jdhiler Posted February 22, 2002 Report Share Posted February 22, 2002 hi there. 3 problems. related? i dunno. i'm helping this recording studio set up a 9600/G3 with a dds2 drive and mac os 9.1 as a backup server for their mac workstations. retrospect has worked great locally on each machine with it's own dds4 for a long time. the trouble started last night when i installed retrospect client and tried to do tcp/ip backups. first problem: retrospect can see and log on to the client volumes no problem. after setting up a new storageset for an immediate backup, if i select 'preview' to see what files will be backed up, it starts scanning, and then stops with the following error message: trouble in retrospect: internal consistency check failed: assertion check at "elem.c-811" after quitting and rebooting, my client volume needs to be reconfigured all over again. i've searched the entire site, but there's no reference to "elem.c-811" anywhere. this is a repeatable problem. second problem: if i DON'T click on preview and just start the backup, it starts backing up no problem, but when it gets to the compare portion of the backup, it freezes the 9600. this is repeatable and it happens regardless of destination (tape or a local file). third problem: trying to start a brand new tape backup and storageset of a local volume, it gets as far as 'insert a blank tape. it will be named 1-xxx.', but after i stick the dds2 tape in (i've tried a couple), i get the following error message: "the tape cannot be added to this backup set. it is too different from the other media in the set" the strange thing about this is that the are NO other members in the set! i'm starting fresh with new storagesets and everything, yet i get this message repeatedly. the very first dd2 backup i did still works fine, even performing an incremental backup after all this other business with no problems. help! i've reinstalled retrospect from the cd (4.3), to no avail. i've read the tech notes regarding 'assertion check', but they just say to contact tech support. i've read everything on the site, and searched the forum, but can only find $$$ support options, which is NOT an option for me, so i'm posting here, with high hopes of getting a reply in time to fix the problem later tonight. thanks so much to whomever can make these problems go away. peace. j-hi @>@ - " Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mayoff Posted February 23, 2002 Report Share Posted February 23, 2002 From the Knowledgebase: Tech Note 307 MACINTOSH INTERNAL CONSISTENCY CHECK AND CONFIGURATION ERRORS Tech Note NO. 307 MACINTOSH INTERNAL CONSISTENCY CHECK AND CONFIGURATION ERRORS Retrospect and Retrospect Express for Macintosh use an internal integrity checking system which will alert the user to problems encountered when performing tasks within Retrospect. These "Internal Consistency Check" and "Chunk Checksum" errors could be caused by corruption to a vital Retrospect file, memory corruption or system compatibility problem. This note describes some of these errors, as well as the files with which they are often associated. This document is meant as an overview for a family of error messages. If you believe your error can not be resolved with the troubleshooting options provided, please contact Dantz Technical Support for assistance. Identifying the Error The following is a list of internal consistency check errors that have been encountered by Dantz and the resolution. If your error message is not on this list, continue to the next section of this document. dev.c-1027 This error occurs only in Retrospect 3.0. Upgrade to the latest version of Retrospect. elem.c-696 This error can occur when a run document is placed in the Shutdown Items folder on a Macintosh running under System 7.5 with Retrospect versions before 3.0. Update to the latest version of Retrospect. elem.c-897 There are three main reasons for this error: 1. The configuration file is damaged. (This is almost always the case and is especially likely if the error occurred while Retrospect or Retrospect Express was launching.) 2. A catalog file may be corrupt. 3. Retrospect 2.0A or an earlier version attempted to erase a removable cartridge while file sharing was turned on. Turn off file sharing or upgrade Retrospect to the latest version. malloc.c-97 This is frequently a one-time error which does not re-occur after restarting your Macintosh. If it happens when going to Configure>Backup Sets, then you should upgrade Retrospect or Retrospect Express. tyce.c-2524 This error may occur if your Backup Server scripts are corrupted. Duplicate your scripts from the Automate>Scripts window and delete the original scripts. vhand.c-427 This is almost always a one-time error which does not re-occur after restarting your Macintosh. If it does re-occur, you should follow the advice below. In some cases this error has also been caused by corrupted System Software. xscav.c-128 This error may occur when using an OnStream tape drive with Retrospect 4.2. Update to the latest version of Retrospect for the Macintosh When experiencing internal consistency check, access violation or exception error messages it is very important to restart the computer following each error message. Running Retrospect immediately following an error of this type without a system restart will leave Retrospect in an unstable state. When troubleshooting Internal Consistency Check and other Retrospect errors it is important to identify what task Retrospect was attempting to perform at the time the error is reported. Knowing when the error happens will help identify the best course of action for the resolution of the problem. During Retrospect Launch If Retrospect reports an Internal Consistency Check error message when launching, a likely cause for the error would be corrupt Retrospect preferences. Try moving the retro.config (4.2) or Retro.Express Config (4.2) file onto the trash (don't empty the trash). This file can be found in the Retrospect folder located within System Folder's Preferences folder. The retro.config (4.2) or Retro.Express Config (4.2) file contains all of your Retrospect scripts, options and the database of logged in clients (if appropriate). Restart the computer and attempt to launch Retrospect again. If the problem continues, please contact Dantz Technical Support for assistance. If you are contacting Technical Support via e-mail, please include the most recent Retrospect.error.log file located in the Retrospect preferences folder. If launching Retrospect was successful after removing the config file from the Retrospect folder, then this indicates the previous retro.config (4.2) or Retro.Express Config (4.2) file may have been damaged. At this point you will need to recreate your scripts and login your existing clients. Rather than rebuild your scripts, some users may be able to restore an older version of the config file from a backup. When Saving Snapshot, Updating Catalog or Trouble Matching During a backup Retrospect may report that it can not save changes to the Snapshot or the Snapshot could not be saved due to an error -24205 (chunk file damaged during save) or trouble matching –24201 (chunk checksum didn't match). Retrospect may also report "trouble matching" errors when doing a restore. These errors often indicate corruption within a Retrospect backup set catalog file. When troubleshooting these error messages it is important to identify which catalog file is damaged. The operations log will often indicate which catalog file was being accessed at the time this error occurred. If the errors appear isolated to one specific catalog file you will need to either rebuild the catalog from the media (chapter 9 of the Retrospect User's Guide) or create a new backup set to replace the one reporting the error. If the error seems to be happening to several backup sets see the section below on "Chronic Errors". You can also try the following technique to identify which catalog file is damaged. Set up a restore by searching on a blank file name so Retrospect scans all files in the catalog. If the error occurs, you know this catalog is corrupt. During File Copy If Retrospect reports an "Internal Consistency Check" error during the copy phase of a backup or restore you may be experiencing one of several possible problems. It is important to first restart the computer following the error. For many users the error will not return following a system restart. Try the previous operation again. Try to reproduce the problem using a different backup set. If the problem is solved by trying a different backup set, you may need to rebuild the catalog file for the previous backup set. If the problem continues, contact Dantz Technical Support for assistance. When Scanning Icons If Retrospect reports an error when scanning "Icons" then you may have a corrupt Retro.Icon (4) file. Try removing this file from the Retrospect Preferences folder. The file will be automatically recreated by Retrospect. Chronic Errors If you find these error are happening frequently or they come back after the problem appeared to have been fixed, then you may have a more complicated problem that is resulting in chronic errors. Unreliable Device Communication Backup devices can be connected to your computer in several different ways (SCSI, USB, FireWire). If your device is not working correctly or is not communicating with the computer as expected, your Retrospect backups may not run as expected. It is important to check with the vendor of your SCSI card, or other adapter vendor for driver and firmware updates that may be appropriate for your configuration. For more details on device communication and configuration see Chapter 3 and 10 of the Retrospect User's Guide. Third-Party Software Conflicts Macintosh users can try disabling all non-Apple extensions (including control panels). If that helps, enable extensions one by one, restart, and test until the problem re-occurs, at which time you will know the culprit is the most recently enabled extension. Permanently disable the problem-causing extension. Operating System Macintosh users can try to reproduce the error message while booted from the Retrospect CD-ROM. If the error is not reproducible while booted from the Retrospect CD, then this may indicate a corrupt Mac OS system folder. A clean install of the Mac OS may be required to eliminate the error message. Hard Disk Media Problems Retrospect preferences or catalog files could become damaged if these files are stored on a hard disk with media problems. Macintosh users should consider running Apple’s Disk First Aid or a commercial disk checking utility like Norton Utilities or Tech Tool Pro. Getting Help from Dantz Technical Support Should you be unable to solve an internal consistency error problem on your own, Dantz Technical Support will be glad to help you. When Retrospect or Retrospect Express experiences such an error, it generates an error log text file. The Macintosh Retrospect.error.log file is located in the Retrospect preferences folder. Send the contents of this file to Dantz Technical Support via electronic mail, fax, or post. Please include notes on what you were doing with Retrospect or Retrospect Express when the error occurred, and provide all system and device information. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jdhiler Posted February 23, 2002 Author Report Share Posted February 23, 2002 hi mayoff. i here you're the best tech over there at dantz. thanks for your reply, although i don't think it's exactly your best effort to date. copying a section of the website verbatim that i've already read over and over, and STILL does not address my specific error (elem.c-811) is not only UNHELPFUL, but a WASTE of my time! perhaps you would care to enlighten me as to how your post is supposed to address my problems? it doesn't even address the second or third parts of what i'm dealing with. so, in other words, thanks for nothing. why don't you try again with a reply that might actually be helpful. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mayoff Posted February 24, 2002 Report Share Posted February 24, 2002 As the tech note describes, these errors are often caused by corrupted backup sets but could be caused system problems. The media too different is often caused by a previous media failure. 1) Create a new backup set and use that instead. (which you have done) 2) Use a new tape 3) It that doesn't work, you need to trash the retro.config file in the Retrospect preferences folder (as noted in the tech note) 4) If the problem continues, you need to look at the other troubleshooting suggestions outlined in the tech note, like 3rd party software conflicts, corrupt operating system or device communcation problems (change scsi cable, terminator, etc). You may need to try Retrospect on another computer to see if the problem follows the backup device. 5) In rare cases this error could be caused by bad network packets being sent by the client, this could mean a bad network cable or corrupt system on the specific client you try to access when the error happens. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jdhiler Posted February 24, 2002 Author Report Share Posted February 24, 2002 hello again, mayoff. thank you for your 2nd reply. i have tried #'s 1-3 already. regarding #4, i've already replaced scsi cables & termination, and reinstalled a fresh system with no third party extensions except the g3 card's and the ethernet card's. still the same problems. the only other thing is to replace the dds drive. why does it say the media is different from the others in the set when there ain't any others?? what is prompting that error message? please give me as much detail as possible. could it be that it's running on a 9600/G3(400) with mac os 9.1 and a farallon 100BaseT card? nothing newer will run on it, except for a 9.2.2 hack that i don't want to mess with unless i need to. what about the carbonlib update (1.5)? does retrospect use it or benefit by it? regarding suggestion #5, file copying and pings to/from the client all work fine as it stands now. why would retrospect fail where others are successful? it still crashes during verification, yet it does not report the errors listed on the website pertaining to this scenario. why? what is happening here that is making this happen? the website's info is superficial at best. more details please. also, i've installed the latest rdu. it says it fixes bugs, yet doesn't list what! more info please! isn't there some sort of central repository of tech info so i don't have to keep asking for more information? you guys treat the real details as if they're national defense secrets! since you guys went all $$$ for tech support, what's freely available on the site needs to be much more comprehensive, imho. it would save you a lot of wasted bandwidth, too! tia. j-hi @>@ - " Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mayoff Posted February 24, 2002 Report Share Posted February 24, 2002 This is an example of a problem that is very difficult to resolve in a forum environment. Complicated problems like this often require a back and forth dialog that can only be reached by calling tech support. ideally, other members of this community based forum will offer suggestions to solving these issues, which they may have already experienced. From the Knowledgebase: A Media too different message reports that your media is too different in either or both of two cases: 1. You are trying to append to a tape backup set that is damaged. If you crashed or experienced a power failure while last writing to your tape and are now getting this error when trying to append, your backup set is damaged. You will not be able to append to this backup set but you can retrieve all files from it. Create a new set or do a recycle backup to this set if you wish to start over. The media is not damaged but the backup set is damaged such that Retrospect cannot append to it. 2. You are trying to append to a tape backup set using a different drive family. Retrospect supports using different tape mechanisms in a single backup set when the mechanisms are similar in type. For example if tape 1 of a backup set is a DAT tape, tape 2 could be an 8mm tape but not a TEAC data cassette. Use drives of similar types when creating mixed drive backup sets. If the backup device is not working correctly, Media too different errors could be chronic. If you have changed tapes, cleaned the tape heads, changed scsi cables and termination, then your next step is: 1) Make sure it is the only external SCSI device 2) Try the device on another Macintosh. 3) If another Macintosh is not available, then you may need to investigate the possibility that the device is failing. Pinging the network does not push the network to the extent of a multi-gig data transfer at a high rate of speed. Most Filesharing is not done via TCP/IP, but AppleTalk. You will almost never reproduce a network failure with a ping or small finder copy. A failure may only be visible after extended periods of time, with large data transfers. Try using the built in Ethernet on the Macintosh, rather then the Farallon card. The farallon drivers may be much older then 9.1 You may also want to try without the G3 upgrade card. The G3 card was never designed to be used with Mac OS 9.1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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