I've been running into the same problem within the past week.... I have an
Overland LXLS8110T 20/40gb DLT connect to an IBM X220 series box running
BENT 8.6 which is then remotely backing up other servers in the domain.

Everything has been running fine until last Friday... Now my backups are
failing with an alert message indicating the drive is offline. It only goes
offline after approximately 2 and a half hours into the backup consistently.
Upon further investigation it's going offline during system state backups
but not consistently the same server's system state. I've verified all my
connections and cables are good. I just can't figure out why all of a sudden
this is happening. Currently I'm trying a new backup job to see if that solves
the problem.
"Jason Clements" wrote:
>I noticed that a few other in this group have experienced the same problem.
>I have been received the "The drive hardware is offline" message for about
2
>weeks now. I can not count on the backup to successfully perform everynight,
>which is a major problem.
>
>We are running Backup Exec 8.6 build 3878 on a Windows 2000 SP2 Server with
>an HP Autoloader library. This happens almost every night on the scheduled
>nightly backups. It also happens a lot when I attempt to do a "Run now"
on
>an existing Job Definition. I know the drive hardware is not offline because
>I can inventory tapes that are on in the drives. Does anyone have any
>suggestions? This is driving me crazy!
>
>Thanks for any and all help in advance,
>Jason
>
>

I had this problem in the past. Every once in a while (perhaps only once or
twice a month) the drive hardware would go offline during a backup. I had
to reboot the server to get the drive hardware to appear online again.
Turned out to be a faulty SCSI controller. Try swapping controllers and see
if it helps. Also verify your cabling and termination are correct.

--
Rod


"Jason Clements" wrote in message
news:3cf63554@hronntp01....
> I noticed that a few other in this group have experienced the same
problem.
> I have been received the "The drive hardware is offline" message for about
2
> weeks now. I can not count on the backup to successfully perform
everynight,
> which is a major problem.
>
> We are running Backup Exec 8.6 build 3878 on a Windows 2000 SP2 Server
with
> an HP Autoloader library. This happens almost every night on the scheduled
> nightly backups. It also happens a lot when I attempt to do a "Run now" on
> an existing Job Definition. I know the drive hardware is not offline
because
> I can inventory tapes that are on in the drives. Does anyone have any
> suggestions? This is driving me crazy!
>
> Thanks for any and all help in advance,
> Jason
>
>

After creating a new backup job which did not include the system state of
the server that my DLT drive is connected to, my backup completed sucessfully.
Subsequently I created a backup job that only contained the system state
of the server that my DLT drive is connected to, and it worked fine by itself.
Give it a try... I've read other postings to the newsgroup most of which
say to check all the cabling and SCSI controllers and one indicating to just
uninstall and reinstall BENT8.6. This I think (while it may be inconvient)
may be a feasible work around until Veritas' tech support can come up with
a fix.
"ivan wang" wrote:
>
>I've been running into the same problem within the past week.... I have
an
>Overland LXLS8110T 20/40gb DLT connect to an IBM X220 series box running
>BENT 8.6 which is then remotely backing up other servers in the domain.
>
>Everything has been running fine until last Friday... Now my backups are
>failing with an alert message indicating the drive is offline. It only goes
>offline after approximately 2 and a half hours into the backup consistently.
>Upon further investigation it's going offline during system state backups
>but not consistently the same server's system state. I've verified all my
>connections and cables are good. I just can't figure out why all of a sudden
>this is happening. Currently I'm trying a new backup job to see if that
solves
>the problem.
>"Jason Clements" wrote:
>>I noticed that a few other in this group have experienced the same problem.
>>I have been received the "The drive hardware is offline" message for about
>2
>>weeks now. I can not count on the backup to successfully perform everynight,
>>which is a major problem.
>>
>>We are running Backup Exec 8.6 build 3878 on a Windows 2000 SP2 Server
with
>>an HP Autoloader library. This happens almost every night on the scheduled
>>nightly backups. It also happens a lot when I attempt to do a "Run now"
>on
>>an existing Job Definition. I know the drive hardware is not offline because
>>I can inventory tapes that are on in the drives. Does anyone have any
>>suggestions? This is driving me crazy!
>>
>>Thanks for any and all help in advance,
>>Jason
>>
>>
>

I reinstalled, worked for 2 days straight. No problems. Now 4 days straight
failed around the 7 minute mark again. Also lowered SCSI adapter rate to
80 from 160. No help. This sucks
"ivan wang" wrote:
>
>After creating a new backup job which did not include the system state of
>the server that my DLT drive is connected to, my backup completed sucessfully.
>Subsequently I created a backup job that only contained the system state
>of the server that my DLT drive is connected to, and it worked fine by itself.
>Give it a try... I've read other postings to the newsgroup most of which
>say to check all the cabling and SCSI controllers and one indicating to
just
>uninstall and reinstall BENT8.6. This I think (while it may be inconvient)
>may be a feasible work around until Veritas' tech support can come up with
>a fix.
>"ivan wang" wrote:
>>
>>I've been running into the same problem within the past week.... I have
>an
>>Overland LXLS8110T 20/40gb DLT connect to an IBM X220 series box running
>>BENT 8.6 which is then remotely backing up other servers in the domain.
>>
>>Everything has been running fine until last Friday... Now my backups are
>>failing with an alert message indicating the drive is offline. It only
goes
>>offline after approximately 2 and a half hours into the backup consistently.
>>Upon further investigation it's going offline during system state backups
>>but not consistently the same server's system state. I've verified all
my
>>connections and cables are good. I just can't figure out why all of a sudden
>>this is happening. Currently I'm trying a new backup job to see if that
>solves
>>the problem.
>>"Jason Clements" wrote:
>>>I noticed that a few other in this group have experienced the same problem.
>>>I have been received the "The drive hardware is offline" message for about
>>2
>>>weeks now. I can not count on the backup to successfully perform everynight,
>>>which is a major problem.
>>>
>>>We are running Backup Exec 8.6 build 3878 on a Windows 2000 SP2 Server
>with
>>>an HP Autoloader library. This happens almost every night on the scheduled
>>>nightly backups. It also happens a lot when I attempt to do a "Run now"
>>on
>>>an existing Job Definition. I know the drive hardware is not offline because
>>>I can inventory tapes that are on in the drives. Does anyone have any
>>>suggestions? This is driving me crazy!
>>>
>>>Thanks for any and all help in advance,
>>>Jason
>>>
>>>
>>
>

Also, direct non-scheduled backups using the same job are ALWAYS successful,
never fails. Scheduled backup of same job is only one that consistently
has this problem.
"Kendra" wrote:
>
>I reinstalled, worked for 2 days straight. No problems. Now 4 days straight
>failed around the 7 minute mark again. Also lowered SCSI adapter rate to
>80 from 160. No help. This sucks
>"ivan wang" wrote:
>>
>>After creating a new backup job which did not include the system state
of
>>the server that my DLT drive is connected to, my backup completed sucessfully.
>>Subsequently I created a backup job that only contained the system state
>>of the server that my DLT drive is connected to, and it worked fine by
itself.
>>Give it a try... I've read other postings to the newsgroup most of which
>>say to check all the cabling and SCSI controllers and one indicating to
>just
>>uninstall and reinstall BENT8.6. This I think (while it may be inconvient)
>>may be a feasible work around until Veritas' tech support can come up with
>>a fix.
>>"ivan wang" wrote:
>>>
>>>I've been running into the same problem within the past week.... I have
>>an
>>>Overland LXLS8110T 20/40gb DLT connect to an IBM X220 series box running
>>>BENT 8.6 which is then remotely backing up other servers in the domain.
>>>
>>>Everything has been running fine until last Friday... Now my backups are
>>>failing with an alert message indicating the drive is offline. It only
>goes
>>>offline after approximately 2 and a half hours into the backup consistently.
>>>Upon further investigation it's going offline during system state backups
>>>but not consistently the same server's system state. I've verified all
>my
>>>connections and cables are good. I just can't figure out why all of a
sudden
>>>this is happening. Currently I'm trying a new backup job to see if that
>>solves
>>>the problem.
>>>"Jason Clements" wrote:
>>>>I noticed that a few other in this group have experienced the same problem.
>>>>I have been received the "The drive hardware is offline" message for
about
>>>2
>>>>weeks now. I can not count on the backup to successfully perform everynight,
>>>>which is a major problem.
>>>>
>>>>We are running Backup Exec 8.6 build 3878 on a Windows 2000 SP2 Server
>>with
>>>>an HP Autoloader library. This happens almost every night on the scheduled
>>>>nightly backups. It also happens a lot when I attempt to do a "Run now"
>>>on
>>>>an existing Job Definition. I know the drive hardware is not offline
because
>>>>I can inventory tapes that are on in the drives. Does anyone have any
>>>>suggestions? This is driving me crazy!
>>>>
>>>>Thanks for any and all help in advance,
>>>>Jason
>>>>
>>>>
>>>
>>
>

I have started having close to the same issues the last couple of weeks.
My backup does complete and the 'drive hardware offline' error occurs during
the verify 4 1/2 hours after the backup started. I have tested my tapes
and can restore.
Kendra" wrote:
>
>I reinstalled, worked for 2 days straight. No problems. Now 4 days straight
>failed around the 7 minute mark again. Also lowered SCSI adapter rate to
>80 from 160. No help. This sucks
>"ivan wang" wrote:
>>
>>After creating a new backup job which did not include the system state
of
>>the server that my DLT drive is connected to, my backup completed sucessfully.
>>Subsequently I created a backup job that only contained the system state
>>of the server that my DLT drive is connected to, and it worked fine by
itself.
>>Give it a try... I've read other postings to the newsgroup most of which
>>say to check all the cabling and SCSI controllers and one indicating to
>just
>>uninstall and reinstall BENT8.6. This I think (while it may be inconvient)
>>may be a feasible work around until Veritas' tech support can come up with
>>a fix.
>>"ivan wang" wrote:
>>>
>>>I've been running into the same problem within the past week.... I have
>>an
>>>Overland LXLS8110T 20/40gb DLT connect to an IBM X220 series box running
>>>BENT 8.6 which is then remotely backing up other servers in the domain.
>>>
>>>Everything has been running fine until last Friday... Now my backups are
>>>failing with an alert message indicating the drive is offline. It only
>goes
>>>offline after approximately 2 and a half hours into the backup consistently.
>>>Upon further investigation it's going offline during system state backups
>>>but not consistently the same server's system state. I've verified all
>my
>>>connections and cables are good. I just can't figure out why all of a
sudden
>>>this is happening. Currently I'm trying a new backup job to see if that
>>solves
>>>the problem.
>>>"Jason Clements" wrote:
>>>>I noticed that a few other in this group have experienced the same problem.
>>>>I have been received the "The drive hardware is offline" message for
about
>>>2
>>>>weeks now. I can not count on the backup to successfully perform everynight,
>>>>which is a major problem.
>>>>
>>>>We are running Backup Exec 8.6 build 3878 on a Windows 2000 SP2 Server
>>with
>>>>an HP Autoloader library. This happens almost every night on the scheduled
>>>>nightly backups. It also happens a lot when I attempt to do a "Run now"
>>>on
>>>>an existing Job Definition. I know the drive hardware is not offline
because
>>>>I can inventory tapes that are on in the drives. Does anyone have any
>>>>suggestions? This is driving me crazy!
>>>>
>>>>Thanks for any and all help in advance,
>>>>Jason
>>>>
>>>>
>>>
>>
>

Hi Ivan,
did you find a solution to the problem you posted last year.
My library is having the same problem that it "goes offline" every other
day. It just started a few weeks back and it told me that I should clean
it. But now it tells me that I should clean it every other day, which is
hard to believe. I think it must be some hardware related problem but all
the hardware I used for the last year already and it was working fine.


"ivan wang" wrote:
>
>I've been running into the same problem within the past week.... I have
an
>Overland LXLS8110T 20/40gb DLT connect to an IBM X220 series box running
>BENT 8.6 which is then remotely backing up other servers in the domain.
>
>Everything has been running fine until last Friday... Now my backups are
>failing with an alert message indicating the drive is offline. It only goes
>offline after approximately 2 and a half hours into the backup consistently.
>Upon further investigation it's going offline during system state backups
>but not consistently the same server's system state. I've verified all my
>connections and cables are good. I just can't figure out why all of a sudden
>this is happening. Currently I'm trying a new backup job to see if that
solves
>the problem.
>"Jason Clements" wrote:
>>I noticed that a few other in this group have experienced the same problem.
>>I have been received the "The drive hardware is offline" message for about
>2
>>weeks now. I can not count on the backup to successfully perform everynight,
>>which is a major problem.
>>
>>We are running Backup Exec 8.6 build 3878 on a Windows 2000 SP2 Server
with
>>an HP Autoloader library. This happens almost every night on the scheduled
>>nightly backups. It also happens a lot when I attempt to do a "Run now"
>on
>>an existing Job Definition. I know the drive hardware is not offline because
>>I can inventory tapes that are on in the drives. Does anyone have any
>>suggestions? This is driving me crazy!
>>
>>Thanks for any and all help in advance,
>>Jason
>>
>>
>

This is an issue that I fought with for several months. Including changing
drivers, SCSI hardware, new tape drive, even uninstalled BackupExec and installed
a copy of ARCserve. Everything worked with ARCserve. Went back to BackupExec
and continued fighting with it.
Finally, last week I was messing with the files and replaced the pvl.mdb
file with an older file I had copied. It must have been corrupted at some
point but nobody ever thought to check it.
Since then I was able to inventory all of my tapes and have had no problems
since. Too bad nobody at the Veritas help center was able to help with this.
Spent several hours after work and weekends on the phone with them without
resolving anything.
At least it works now, hope all the other people having this trouble will
find this post and give it a shot.

Hope it helps,
Michael
"Jason Clements" wrote:
>I noticed that a few other in this group have experienced the same problem.
>I have been received the "The drive hardware is offline" message for about
2
>weeks now. I can not count on the backup to successfully perform everynight,
>which is a major problem.
>
>We are running Backup Exec 8.6 build 3878 on a Windows 2000 SP2 Server with
>an HP Autoloader library. This happens almost every night on the scheduled
>nightly backups. It also happens a lot when I attempt to do a "Run now"
on
>an existing Job Definition. I know the drive hardware is not offline because
>I can inventory tapes that are on in the drives. Does anyone have any
>suggestions? This is driving me crazy!
>
>Thanks for any and all help in advance,
>Jason
>
>

Thank you Michael, I found your fix and it solved the problem for me as well.
I was begining to think I'd have to rebuild the server to get past this
problem.


"Michael Thayer " wrote:
>
>This is an issue that I fought with for several months. Including changing
>drivers, SCSI hardware, new tape drive, even uninstalled BackupExec and
installed
>a copy of ARCserve. Everything worked with ARCserve. Went back to BackupExec
>and continued fighting with it.
>Finally, last week I was messing with the files and replaced the pvl.mdb
>file with an older file I had copied. It must have been corrupted at some
>point but nobody ever thought to check it.
>Since then I was able to inventory all of my tapes and have had no problems
>since. Too bad nobody at the Veritas help center was able to help with
this.
> Spent several hours after work and weekends on the phone with them without
>resolving anything.
>At least it works now, hope all the other people having this trouble will
>find this post and give it a shot.
>
>Hope it helps,
>Michael
>"Jason Clements" wrote:
>>I noticed that a few other in this group have experienced the same problem.
>>I have been received the "The drive hardware is offline" message for about
>2
>>weeks now. I can not count on the backup to successfully perform everynight,
>>which is a major problem.
>>
>>We are running Backup Exec 8.6 build 3878 on a Windows 2000 SP2 Server
with
>>an HP Autoloader library. This happens almost every night on the scheduled
>>nightly backups. It also happens a lot when I attempt to do a "Run now"
>on
>>an existing Job Definition. I know the drive hardware is not offline because
>>I can inventory tapes that are on in the drives. Does anyone have any
>>suggestions? This is driving me crazy!
>>
>>Thanks for any and all help in advance,
>>Jason
>>
>>
>