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Primetime_de
Enthusiast
Enthusiast

No tape drive inside VM with ESXi 4.1?

Hi,

I just noticed in my test lab that I can't add my tape drive (Tandberg LTO-3 on Adaptec 29320) to my VMs.

I speak about the "old" way, not pass-through.

In the storage adapter tab no device is recognized at the Adaptec controller.

With ESX 4.0U2 this works fine.

Can anyone confirm this?

Best regards,

Christian

Best regards Christian
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65 Replies
bitbucket
Enthusiast
Enthusiast

I can confirm that something seems to be different.

Before 4.1 I was able to add a local connected tape library by adding the tape changer and the tape drive itself. Now with 4.1 I can only add the tape drive, the changer is not visible to the host.

I am still trying to work around this without any success yet.

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bitbucket
Enthusiast
Enthusiast

I switched back to ESXi 4.0.0 U2 on the same host and in fact the media changer can be added again.

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LiLo16
Contributor
Contributor

Hi,

yes, confirmed on two different ESXi 4.1 hosts. No (tape) device is shown in scsi host adapter using aic79xx driver, and therefore you cannot select it for SCSI passthrough.

I opened a support case on VMware for that, currently no reply after sending the system logs..

I also tested with a SAS Tape drive (HP Ultrium 920 SAS) on a HP SC44ge (LSI 1044 based) controller, that works fine as usual.

Kind Regards,

Lothar

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VMmatty
Virtuoso
Virtuoso

Did anyone check the hardware compatibility guide to make sure your SCSI card/tape is still supported in ESX 4.1? VMware could have changed things and dropped support for specific hardware.

http://www.vmware.com/resources/compatibility/search.php

Matt | http://www.thelowercasew.com | @mattliebowitz
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spoonwzd
Contributor
Contributor

I'm having no luck scanning the HCL. Smiley Sad

Have an LTO2 drive here thats not recognised by 4.1. Worked fine in 4.0 U2.

Any word from VMware?

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LiLo16
Contributor
Contributor

Hi,

no word from VMware yet.

According to the HCL the used SCSI Controller is supported in ESXi 4.1, I checked via the Hardware Device IDs of the controller. However, they updated the aic79xx driver in ESXi 4.1. I think there might be a problem in the new driver!

I'm still waiting for an answer from Vmware support!

Regards,

Lothar

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AndreTheGiant
Immortal
Immortal

As I remember it's a limit of the ESXi version.

If you hardware support VMDirectPath, use this feature instead.

Andre

Andrew | http://about.me/amauro | http://vinfrastructure.it/ | @Andrea_Mauro
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LiLo16
Contributor
Contributor

Pardon? VM-Direct Path is not an alternative for SCSI passtrough as it requires hardware support (as mentioned) and removes vMotion / Snapshop capability from the VM.

SCSI Passtrough works fine with a tape drive conneced via LSI SAS controller in ESXi 4.1...

Regards,

Lothar

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bitbucket
Enthusiast
Enthusiast

Pardon? VM-Direct Path is not an alternative for SCSI passtrough as it requires hardware support (as mentioned) and removes vMotion / Snapshop capability from the VM.

SCSI Passtrough works fine with a tape drive conneced via LSI SAS controller in ESXi 4.1...

Regards,

Lothar

I am using a LSI 1068E labeld as HP SC44GE. This one can be used to connect a tape drive but the according media changer of the library is no longer recognized with ESXi 4.1 (HP 1x8 G2 Autoloader). Maybe it's just a firmware issue of the controller or the tape library.

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jason5
Contributor
Contributor

I also am having a similar problem with 4.1. Our sas ibm lto4 was working fine before 4.1. After upgrading to 4.1 the tape drive shows in the o.s. but, shows offline with no way to read or write.

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derbaron
Contributor
Contributor

Same Problem

Tandberg LTO2

Adaptec 29320LPE

No Tape drive visible

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LiLo16
Contributor
Contributor

Hi,

first statement from VMware today...unfortunately not very helpful as this information is already well known:

I see from the case notes that your tape drive is no longer working since you upgrade to ESXi 4.1. I can see from the HCL that the driver used by the ASC-29320LPE controller has changed in ESXi 4.1

ESX / ESXi 4.1 aic79xx version 3.2.0.1-1vmw inbox

ESX / ESXi 4.0 U2 aic79xx version 3.1vmw inbox

ESX / ESXi 4.0 U1 aic79xx version 3.1vmw inbox

ESX / ESXi 4.0 aic79xx version 3.1vmw inbox

I am going to contact our engineering team to see if they are aware of any problems with this new driver and also to see if it would be possible to roll back to the older driver to see if this will allow the tape drive to function.

Regards,

Lothar

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norm_tallant
Contributor
Contributor

Thanks for the update, Lothar!

At the risk of sounding "me too," I'm having the same issue running a SCSI StorageWorks Ultrium 920 (firmware D22D) on a 29320. I'm very eager for a fix! Smiley Happy

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norm_tallant
Contributor
Contributor

Christian, would you happen to have a link that describes this "old way" you speak of? I'm very curious Smiley Happy

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Primetime_de
Enthusiast
Enthusiast

I just mean with the "old way" to add a SCSI device and not use the "pass-through" feature.

Christian

Best regards Christian
norm_tallant
Contributor
Contributor

Ah, yep... ok then! Smiley Happy

I can also confirm that wiping and going back to 4.0 U2 solved my issue.

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horsti4ever
Contributor
Contributor

The solution, but I don't know why Smiley Wink

http://communities.vmware.com/message/1269881

http://communities.vmware.com/message/1269881|Code:|

esxcli nmp satp deleterule --satp VMW_SATP_ALUA --claim-option tpgs_on

For listing the rules associates with "VMW_SATP_ALUA" try this command ...

esxcli nmp satp listrules -s VMW_SATP_ALUA

rescan the SCSI Controler eh voilá the drive is seen

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Primetime_de
Enthusiast
Enthusiast

Thanks, I'll try it ASAP.

Any new official statements from VMware?

Lothar, any news regarding your case?

Best regards

Christian

Best regards Christian
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derbaron
Contributor
Contributor

++

this fixed it for me also

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