Error 102

[anwnn]

Over the past week I've begun to get Error 102 messages in my nightly backups. The first one occurred Friday evening, when Retrospect was doing it's weekly Recycle backup. It acts like it's waiting for a tape, displays the Device listing, and does list the VXA-2 drive, however it lists it as Unresponsive. This locks up retrospect and I'm required to force quit it.

 

I've seen two articles in the knowledge base regarding this issue:

http://www.dantz.com/index.php3?SCREEN=kbase&ACTION=KBASE&id=26532

 

The SCSI chain is properly terminated, and being that this article references Retrospect 4, I find it hard to believe this issue is still a problem on OS X Server 10.2.3, correct?

 

The second article, here:

http://www.dantz.com/index.php3?SCREEN=kbase&ACTION=KBASE&id=26846

 

Says it could be a file size issue. The backup set file size is about 120MB. Nowhere near the 1TB limit.

 

I'm creeping up on a week with no successful backups, so any help is appreciated.

 

Hardware:

Quicksilver G4 - OS X Server 10.2.4

VXA 2 - SCSI

Adaptec 2930 SCSI Card

 

Retrospect 5.0.238

RDU 3.4.103

 

-James

 

[AmyJ]

This error occurs when the Macintosh's CPU loses contact with the backup device. The most common cause is improper SCSI termination. But it can also be caused by other issues on the bus. It is necessary to go through the SCSI troubleshooting outline below.

 

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. Most manufacturers recommend cleaning the unit once for every 8-10 hours of run time. Once a week is often enough for most people.

 

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.

 

Also, make sure the pin configuration on your drive matches the pin configuration on your SCSI card. For example, the 2930 is a 50-pin card. If the drive is 68-pin device, it may not function correctly in OS X. For more information, please see:

 

http://www.dantz.com/index.php3?SCREEN=kbase&ACTION=KBASE&id=27381

 

 

[ctmurray]

I have had several tape drives over the years and eventually they die, so this is a possibility.

 

Amy had good advice on the SCSI chain trouble shooting. I made the mistake of adding a device to the chain that had the same SCSI ID as another device. Suddenly my ZIP drive started acting funny. I assumed it broke until months later when I discovered my mistake.

 

I assume you know the following; OSX cannot find SCSI drives that are turned on after the OS (whereas OS 9 can detect a new device). So you have to turn on your tape drive first then boot the computer. If you turn off the tape drive you cannot turn back on either - you would have to reboot.