Hi everyone.
Im new to Sun Solaris or the Unix environment. My only background is the DOS command in windows and a little bit of c++ programming. I always worked with troubleshooting hardware and software issues with windows.
Now that I need to configure tape drives using sun solaris, I had trouble starting up as most resources on the internet is thru Sun Solaris 9 and the only available version from sun is version 10.
I installed it already but had trouble connecting an external tape drive.i did probe-scsi-all, but it says not found.so i thought,maybe i need boot -r command to detect the newly installed device, but boot -r is not found also, i tried touch /reconfigure ;reboot, but when i tried devfsadm, still no result. there is no dev/rmt directory either.the system is on dual-boot with windows so i know that the tape drive and scsi device is working fine.
sorry,for the very detailed explanation, im really new to this one.
any suggestion is very much appreciated.thanks a lot.
if probe-scsi-all didn't show the device check the hardware and make sure everything is actually compatible.
hi seg. thanks a lot.
just to follow up... i have IBM Thinkcentre .. with dual boot to Sun and Windows. I also have a PCI SCSI card and connected the tape drive. The HCL from sun does not list the compatible SCSI card for SUn solaris 10.
Is there any way to verify if its compatible.. ? thanks again.
There is no probe-scsi-all command on x86 hardware.
Have a look at BigAdmin HCL: Sun Device Detection Tool to check your SCSI card support.
Thanks a lot guys.:)
I installed the sun device detection tool and verified that the pci scsi adapter is not compatible.
I may need to read more about beginner's guide in solaris as I really dont know where to start.
-----Post Update-----
another follow up guys..
i removed the scsi card that i originally installed.. it turned out that the card is only compatible with sun os 32-bit and not 64-bit..
when i changed it to another scsi card, i was able to detect it thru cfgadm, it shows the scsi-bus, and it says connected but the status is unknown.
i use devfsadm to configure it but no luck as there is no /dev/rmt/0 directory or if i use " for foo in 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 and check the status using mt -f status,it says not found.
i tried to use /var/adm to verify the activity of scsi drive but says cannot execute.
sorry guys, im at lost now after sun is able to detect the scsi card and tape drive., i guess the question now is how to configure the scsi and tape drive so that i can start a backup..
thanks again..
the cfgadm -al (as root) gives something like this
Ap_Id Type Receptacle Occupant Condition
c0 scsi-bus connected configured unknown
c1 scsi-bus connected configured unknown
it it shows unconfigured try to configure it
cfgadm -c xxx (xxx is the number you see in cfgadm)
after run a devfsadm
thanks gnom..
it now says connected and configured.. though condition is still "unknown', unlike other devices like usb wherein, condition says "ok"
then i use the command:
for foo in 0 1 2 3 4 5 6
> do
> mt-f/dev/rmt/$foo status
>done
to determine the directory of my tape drive but everything says "not found"..
i will try to research and get back here..
thanks again..
did you do a devfsadm?
yes.. i tried devfsadm... it seemed to worked bec the system reads for at least 5secs but it does not show any result..
it just went to the next line..
then when i use:
ls -al /dev/rmt/*cbn
it shows some result.. wherein there is /dev/rmt/0cbn...
but after that any command is not working anymore..
i mean, when i type:
/dev/rmt/0 .. it says cannot execute
by the way, i have done reboot -- -r already
.. thats why i cannot proceed to test a backup or restore procedure bec there is no such directory
i also tried ..
cd /dev/rmt/0 (or numbers until 6)
but there is no directory..
still no luck..
however, i think i know what is missing from the configuration.. i was able to find this article on the net..
Adding tape drive in solaris
Verify wether the array controller drives can be seen
# cd /dev/rmt
# ls
0 0cbn 0hn 0m 0u 0b 0cn 0l 0mb 0ub 0bn 0h 0lb 0mbn 0ubn 0c 0hb 0lbn 0mn 0un 0cb 0hbn 0ln 0n
using this command, you can see some drives being specified as 0, 0*, 0** and 0***
Note: * is recognized as some character.
FTP the SAN driver SAN_4.4.9_install_it.tar.Z
# uncompress SAN_4.4.9_install_it.tar.Z
# tar xvf SAN_4.4.9_install_it.tar
# cd SAN_4.4.9_install_it
# ./install_it
After finish installing the SAN driver then reboot the server using this command
# reboot -- -r
The array controller and media changer can be seen after rebooting the server
# cfgadm -al
Ap_Id Type Receptacle Occupant Condition
c0 scsi-bus connected unconfigured unknown
c0::dsk/c0t0d0 disk connected unconfigured unknown
c0::dsk/c0t1d0 disk connected unconfigured unknown
c1 scsi-bus connected unconfigured unknown
c1::dsk/c1t4d0 CD-ROM connected unconfigured unknown
c1::rmt/0 tape connected unconfigured unknown
c2 fc-fabric connected unconfigured unknown
c2::50001fe1500c7cd9 array-ctrl connected unconfigured unknown
c2::50001fe1500c7cdd array-ctrl connected unconfigured unknown
c3 fc-fabric connected unconfigured unknown
c3::100000e00223a9d1 med-changer connected unconfigured unknown
c3::50001fe1500c7cd8 array-ctrl connected unconfigured unknown
c3::50001fe1500c7cdc array-ctrl connected unconfigured unknown
The channel 2 & 3 can be seen as unconfigured. The next step is to configure it
# cfgadm -c configure c2
#cfgadm -c configure c3
Reboot the server to apply the changes
#reboot -- -r
Load the driver in the system and attach to SAN device instances
# devfsadm -c tape
The array controller and the media changer are configured now
# cfgadm -al
Ap_Id Type Receptacle Occupant Condition
c0 scsi-bus connected configured unknown
c0::dsk/c0t0d0 disk connected configured unknown
c0::dsk/c0t1d0 disk connected configured unknown
c1 scsi-bus connected configured unknown
c1::dsk/c1t4d0 CD-ROM connected configured unknown
c1::rmt/0 tape connected configured unknown
c2 fc-fabric connected configured unknown
c2::50001fe1500c7cd9 array-ctrl connected configured unknown
c2::50001fe1500c7cdd array-ctrl connected configured unknown
c3 fc-fabric connected configured unknown
c3::100000e00223a9d1 med-changer connected configured unknown
c3::50001fe1500c7cd8 array-ctrl connected configured unknown
c3::50001fe1500c7cdc array-ctrl connected configured unknown
Insert the tape into the slot and test wether it can work
# mt -f /dev/rmt/1 stat
--- This is a step by step process wherein i was able to do some..
but the second step:
FTP the SAN driver SAN_4.4.9_install_it.tar.Z
# uncompress SAN_4.4.9_install_it.tar.Z
# tar xvf SAN_4.4.9_install_it.tar
# cd SAN_4.4.9_install_it
# ./install_it
On this process, I think the reason why /dev/rmt/0 (or 1,2,3,4,5,6) is not found is because I did not install this driver.. or driver similar to it..
Am I really missing a driver?
or devfsadm -c should be enough..?
Bec i think if have the /dev/rmt/*** then maybe i can start ufsdum or restore command already... im not really sure though... 
And what do you expect ? Executing a tape is meaningless.
Try "mt status" instead.
The files are neither executable nor directories.
oh i see..
thanks ...
i tried mt status but no information also..
anyway, im trying the tar and cpio command to check if i can try to copy a file instead.. but unfortunately after trying some commands, the tape drive keeps ejecting.. so, ill try to read more..
ill be back for an update..thanks...
---------- Post updated at 10:15 PM ---------- Previous update was at 01:49 AM ----------
thank you guys..
i was able to work on detecting the tape drive connected to an scsi card.
i was also able to use the mt status command to verify the status..
i have a question though.. in sun solaris, i had read that you can remove the tape drive without restarting the system using:
devfsadm -C -c tape -v
how is this exactly works?
- is it before i removed the tape drive, i will just type this command?
then just disconnect the tape drive and replace it with a new one?
then use
devfsadm again to rebuild the device tree after reconnecting?
sorry guys.. just really new to this one..
thanks a lot..
---------- Post updated 06-19-09 at 01:39 AM ---------- Previous update was 06-18-09 at 10:15 PM ----------
hello again..
i have found out that i can use:
# cfgadm -x remove_device c1
to remove my tape drive connected to scsi
and i can also use:
# cfgadm -x insert_device c1
to add another device..
thanks all..