Troubleshooting

Troubleshooting

This appendix describes the most common problems that you might encounter while installing and starting SCO ARCserve/Open from Cheyenne and provides possible solutions.

Most of the problems that you may encounter, especially when using SCSI host adapters, are hardware-related.

Two important points to consider when tracking down hardware problems are:

Problem Solution
During system startup, I get a SCSI bus selection timeout error. This message is normal during system startup. The software scans the SCSI bus to look for tape drives and changers. Some host adapter drivers report a NOTICE or an error if there is no device attached to a particular SCSI ID while scanning for devices.
If you see these messages scrolling by after the system is already up, immediately run astop. This condition usually occurs when someone has switched off a drive, disconnected a drive, or there is a loose SCSI cable.


NOTE: It is a good idea to run astop before disconnecting SCSI devices.

When running the SCO ARCserve/Open front-end, my windows exceed the screen size. SCO ARCserve/Open's screens are designed to display optimally on systems with a VGA card capable of 256 colors and with a resolution of at least 800x600.
If you want to change the graphics resolution, make sure your VGA card supports the above resolution, then run SCOadmin video configuration manager.
I've installed SCO ARCserve/Open, but I'm having trouble seeing my tape drive(s). Make sure that all cards, cables, and devices are connected properly. If you installed a new card in your system before installing SCO ARCserve/Open, make sure it is seated properly in its slot. If that does not work, try putting the card in a different slot.
Type astatus to see if the SCO ARCserve/Open tapesvr daemon is running.
If you have multiple host adapter cards installed in your system, make sure your drive is connected to the first one.
Make sure your SCSI bus is terminated properly. There must be two sets of terminating resistors, one at the beginning of the chain and one at the end. If you only have one drive connected to your machine, then you have two devices on the SCSI bus; the host adapter card and the tape drive. Both the host adapter card and the tape drive should be terminated.
Make sure each SCSI device in the chain has a unique ID. If you have two tape drives attached to the SCSI bus, each with a SCSI ID of 2, chances are neither device will work. Set each drive to a unique SCSI ID.
Make sure all the tape drives are turned on. Sometimes if you forget to turn on one device in a chain, the others will behave erratically.
Make sure the jumper settings on your adapter board are correct. Check the documentation that came with the board to make sure the jumpers are set correctly for use with your hardware.
Replace the cables you are using with ones you know are good. If the problem goes away, you know you had a bad cable.
The SCO ARCserve/Open database is getting very large. The ideal solution is to make sure your filesystem has plenty of free space.
If you have tapes that are out of date, or that you no longer need, format them and re-use them. When you format a tape, the references to the files and sessions on that tape are removed from the database.
You can calculate how much disk space you will need for the SCO ARCserve/Open database based on how much data you regularly back up.
The information that SCO ARCserve/Open records about each file that is backed up requires about 80 bytes of space in the SCO ARCserve/Open database. If you back up 100,000 files every week, and re-use the same tapes each time you do it, you need about 8 MB of disk space (80x100,000) for the database.
Another option is to relocate the database to a filesystem with more available disk space. See ``Relocating the SCO ARCserve/Open database'' for information on how to do this.

 
 ---------------------------------------------------------------- 
| Problem                 |  Solution                           | 
| During system startup, I|  This message is normal during      | 
| get a SCSI bus selection|  system startup.  The software scans| 
| timeout error.          |  the SCSI bus to look for tape      | 
|                         |  drives and changers.  Some host    | 
|                         |  adapter drivers report a NOTICE or | 
|                         |  an error if there is no device     | 
|                         |  attached to a particular SCSI ID   | 
|                         |  while scanning for devices.        | 
|                         |  If you see these messages scrolling| 
|                         |  by after the system is already up, | 
|                         |  immediately run astop.  This       | 
|                         |  condition usually occurs when      | 
|                         |  someone has switched off a drive,  | 
|                         |  disconnected a drive, or there is a| 
|                         |  loose SCSI cable.                  | 
|                         |                                     | 
|                         |  -----------------------------------| 
|                         |     NOTE  It is a good idea to      | 
|                         |     run astop before                | 
|                         |     disconnecting SCSI devices.     | 
|                         |  -----------------------------------| 
|                         |                                     | 
| When running the SCO    |  SCO ARCserve/Open's screens are    | 
| ARCserve/Open front-end,|  designed to display optimally on   | 
| my windows exceed the   |  systems with a VGA card capable of | 
| screen size.            |  256 colors and with a resolution of| 
|                         |  at least 800x600.                  | 
|                         |  If you want to change the graphics | 
|                         |  resolution, make sure your VGA card| 
|                         |  supports the above resolution, then| 
|                         |  run SCOadmin video configuration   | 
|                         |  manager.                           | 
| I've installed SCO      |  Make sure that all cards, cables,  | 
| ARCserve/Open, but I'm  |  and devices are connected properly.| 
| having trouble seeing my|  If you installed a new card in your| 
| tape drive(s).          |  system before installing SCO       | 
|                         |  ARCserve/Open, make sure it is     | 
|                         |  seated properly in its slot.  If   | 
|                         |  that does not work, try putting the| 
|                         |  card in a different slot.          | 
|                         |  Type astatus to see if the SCO     | 
|                         |  ARCserve/Open tapesvr daemon is    | 
|                         |  running.                           | 
|                         |  If you have multiple host adapter  | 
|                         |  cards installed in your system,    | 
|                         |  make sure your drive is connected  | 
|                         |  to the first one.                  | 
|                         |  Make sure your SCSI bus is         | 
|                         |  terminated properly.  There must be| 
|                         |  two sets of terminating resistors, | 
|                         |  one at the beginning of the chain  | 
|                         |  and one at the end.  If you only   | 
|                         |  have one drive connected to your   | 
|                         |  machine, then you have two devices | 
|                         |  on the SCSI bus; the host adapter  | 
|                         |  card and the tape drive.  Both the | 
|                         |  host adapter card and the tape     | 
|                         |  drive should be terminated.        | 
|                         |  Make sure each SCSI device in the  | 
|                         |  chain has a unique ID.  If you have| 
|                         |  two tape drives attached to the    | 
|                         |  SCSI bus, each with a SCSI ID of 2,| 
|                         |  chances are neither device will    | 
|                         |  work.  Set each drive to a unique  | 
|                         |  SCSI ID.                           | 
|                         |  Make sure all the tape drives are  | 
|                         |  turned on.  Sometimes if you forget| 
|                         |  to turn on one device in a chain,  | 
|                         |  the others will behave erratically.| 
|                         |  Make sure the jumper settings on   | 
|                         |  your adapter board are correct.    | 
|                         |  Check the documentation that came  | 
|                         |  with the board to make sure the    | 
|                         |  jumpers are set correctly for use  | 
|                         |  with your hardware.                | 
|                         |  Replace the cables you are using   | 
|                         |  with ones you know are good.  If   | 
|                         |  the problem goes away, you know you| 
|                         |  had a bad cable.                   | 
| The SCO ARCserve/Open   |  The ideal solution is to make sure | 
| database is getting very|  your filesystem has plenty of free | 
| large.                  |  space.                             | 
|                         |  If you have tapes that are out of  | 
|                         |  date, or that you no longer need,  | 
|                         |  format them and re-use them.  When | 
|                         |  you format a tape, the references  | 
|                         |  to the files and sessions on that  | 
|                         |  tape are removed from the database.| 
|                         |  You can calculate how much disk    | 
|                         |  space you will need for the SCO    | 
|                         |  ARCserve/Open database based on how| 
|                         |  much data you regularly back up.   | 
|                         |  The information that SCO           | 
|                         |  ARCserve/Open records about each   | 
|                         |  file that is backed up requires    | 
|                         |  about 80 bytes of space in the SCO | 
|                         |  ARCserve/Open database.  If you    | 
|                         |  back up 100,000 files every week,  | 
|                         |  and re-use the same tapes each time| 
|                         |  you do it, you need about 8 MB of  | 
|                         |  disk space (80x100,000) for the    | 
|                         |  database.                          | 
|                         |  Another option is to relocate the  | 
|                         |  database to a filesystem with more | 
|                         |  available disk space.  See         | 
|                         |  ``Relocating the SCO ARCserve/Open | 
|                         |  database'' for information on how  | 
|                         |  to do this.                        | 
|-------------------------|-------------------------------------| 

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