BrightStor ARCserve hangs loading tapesrv.nlm after NetWare 6.5 SP8 installed

  • 7002377
  • 15-Jan-2009
  • 27-Apr-2012

Environment

Novell NetWare 6.5 Support Pack 8
Computer Associates BrightStor ARCserve r11.1 SP3
Server hardware includes a tape changer with the tape drive

Situation

Initialization of Computer Associates ARCserve stops after loading TAPESRV.NLM and eventually times out with the following message:
CSLOADER.NLM : Module sys:\ARCserve.11\NLM\TAPESRV.NLM did not load. Please switch to the console screen for more information.
There is no additional information displayed on the Console or Logger screens.
Attempting to unloading TAPESRV.NLM after it times out fails requiring the server to be restarted.


Resolution

Prevent NWTAPE.CDM from loading at any time by:
  1. Remove or comment out any line in C:\NWSERVER\STARTUP.NCF that loads NWTAPE.CMD
  2. Rename or delete the file C:\NWSERVER\DRIVERS\NWTAPE.CDM
  3. Search for other copies of NWTAPE.CDM in C:\NWSERVER and SYS:\SYSTEM and delete any copies that are found
  4. Optional step: Remove or delete the file C:\NWSERVER\DRIVERS\NWTAPE.DDI. Delete any other copies of NWTAPE.DDI
  5. Restart the NetWare server. If NWTAPE.CDM was loaded in memory at any time, the server must be restarted after the above changes before attempting to start or load the ARCserve software
Note: These steps will have to be repeated if Support Pack 8 is reinstalled to resolve other issues or to update additional products installed later. These steps will also be required after any patches or updates that reinstall the NWTAPE driver.

Additional Information

A conflict exists between NWTAPE.CDM and Computer Associates TAPESRV.NLM. With previous versions of NetWare and Support Packs, simply unloading the NWTAPE.CDM prior to starting ARCserve was sufficient to avoid this conflict. After applying Support Pack 8 having NWTAPE.CDM loaded into memory at any time, even when unloaded prior to starting ARCserve, results in ARCserve hanging and timing out while attempting to access the tape changer.