Let's separate the two systems/devices.
1. The Power system hardware + IBM i LPAR:
PWRDWNSYS is an iBM i green screen command that will power down the LPAR thus terminate all applications and running processes. This is the equivalent of a reboot of a Windows VM. This should be done ONLY under controlled circumstances when down time has been planned. It sounds as if you probably don't know much about IBM i so I would encourage you to find a resource that does before you attempt any corrective action from the LPAR.
2. The tape library:
If you are having problems with keeping the drive visible / on-line to the library web interface then the drive is having a problem staying connected to the library. It is possible you will need to repair/replace that drive to fix this problem; hard to know without further testing. Perhaps you could swap the two tape drives (I'm assuming there are at least 2 in your library) and see if the problem moves with the drive (i.e., problem appears on same drive in a different slot). If it does it would be a problem with the drive. If the problem appears on the swapped drive (i.e., the problem remains in the same drive slot of the library) then it is a problem in the library, possibly with the connector the drive plugs into. If this points to the library then you will need to get someone to repair or replace.
The problem with not having hardware maintenance on your tape library is that you don't have access to firmware updates. If you are running LTO-4 tapes I suspect your library is pretty old. May be time to invest in a replacement.
If you need a good resource for hardware and software I can refer you to the guy we use.
I think that is about the best I can offer!
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Gary Keith
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Original Message:
Sent: Thu March 10, 2022 02:58 PM
From: John Booze
Subject: TS3100 Cannot Get Tapes Add To Library
Hi Kevin,
We use BRMS to accesss the tape drive through iNavigator. The tape drive itself has a static IP where you can log directly into it on the web (this is what I mean when I say online). I have checked and double checked the connections to the tape drive, but we still cannot initialize a tape.
Thank you
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John Booze
Original Message:
Sent: Thu March 10, 2022 01:59 PM
From: Kevin Butt
Subject: TS3100 Cannot Get Tapes Add To Library
@John Booze If you are having troubles keeping the drive online (I assume that means online to the host), I recommend checking the cables connecting the drive to the host to ensure there is no problem with the cables/connectors.
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Kevin Butt
Original Message:
Sent: Thu March 10, 2022 11:26 AM
From: John Booze
Subject: TS3100 Cannot Get Tapes Add To Library
We have had a problem of just keeping the drive online. I had to unplug it twice and then was able to logon to it on the web. Once logged in on the web interface I thnk we tried rebooting it from there and that did not help our "tape not initializing" problem. Should I try powering down from the LWSI Master menu using the PWRDWNSYS command and will that effect other processes than the tape backup? Below is the infomation pertianing to our device. Thanks, Gary.
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John Booze
Original Message:
Sent: Wed March 09, 2022 04:56 PM
From: Gary Keith
Subject: TS3100 Cannot Get Tapes Add To Library
You didn't specify whether "removing the power" refers to the tape library or the IBM i partition. When referring to power cycling (reboot) the library I meant powering down the entire library but yours may not require that; perhaps a power cycle of the drive does the same thing. When I referenced "the adapter" I am referring to the adapter on the Power hardware / IBM i LPAR. For our situation we had to IPL the IBM i LPAR. That is the power down system command (PWRDWNSYS) typically with RESTART(*YES) thus power is not removed from the hardware. We run a multiple LPAR system so we rarely "remove power". If you are running a single LPAR system then RESTART(*NO) will power down the hardware as well as the partition. However, RESTART(*NO) was not required with the error we experienced. Perhaps you should post the model of your Power system hardware, the version of IBM i you are running, and the model of your tape library. That may help with any additional conversation around this.
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Gary Keith
Original Message:
Sent: Wed March 09, 2022 03:55 PM
From: John Booze
Subject: TS3100 Cannot Get Tapes Add To Library
Thank you. I will take a look. Some of the adivce I have been getting points to the adapter needing to be reset. We, of course, powered down the drive and tried to get it to work that way, but it was mentioned that we may try to perform a power down system optionally with restart. Is that different than just removing the power?
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John Booze
Original Message:
Sent: Mon March 07, 2022 03:06 PM
From: Kevin Butt
Subject: TS3100 Cannot Get Tapes Add To Library
@John Booze I am not knowledgeable with IBMi, but I did find documentation which might be helpful, if you haven't already found it.
IBM Docs - IBM Documentation
https://www.ibm.com/docs/en/i/7.1?topic=media-initializing-volumes
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Kevin Butt
Original Message:
Sent: Tue February 08, 2022 10:57 AM
From: John Booze
Subject: TS3100 Cannot Get Tapes Add To Library
Hello,
When I am trying to add tapes to our AS400 iNavigator Library it starts to process that show a status bar until eventually we get an error stating Connection was dropped unexpectedly (see attached). When the library is accessed on the web portal the tapes do show there. Please let me know if you have suggestions on where we can start to fix this problem to get the tapes into the library. If you need more information please let me know.
Thank you.
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John Booze
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