How can I make Retrospect forget a cleaning tape?

[mleahy]

I set one of the slots in my tape library to be a "cleaning tape" and now I'd like to undo that, but I can't find a way. Any suggestions?

 

I'd rather just reclaim the slot for a backup tape and do the cleaning manually.

 

Retrospect Backup for Mac, v6.1.138

Mac X Serve G4, Mac OS X 10.4.11

Exabyte VXA AutoPak 1×10 2u (no bar codes)

 

- I've tried selecting "Cleaning Tape" again.

- I've tried quitting Retrospect.

- I've tried rebooting both the server and the tape drive system.

- I've tried putting a real tape into that slot and reformatting the tape. Success, but still known as a "cleaning tape".

- I've tried putting a real tape into that slot and selecting it when the system needs a new tape to complete a backup. Success, but still known as a "cleaning tape".

 

Upgrading software is not a possibility at this time.

 

Thanks,

--Michael

[rhwalker]

Retrospect Backup for Mac, v6.1.138

Mac X Serve G4, Mac OS X 10.4.11

Exabyte VXA AutoPak 1×10 2u (no bar codes)

...

Upgrading software is not a possibility at this time.

Unclear what you mean by "upgrading software is not a possibility at this time."

 

Is there a reason that you are running such an old version of Retrospect 6.1 rather than the last-released 6.1.230 ? That's a free update. See:

Retrospect 6.1 updates

 

Might want to do the Retrospect Driver Update ("RDU") at the same time because you don't say what version you have.

 

I set one of the slots in my tape library to be a "cleaning tape" and now I'd like to undo that, but I can't find a way. Any suggestions?

I seem to recall that there are three ways to do this, and you have to get all of them right:

 

(1) tapes are recognized as cleaning tapes if they have the industry-standard barcode prefix of "CLN" (but you aren't using barcodes, so this isn't your issue).

 

(2) Many Exabyte autoloaders have settings whereby you can specify the cleaning slot in the autoloader. I have a different Exabyte autoloader (the VXA-2 1x10 1u PacketLoader (SCSI)), but ours has a setting for "Fixed Cleaning Slot" (Enabled/Disabled) and an "auto-clean" setting, to cause automatic cleaning after a certain number of hours of use. Did you check your autoloader's settings?

 

(3) Retrospect's menu choice on

"Configure > Devices", select a slot, choose "Cleaning Tape" entry under the "Devices" menu. See pages 42-43 of the Retrospect 6 for Macintosh User's Guide.

 

An easy way to test whether the issue is caused by Retrospect (as opposed to the drive) is to quit Retrospect, move the file:

/Library/Preferences/Retrospect/RetroConfig (6.0)

to the Desktop (so that Retrospect can't find it on launch, and so you can put it back after the test), then launch Retrospect (you will have to enter your license code - might want to write it down ahead of time from the "Special > Licenses" License Manager window, check the Configure > Devices tab for the status of the cleaning slot.

 

To get back to where you were, quit Retrospect, move the config file back.

 

Russ

[mleahy]

Thanks, Russ, for the quick response.

 

I'll have to try upgrading the software to the latest revision. I guess I upgraded at home and forgot to upgrade at work. Unfortunately, I have to wait until I return from vacation (starting as soon as I finish this post!)

 

As for the things to try:

1) doesn't apply (no barcodes)

2) my autoloader doesn't have a designated slot, nor a way to configure one

3) removing the preferences file switched the "cleaning tape" back to a normal tape, but I also lost all my programming and configurations. So I went back to the old preferences file.

 

I know how to set a tape to be a cleaning tape. The question is how to "unset" it. Some software packages have checkmarks or on/off switches, but I can't seem to find one here.

 

Thanks,

--Michael

[rhwalker]

Ok, then you've identified where the change has to be made (in Retrospect, not the autoloader).

 

Here's how I experimented while testing your issue (because we configured it in our autoloader and also use CLN barcoded cleaning tapes, and because I didn't want to risk getting into your situation):

 

With Retrospect not running, Copy (option-drag) (don't move) the Config file to the Desktop. That way, you won't lose settings, etc., while experimenting, and you can always revert back to the old settings by moving them back while Retrospect is not running.

 

When I tested moments ago with Retrospect 6.1.230, if you go to "Configure > Devices", then select the slot that is no longer desired to be your cleaning slot, then choose "Cleaning Slot" from the "Devices" menu, and you get a dialog box as shown in the attached screenshot. That seems to do exactly what you want, right?

 

Russ