Dear Users,

I recently detected a faulty tape in IBM Spectrum Archive EE.

The tape was in the "need_replace" status, so I executed the eeadm tape replace command. Now, it appears in the "unassigned" status.

When I run the eeadm tape list command, I still see the tape listed, it is marked as "unassigned." Additionally, I moved the tape to the I/O station using the eeadm tape move command.

#eeadm tape list | grep unas 
T00180L8 ok unassigned 0 0 0 0% - lib01 ieslot -

I have a few questions regarding this process:

- When will the tape be removed from the eeadm tape list output? Why does it still appear there?
- Currently, the tape is marked as "unassigned" from IBM EE's perspective and is located in the I/O station. Should I also unassign the tape from the TS4500 tape library using its GUI?

Could you kindly provide the correct sequence of actions I should follow to properly dispose of a faulty tape (starting from IBM EE actions to TS4500 actions)?

Thank you in advance for your assistance.

IBM SPectrum Archive EE v.1.3.4.4
IBM TS4500 with latest available firmware

Best regards.

Dear Mauro,

Why did you keep the Cartridge in the I/O Station? If you are trying to remove the tape from EE, i would suggest to remove the Tape physically from the TS4500. The tape is still in physical access for the TS4500.

Kind regards Martin

Hi Mauro,

I agree to Martin, I think you have to remove the tape from the library (io stations) and then perhaps run a eeadm library rescan. Afterwards the tape should be gone.

Regards Nils

Hi Nils ( what a pleasure to hear from you again :) ), Hi Martin,

thank you very much for your help.

Removing the tape from I/O station and running eeadm library rescan fixed my "issue". The involved tape has been removed from IBM EE pool and from the TS4500 inventory as well.

So, if I'm not wrong,  when I  run "eeadm tape unassign" from IBM EE's, I don't need to unassign the same tape from the TS4500 tape library using its GUI.

Thanks again,

Mauro

Hi Mauro, absolutely my pleasure to talk to you again :-)

When you unassign the tape in EE, then the tape is no longer in a pool. But eeadm tape list will still list the tape. When you unassign or remove the tape in the library, then the tape will no longer be shown in the tape list after rescan. 

Best regards from Nils