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Error 205 - Retro 5.0.238/RDU 3.4.103


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Of late, I've been experiencing frequent error 205:

 

Device Trouble: "Storage Set Name", error 205 (lost

access to storage medium)

 

I'm at a loss on where to start diagnosing. I'm using a Mac OS X 10.2.6 on a Dual 1gHz PowerMac with 1g of RAM. I've been using the OS X "combo updaters" since OS 10.2.3 (with 10.2.3 the first applied combo updater.)

 

My backup media is a VXA drive, connected to the FW bus via a Belkin FW hub. (I'd connect it direct, but it has no pass-through.) I've also got connected to the FW Bus (directly, the hub and a DazzleBridge - which also doesn't have a pass through and will not work unless directly connected - and, on the hub, a iBot camera and a Que! Fire CD-RW drive.) The machine also has an Adaptec SCSI card (29160 ) with a single SCSI drive attached. I'm running the OS, however, on the ATA-IDE drive. I have a second storage ATA-IDE drive as well.

 

I've found in the knowledgebase, the following info:

 

TITLE: 205 lost access to storage media

 

Article ID: 26589

Date Created: 2002-07-18

Date Modified: 2003-01-22

 

Discussion

 

Error 205 (lost access to storage media) usually indicates the SCSI bus was reset during a backup causing Retrospect to lose contact with the tape disk or CD. This usually points to a SCSI problem and may be accompanied by an error 102 (trouble communicating).

 

If error 102 accompanies error 205 see ?SCSI Issues? in the Retrospect Users Guide. If error 102 does not accompany error 205 and SCSI communication problems have been ruled out the next step is to check for media failure on the source volume.

 

Some hard drives reset the SCSI bus when they sense they are experiencing a media failure. Try testing the hard drive with the software that was originally used to format it.

 

 

Things worked just fine a month or so ago, I had built the storage set up to some 5 members. The 205's started and I found that if I eject the media and then reinsert, most of the time, Retrospect would be OK with the media and continue the backup. Sometimes it'd 205 again and I'd repeat this process. Ocassionaly I'd have to quit Retrospect and restart it to have this trick work. Even less occasionally was a hardware failure and when that occured, I had to abandon the VXA media and feed another (expensive!) tape in.

 

I'd like to avoid the typical retrospect - rip everything apart and try to use the machine for enough time to have the problem either never appear or reappear method and see if there is any specific thing I can focus on before I do this highly incovenient and non-productive troubleshooting method.

 

What would be the start?

 

Could the SCSI device be the culprit? Adaptec's been awfully slow to make OS X drivers and with the OS updates, maybe the driver isn't operating properly. This certainly seems to be indicated by the knowledgebase article.

 

Or, could the Knowledgebase Article's insistance on a SCSI reset be a red herring which is steering me away from a "Firewire Reset" or a very similar problem occuring on a non-SCSI bus? In which case, i'd think I'd have to try putting the VXA drive directly connected to the mac (and thus have to climb under my desk and sacrifice backups when I'm working with video) and/or disconnect the FW hub.

 

I'd like to hear any responses to these last two thoughts as well as any other thoughts on the problem!

 

Thanks!

 

- Chris

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Quote:

My backup media is a VXA drive, connected to the FW bus via a Belkin FW hub. (I'd connect it direct, but it has no pass-through.) I've also got connected to the FW Bus (directly, the hub and a DazzleBridge - which also doesn't have a pass through and will not work unless directly connected - and, on the hub, a iBot camera and a Que! Fire CD-RW drive.)

 


 

I don't know what you mean by not having a pass-through. Do you mean that you can't chain all your devices together? For troubleshooting, try connecting the VXA drive directly, and not through a hub.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Quote:

 

I don't know what you mean by not having a pass-through. Do you mean that you can't chain all your devices together? For troubleshooting, try connecting the VXA drive directly, and not through a hub.

 


 

No pass through = only one FW device on that FW port. The VXA drive does not have two connectors on the end, meaning it's a 'dead end' on the chain. frown.gif

 

I've been trying lately, disconnecting the second device...esentially doing what you described: using just the VXA drive and it seems to be working OK these last two weeks.

 

What I really don't understand is why it worked fine for months with the two ports on the Mac being used. I can no longer use that configuration for some odd reason. The second FW port on the mac, BTW, is filled by routing out to a FW Hub from Belkin and, plugged into the hub, is a Que! CD-RW drive and an Orange Micro FW Camera.

 

Any further thoughts?

 

Thanks!

 

- Chris

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