For example, if this value is three, the controller is located in slot three of your computer.

Attached Storage Systems displays all storage systems and Fibre Channel tape controllers attached to the selected Fibre Channel controller. Select a Fibre Channel tape controller entry to display the Tape Storage System Information or select a storage system entry to display the related Storage System Information.