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Quick Rebuild (Tape Stuck In A Loop)


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Hi,

 

Had a problem with a media set (LTO-5) where it lost contact with the media. I suspect it might be a problem with the tape but I can't confirm it. I have tried to do a quick rebuild but it goes for a couple hours rebuilding and then it starts to loop a sequence that includes shuttling forwards and backwards and a couple clunking sounds from the drive.

 

What I would like to do is rebuild the catalog from this media set so that I can continue on.

 

Any tips?

 

thanks!!

 

Mike

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Anyone ever had the quick rebuild seem to get stuck in a loop?

 

Still trying to find the best way to recover and rebuild a media set.

 

BTW, what is the best way to find out if the tape itself is bad? How does one recover from a bad tape? (not just a head cleaning issue)

 

Thanks!

 

Hi,

 

Had a problem with a media set (LTO-5) where it lost contact with the media. I suspect it might be a problem with the tape but I can't confirm it. I have tried to do a quick rebuild but it goes for a couple hours rebuilding and then it starts to loop a sequence that includes shuttling forwards and backwards and a couple clunking sounds from the drive.

 

What I would like to do is rebuild the catalog from this media set so that I can continue on.

 

Any tips?

 

thanks!!

 

Mike

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Had a problem with a media set (LTO-5) where it lost contact with the media. I suspect it might be a problem with the tape but I can't confirm it. I have tried to do a quick rebuild but it goes for a couple hours rebuilding and then it starts to loop a sequence that includes shuttling forwards and backwards and a couple clunking sounds from the drive.

If Retrospect "loses contact" with the tape during a write operation, whatever the reason (tape failure, tape drive problem, communication error, power outage, etc,), no more data can be added to that tape member. That's because the last partially-written data will not have the proper end-of-file marker.

 

It sounds to me like your tape drive during the rebuild may have reached the point on that particular tape member where the file is incomplete. It will typically shuttle back and forth in a vain attempt to read the miswritten data. If that's the case, you should be able to stop the rebuild at that point and resume your backups with a new tape member.

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Thanks for the info Tim!

 

I can certainly start a new tape, BUT the LTO-5 tape that encountered the problem is pretty new and has at least a TB left of space on the tape. Is there any way to get back use of the space on that tape? AS IN: rebuilding from the previous tape and then recycle the tape that encountered a problem (which I'm not even sure how to do)? I'm no expert at all, just trying to find a more economical solution.

 

Thanks Again!!

 

mike

 

If Retrospect "loses contact" with the tape during a write operation, whatever the reason (tape failure, tape drive problem, communication error, power outage, etc,), no more data can be added to that tape member. That's because the last partially-written data will not have the proper end-of-file marker.

 

It sounds to me like your tape drive during the rebuild may have reached the point on that particular tape member where the file is incomplete. It will typically shuttle back and forth in a vain attempt to read the miswritten data. If that's the case, you should be able to stop the rebuild at that point and resume your backups with a new tape member.

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I can certainly start a new tape, BUT the LTO-5 tape that encountered the problem is pretty new and has at least a TB left of space on the tape. Is there any way to get back use of the space on that tape?

Assuming the tape itself is OK and not faulty, you can go to Media Sets/Members and mark that tape member as lost. Then, manually erase the tape and you'll be able to reuse it.

 

When you then add more data to the media set, Retrospect will begin with the next sequentially-numbered tape member. The old member will still appear in the list, marked "lost," but Retrospect will ignore whatever data had been written to it when it performs its future matching operations.

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Is it possible that a lightning strike could send a spike that disrupts a backup in progress? Unlikely? I don't have any surge protection on the outlets. I suspect that this is the cases as there was some electrical activity right when this happened.

 

Hmmm...

 

 

If Retrospect "loses contact" with the tape during a write operation, whatever the reason (tape failure, tape drive problem, communication error, power outage, etc,), no more data can be added to that tape member. That's because the last partially-written data will not have the proper end-of-file marker.

 

It sounds to me like your tape drive during the rebuild may have reached the point on that particular tape member where the file is incomplete. It will typically shuttle back and forth in a vain attempt to read the miswritten data. If that's the case, you should be able to stop the rebuild at that point and resume your backups with a new tape member.

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