Error 205 - Lost Access

[rboltz]

I recently upgraded from a PowerMac G3 to a PowerMac G4. I custom ordered the G4 with a SCSI Ultra160 card. I am using a Quantum SuperDLT 220 Tape Drive. I can scan devices and see the Quantum Drive. I can do a backup. The next scheduled backup, however, I get the following error:

 

 

 

Error 205 (lost access to storage media)

 

 

 

I searched the knowledge base on this website and it says it is normally a SCSI Card problem. Does anybody know what the problem is?

 

 

 

Any help would be appreciated.

 

 

 

rboltz

[AmyJ]

Error 205 no media (lost access to storage media)

 

 

 

When the SCSI bus is reset, most tape drives unload their media. The tape drive then reports error 205 when Retrospect attempts to resume communications. This error always indicates a SCSI problem. In fact, this error is often preceded by error 102's and can often be corrected by troubleshooting the SCSI chain and its attendant devices.

 

 

 

All 200 series errors are generated by the tape drive itself, and can actually be caused by something other than what the printed error text indicates.

 

 

 

With a 200- series error, the first thing you want to try is a new tape. If the new tape works, then the tape you are seeing the error with is bad. If you see the error on all tapes, you can look into the following possibilities:

 

 

 

1) a dirty tape drive. Clean the drive with a cleaning cartridge.

 

 

 

2) another device on your SCSI bus may be interfering with the tape drive's communication. Turn off your computer and the SCSI devices. Make sure your SCSI ID numbers don't conflict. Disconnect all SCSI devices except for the tape drive.

 

 

 

3) you have a bad cable. Replace the SCSI cable that connects the tape drive to the computer after removing other devices and cables from the SCSI chain.

 

 

 

4) you are missing a terminator or have a bad terminator. The last device and ONLY the last device in your SCSI chain needs to be terminated. Try replacing the terminator if you already have one on the chain.

 

 

 

5) the computer may be having a problem. Install Retrospect on another computer and try the tape drive there as the lone SCSI device.

 

 

 

6) the drive may be defective. If you have implemented all of the preceding steps and get failures on multiple tapes after changing cables, terminators and computers, then the drive, being the only factor that has not changed, is the culprit--send it back to your vendor for repairs.

 

 

 

In the event that your tape is bad, you can determine what was on that tape by clicking on Configure:Backup Sets, selecting the Backup Set to which it belongs and marking all tapes other than the damaged tape "missing." Then go through the motions of a search and retrieval (Immediate:Restore:Search) and click on searching when you have selected the Backup Set and a destination drive. Make sure you're searching for "file name contains

 

(BLANK)," and let the search proceed. Click on files chosen. Files with black diamonds next to their names are on the other tapes. The damaged tape's files will not show black diamonds.

 

 

 

Transferring files from a bad tape is another matter. If there is a bad spot on the tape (a manufacturing defect or a spot damaged by human error), a tape to tape or tape to hard drive transfer will not work. You can transfer the data up to the bad spot, but due to the linear nature of tape, you will not be able to proceed any further.