11 Robot and Safety Door Management

"AEM Safety Door Overview"
"Reboot an AEM Safety Door"
"TallBot Overview"
"SCSI FastLoad Feature"
"Display Robot Information"
"Change Robot Online/Offline Status"
"Perform a Robot Self-Test"
"Robot Diagnostic Moves"

AEM Safety Door Overview

The safety door is a sliding barrier that closes off an AEM from the operational portion of the library. The door slides into place when performing robot maintenance or a bulk load/unload operation. The safety door allows a service representative to perform maintenance on a robot while the library remains online and protects an operator from robot activity during a bulk load/unload. See "Display AEM Safety Door Status and Properties".

Reboot an AEM Safety Door

Use this procedure to reboot an AEM safety door. You may need to do this to clear errors if the AEM safety door has experienced an abnormal condition.

Select Tools > Diagnostics.
Expand the Safety Door folder, and then select the AEM safety door to reboot.
Click Reboot.
If the safety door is online, click OK to take the safety door offline.
Click OK to confirm the reboot. The library controller reboots the safety door. The safety door re-initializes, and the TallBot audits the AEM.
Click OK to dismiss the success message.

TallBot Overview

A TallBot is a robot that moves cartridges between storage slots, tape drives, and CAPs. With the dual TallBot option, two robots operate in parallel, significantly increasing the overall performance of the library. If one robot fails, the other robot can move the defective robot into an AEM service area or PEM parking area.

SCSI FastLoad Feature

SCSI FastLoad is an optional feature which can enable faster mount and dismount operations for libraries or partitions with FC-SCSI host connections. After a robot successfully inserts a cartridge into a drive, it is immediately available for the next request and does not wait until the drive reports that the cartridge has been loaded. The library controller waits to return the mount request response until it detects that the tape drive has successfully loaded the cartridge. If a cartridge fails to load after the TallBot has been released, it is up to the FC-SCSI host to move the cartridge from the drive back to the source element.

This feature requires minimum SL3000 firmware FRS_2.33 and SLConsole 4.47.

Configure SCSI FastLoad Feature

You can enable or disable SCSI FastLoad separately for each partition.

Select Tools > Configuration.
For each partition, use the Enable FastLoad Feature check box:
- Checked turns SCSI FastLoad on.
- Unchecked turns SCSI FastLoad off (default).
Click Apply.
Click OK to dismiss the message.

Display Robot Information

Note:

This information is also available through Reports > Robot Summary. See "Library Reports".

Select Tools > System Detail.
Click the Robot folder on the navigation tree to display summary information.
For detailed information, expand the Robot folder in the navigation tree, and then select a robot.
Select a tab:
- Status Tab — displays the current operational state of the selected robot
- Properties Tab — displays robot configuration information, including the serial number and current firmware levels

Change Robot Online/Offline Status

Use this procedure only if you are not using ACSLS or ELS tape management software, or if their servers cannot communicate with the library. For instructions on changing the state of the library and its components through ACSLS or ELS, see the tape management software documentation.

Use this procedure to take a robot offline or bring a robot online through the SLConsole.

Note:

Library devices that are offline and in an error state cannot go online. The error condition must be cleared first.

Select Tools > System Detail.
Expand the Robot folder, and then click the robot to modify.
Click the Status tab.
In the Transition Request field, select either:
- Take Offline — the system completes all outstanding jobs for the robot.
- Bring Online — the robot moves to the end of the rail, and the library cannot use it. If the library is using the redundant robotics feature, the second robot will take all requests.
Click Apply.

Perform a Robot Self-Test

Note:

To perform a robot self-test, diagnostic cartridges must be available in the library.

Select Tools > Diagnostics.
Expand the Robot folder, and then click the robot to test.
Click the SelfTest tab.
In the Mode list, select Non-Disruptive.
Click Run. A message indicates the diagnostic test is complete.

Robot Diagnostic Moves

Diagnostic moves can help monitor or diagnose robotic problems by issuing a series of "get" and "put" operations. The system chooses a robot for the diagnostic move based on the minimum and maximum ranges set for the target and pool addresses. Multiple robots may be selected if the address range requires it.

Successful diagnostic moves do not rearrange the cartridges in the library — the system returns cartridges to their original locations. However, some diagnostic move failures can cause cartridges to be left in new locations.

A diagnostic move is defined by:

Target Address Range — defines the area used to perform the "get" operation in a diagnostic move. Valid target address types are storage cells, CAP, drive and storage cells, system cells, or all.

Note:
All resources within the target address range are reserved. However, only the location currently being accessed by the robot for a get/put operation is unavailable to the host.
Pool Address Range — defines the area used to supply cartridges or empty cells if a target address does not contain a cartridge or no empty cells are available. The pool and target address can overlap.
Access Order — determines how the robot performs get operations within the target address range. There are two options:
- Sequential — robot performs a get operation starting with the first location in the target address ranges. The robot continues visiting the locations sequentially through the range until it completes the requested number of moves.
- Random — robot randomly picks a location in the target address range to get a cartridge. The robot can also visit the same location in the target address range multiple times to get a cartridge, however if you specify enough move request the robot is guaranteed to visit all cells. The random access routine ends after the requested number of moves is complete.

Define a Diagnostic Move

You can set up and run multiple diagnostic move routines simultaneously if the target and pool ranges for each diagnostic move do not overlap.

Note:

This procedure requires sharing of robot resources. You should not run it during peak activity periods.

Select Tools > Diagnostics.
Click the Library folder in the navigation tree.
Click the DiagMove tab, and then the Manage tab.
In the Defined Sequence section, click Add.
Complete the Sequence screen to define the target address:
1. In the Selection Mode section, select the type of cells to diagnose.
2. In the Minimum Address and Maximum Address sections, select the library internal address of the starting and ending locations of the cells to diagnose.
Click Next.
Complete the SOURCE screen to define the pool address:
1. In the Selection Mode sections, select the appropriate cartridge pool address type.
2. In the Minimum Address and Maximum Address sections, select the library internal addresses of the starting and ending locations of the cartridge pool to use.
Click Next.
Complete the Sequence screen:
1. Name of the diagnostic move.
2. Move Count: Specify a number between 1 and 5000.
3. Access order: Sequential or Random.
4. Move Type: Robot and Cartridge or Robot Only.
5. Only if you are certain the cartridges and drives in the diagnostic move are compatible, select "Disable pre-move cartridge compatibility check".
Click Finish to complete the setup. The new diagnostic sequence is listed in the Defined Sequences section.

Manage Diagnostic Move Definitions

Use this procedure to manage diagnostic move sequence definitions. Each diagnostic move has its own monitor screen.

Select Tools > Diagnostics.
Click the Library folder on the navigation tree.
Click the DiagMove tab, and then the Manage tab.

In the Defined Sequences section, select an option:

Table 11-1 Diagnostic Moves Options

Option	Definition	Notes
Add	Define a diagnostic move	None
Open	Start a diagnostic move	Multiple diagnostic moves may be open at a time, so long as the target and pool address ranges setup for the moves do not overlap.
Modify	Modify options for a diagnostic move	This diagnostic move routine must not be open or if open must be in a "Stopped" state.
Remove	Remove a diagnostic move	This diagnostic move routine must not be open.
Copy	Copy an existing diagnostic move	Copy a diagnostic move definition, make changes if necessary, and assign a different name.

See "Monitor and Control Open Diagnostic Moves" to manage the diagnostic moves currently open.

Save a Diagnostic Move

Use this procedure to save a defined diagnostic move to a file on your workstation. The file is saved as a JavaBean component represented as an XML 1.0 document (.xml).

You can use the file to:

Restore a move that has been deleted from the library.
Copy it to a different library.

To save a diagnostic move file:

Select Tools > Diagnostics.
Click the Library folder on the navigation tree.
Click the DiagMove tab, and then the Manage tab.
Select a diagnostic move. Click Save.
Browse to the desired directory, enter a file name, and click Save.

Start a Diagnostic Move

Use this procedure to begin a diagnostic move. A monitor window displays for each move you open. You can repeat this procedure to open multiple moves, as long as the target and pool address ranges for the moves do not overlap.

Select Tools > Diagnostics.
Click the Library folder on the navigation tree.
Click the DiagMove tab, and then the Manage tab.
In the Defined Sequences section, select a diagnostic move. Click Open.
From each monitor window, select File > Start Sequence to start the move.

Monitor and Control Open Diagnostic Moves

Use this procedure to control and monitor the status of one or more open diagnostic moves.

See "Start a Diagnostic Move" for instructions on starting one or more diagnostic moves.
Select Tools > Diagnostics. Click the Library folder.

Click the DiagMove tab, and then the Monitor tab. Each monitor window indicates the status of the move.

Table 11-2 Status Indicators for Moves

Status Indicators	Valid Values
Spooling Status — whether the move output is being spooled to a file	True, False
State — execution state of the move	Running, pausing, paused, stopping, stopped
Health — health state of the move	OK, warning, error
Completed moves — Number of moves completed in the requested move count	N/A

Use the File menu in each Monitor window to start/stop/pause the sequence, clear the output window, or start/stop spooling.