9×9 CSLT Bug

On several recent occasions, we have encountered problems during the MPE INSTALL process for disaster recovery testing where the SLT tape we were trying to install from was unusable. There are many potential causes for this including:

  • Bad tape media
  • Incompatible tape drive types
  • Write heads out of alignment on the source system
  • Target system incompatible with OS version from source system

However, in the cases we have seen it turned out to be a known MPE bug in Release 6.5 that affects ALL 979 and 989 systems. Essentially, the problem is 979 and 989 systems can create SLTs that cannot be booted on any other 9×9 systems. The INSTALL completes successfully but the subsequent START NORECOVERY hangs. The problem is fixed in patch MPELXB7D. We recommend that anyone who is running a 979 or 989 system on MPE/iX release 6.5 apply this patch as soon as possible.

You can view the file HPSWINFO.PUB.SYS to check the patches that are currently installed on your system. Furthermore, you can run a patch analysis of your system at any time using our free patch analysis tool. Of course if you need help obtaining and/or applying MPE patches please contact us.

As a general reminder. When was the last time you practiced a disaster recovery? Or at least proved that you could restore your tapes on another HP3000? Keep in mind that we supply Recovery Certification Testing to validate backup tapes and SLTs as part of your support service. We also offer Disaster Recovery Hot Site services at very reasonable rates.