design1 Posted August 22, 2008 Report Share Posted August 22, 2008 PROBLEMS SINCE GETTING NEW DRIVE -READING-RETRIEVING from old and new sets: Can't figure out if it is the drive, version of Retrospect, etc. All tapes worked fine in old drive. Note- writing the backups works just fine. But cannot retrieve. -------- Retrospect v6.1.126 -------- on MAC: blue G3 w/ SCSI LVD/SE external tape drive -------- Retrospect recognizes drive - Device Status SCSI-A:6:0 Vendor: ARCHIVE Product: Python 06408-XXX v8250 Driver: Seagate DAT DDS-DC (5.03) -------- ERROR EXAMPLES: have used cleaning disc but do not think that is the problem ------------ Retrieval from newest set- via Retrospect v6.1.126 Trouble reading: “1-MONDAY-B†(166911), error 206 (drive reported a failure: dirty heads, bad media, etc.). Trouble positioning: “1-MONDAY-B†(166911), error 206 (drive reported a failure: dirty heads, bad media, etc.). Additional error information for device "Seagate DAT DDS-DC" [0:6], Sense > 70 00 03 00 00 00 00 0a 00 00 00 00 3b 00 00 00 00 e5 (ARCHIVE |Python 06408-XXX|8250) 8/22/2008 1:18:30 AM: Execution incomplete. Remaining: 1545 files, 4.0 GB Completed: 96 files, 57.2 MB Performance: 0.1 MB/minute Duration: 07:19:34 (00:00:28 idle/loading/preparing) Have run the cleaning tape, checked scsi connections, etc. -------- Retrieval from older sets- via Retrospect v5+ -------- Trouble reading: “10-THURSDAY†(47853), error 206 (drive reported a failure: dirty heads, bad media, etc.). Trouble positioning: “10-THURSDAY†(47853), error 206 (drive reported a failure: dirty heads, bad media, etc.). Additional error information for device "Seagate DAT DDS-DC" [0:6], Sense > 70 00 03 00 00 00 00 0a 00 00 00 00 3b bf 00 00 00 ff (ARCHIVE |Python 06408-XXX|8250) 8/6/2008 11:17:04 AM: 4 execution errors. Remaining: 1 files, 748 KB Completed: 1 files, 345 KB Performance: 0.1 MB/minute -------- Duration: 00:50:05 (00:02:14 idle/loading/preparing) Trouble reading: “1-JH BU-8/04†(800126), error 206 (drive reported a failure: dirty heads, bad media, etc.). Trouble positioning: “1-JH BU-8/04†(800126), error 109 (unexpected filemark or FTP end of file). Additional error information for device "Seagate DAT DDS-DC" [0:6], Sense > 70 00 03 00 00 00 00 0a 00 00 00 00 3b bf 00 00 00 ff (ARCHIVE |Python 06408-XXX|8250) -------- Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rhwalker Posted August 22, 2008 Report Share Posted August 22, 2008 Have you tried new tapes? ERROR EXAMPLES:have used cleaning [color:red]disc[/color] but do not think that is the problem Have you tried a DAT cleaning [color:red]tape[/color]? It really sounds like the new drive has problems. But first, I'd try a new tape. What RDU (Retrospect Driver Update) version are you running? Also, is there a reason that you aren't running the current version (update) of Retrospect? (6.1.230) Russ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
design1 Posted August 25, 2008 Author Report Share Posted August 25, 2008 I will try doing the updates if it works on OSX v10.3.9. I did run the cleaning tape (did not mean disc) several times. I have tried to retrieve info from several different tapes already. Not sure what you mean by a new tape (it can write to the tapes, but stalls on retrieve). thanks -will post again after updating. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rhwalker Posted August 25, 2008 Report Share Posted August 25, 2008 Not sure what you mean by a new tape (it can write to the tapes, but stalls on retrieve). "new tape" as in "new" - has never been written. Right out of the wrapper. That will show whether the problem is a worn out tape or one that has a problem header area. Russ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
design1 Posted August 26, 2008 Author Report Share Posted August 26, 2008 OK - updated to retro 6.1.230 and RDU 6.1.15.101. and then created a new backup tape with a few files and then ran recover - and it did read/retrieve this time - from the brand new tape. .... But my issues remain. Still cannot retrieve from any current or older tapes- in sets made with v6.1.126 or the several sets made with v5+. All of these tapes worked great with the previous drive, about 3 weeks ago. Since we can recover files only from the brand new tape with this drive - is the issue a Retrospect problem?, or a drive problem? or.....? It can't be a tape problem unless the new drive is actually corrupting the existing good tapes. But then - how does it write to the backup sets OK if it cannot read them. I am confused - any ideas welcome. Trying to find out so we can return drive while we still can. Thanks - June Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rhwalker Posted August 27, 2008 Report Share Posted August 27, 2008 Since we can recover files only from the brand new tape with this drive - is the issue a Retrospect problem?, or a drive problem? or.....? It can't be a tape problem unless the new drive is actually corrupting the existing good tapes. But then - how does it write to the backup sets OK if it cannot read them. Ok, that is valuable information from that last tape test. You seem to have proved that it's not a Retrospect problem. Now we are down to the drive issues. You've got one of a few issues remaining. (1) the new drive has different alignment than the old drive. No way to tell which is "correctly" aligned without taking the tapes to a third drive. (2) the old drive used a hardware compression technology that the new drive doesn't understand. You have provided (from your error messages) info that the new drive is a Seagate / Archive Python. I've got one of those on a shelf somewhere, and it works fine with Retrospect. I haul it out if I ever need to read old DAT tapes from 1992. For this reason, I generally stick with the same manufacturer when upgrading tape drives - the manufacturer usually provides backwards compatibility with its prior drives. Until you have been successful in reading the old tapes, I would not write to them. In fact, I'd set the "write protect" slider / tab until you straighten things out. It's highly unlikely that the new drive is affecting the old tapes. But it is possible that the old tapes are going bad from age or who knows what. The two tests that you have not done are: (1) take a new tape, write that new tape on the old drive, see if it can be read on the new drive. This will tell whether the problem is a tape issue or a drive issue. (2) take a new tape, write that new tape on the new drive, see if it can be read on the old drive. While not conclusive, this will provide information as to whether it's an alignment issue. Candidly, your best bet to be able to read the old tapes would be to attach that old drive as well to the new system, use it as a backup. It's unclear from your posts why you got a new drive. I'd suggest trying to get another new drive from the same manufacturer as the old drive. Russ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
design1 Posted August 27, 2008 Author Report Share Posted August 27, 2008 Thanks so much for the in-depth answers/advise. Sorry I had not listed that the old drive died - a part broke and a tape would not eject. It was sent for repair, to no avail- and we got back only the tape and cables. I remember that it was a LaCie brand but that was the external case and not the actual drive/mechanism (but maybe I could find out what LaCie used, back in 2003). I am waiting to hear if repair service has a reference of that and also searching here for old System Profiler info. Either way it sounds like we may not be able to use this drive. We are planning a completely new setup on a new computer soon, but still need to retrieve the old files. thanks again for the insights - hopefully I will be able to figure out the right tape drive to get now. June Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rhwalker Posted August 27, 2008 Report Share Posted August 27, 2008 Even if the old drive broke and can't eject tapes, at least it should still function well enough to be interrogated and let you find out what the manufacturer / model was. Might give useful info. Russ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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