Wednesday, September 27, 2006
How to correct a tape drive that is 'offline' in Backup Exec 7.x, 8.x, and 9.x
The device is displayed as offline if:
The device was turned off after VERITAS Backup Exec (tm) was started
The device was being used by another application (such as a Windows NT backup utility) when Backup Exec was started
The device is disconnected from the computer
The device is turned on after the computer is booted up. (If the operating system does not detect the device during boot process it will not recognize the device as no SCSI device is found, therefore we need to turn the device on first and then reboot the system).
1. Check to make sure the device has power and that cables are properly attached. Turn the device on and stop and restart the Backup Exec services from Settings Control Panel Services (for Windows NT) or Settings Control Panel Administrative Tools Services (for Windows 2000). For Backup Exec 9.x, you can stop and restart the services with the help of the Service Manager utility found under the following directory: C:\program files\Veritas\Backupexec\Nt, or reboot the server.
2. Stop any application that is using the device, and then stop and restart the Backup Exec services from Settings Control Panel Services (for Windows NT) or Settings Control Panel Administrative Tools Services (for Windows 2000), or Backup Exec 9.x you can stop and restart the services with the help of the Service Manager utility, or reboot the server.
3. After the above steps have been performed, attempt to change the status of the device with Backup Exec. To place the device online, perform the following:
a. Click on the Devices tab (Figure 1)
Image from Veritas.com
b. Right-click on the tape drive
c. Select Properties
d. Select the Configuration tab
e. Clear the Enable Device for Backup Exec option if it is selected
Image from Veritas.com
f. Click the OK button
g. Repeat steps "a" through "e" again, but check the Enable Device for Backup Exec option
The device should now report that it is online.
The device was turned off after VERITAS Backup Exec (tm) was started
The device was being used by another application (such as a Windows NT backup utility) when Backup Exec was started
The device is disconnected from the computer
The device is turned on after the computer is booted up. (If the operating system does not detect the device during boot process it will not recognize the device as no SCSI device is found, therefore we need to turn the device on first and then reboot the system).
1. Check to make sure the device has power and that cables are properly attached. Turn the device on and stop and restart the Backup Exec services from Settings Control Panel Services (for Windows NT) or Settings Control Panel Administrative Tools Services (for Windows 2000). For Backup Exec 9.x, you can stop and restart the services with the help of the Service Manager utility found under the following directory: C:\program files\Veritas\Backupexec\Nt, or reboot the server.
2. Stop any application that is using the device, and then stop and restart the Backup Exec services from Settings Control Panel Services (for Windows NT) or Settings Control Panel Administrative Tools Services (for Windows 2000), or Backup Exec 9.x you can stop and restart the services with the help of the Service Manager utility, or reboot the server.
3. After the above steps have been performed, attempt to change the status of the device with Backup Exec. To place the device online, perform the following:
a. Click on the Devices tab (Figure 1)
Image from Veritas.com
b. Right-click on the tape drive
c. Select Properties
d. Select the Configuration tab
e. Clear the Enable Device for Backup Exec option if it is selected
Image from Veritas.com
f. Click the OK button
g. Repeat steps "a" through "e" again, but check the Enable Device for Backup Exec option
The device should now report that it is online.
