exabyte vxa-2 tape drive error
 

I am getting an error while backing up to my Exabyte VXA-2 tape
drive on certain tapes. This is the second tape for this occurance.
I own 10 tapes (I have written to each tape several times now).
The error message is:

Error: TapeAlert: Your data is at risk:
1. Copy any data you require from this tape.
2. Do not use this tape again.
3. Restart the operation with a different tape.

TapeAlert: The tape is from a faulty batch or the tape drive is faulty:
1. Use a good tape to test the drive.
2. If the problem persists, call the tape drive supplier helpline.
Error: An error occurred while writing the backup data.
A defective or damaged area was detected on the media.

Please:
1. Make sure your media and device are clean and free of all debris.
2. Verify the device connections and the device settings.
3. If the media is severely damaged, please discard the media after all data possible has been restored.
4. Please use another media or try using the erase or format menu item to repair the media.
(08-03-23-13-0406)

Operation Completed - No ( Cancelled )
Backup Job Ended - 9/15/2003 9:07:46AM

I am using Windows XP Pro. I am using Veritas Backup Exec Pro
version 4.61. I am backing up 10 PCs to my tape for a total of a
about 100 GB written to the tape. I have to all of my tapes several
times now. I do own a cleaning tape and run it when I am told to
by the software.

Do you know why this error is occuring ?

Sincerely,
Lynn McGuire

"Lynn McGuire" wrote in message
.. .
I am getting an error while backing up to my Exabyte VXA-2 tape
drive on certain tapes. This is the second tape for this occurance.
I own 10 tapes (I have written to each tape several times now).
The error message is:

Error: TapeAlert: Your data is at risk:
1. Copy any data you require from this tape.
2. Do not use this tape again.
3. Restart the operation with a different tape.

TapeAlert: The tape is from a faulty batch or the tape drive is
faulty:
1. Use a good tape to test the drive.
2. If the problem persists, call the tape drive supplier helpline.
Error: An error occurred while writing the backup data.
A defective or damaged area was detected on the media.

Please:
1. Make sure your media and device are clean and free of all debris.
2. Verify the device connections and the device settings.
3. If the media is severely damaged, please discard the media after
all data possible has been restored.
4. Please use another media or try using the erase or format menu
item to repair the media.
(08-03-23-13-0406)

Operation Completed - No ( Cancelled )
Backup Job Ended - 9/15/2003 9:07:46AM

I am using Windows XP Pro. I am using Veritas Backup Exec Pro
version 4.61. I am backing up 10 PCs to my tape for a total of a
about 100 GB written to the tape. I have to all of my tapes several
times now. I do own a cleaning tape and run it when I am told to
by the software.

Do you know why this error is occuring ?

Sincerely,
Lynn McGuire

Lynn,

Have you tried running a cleaning tape through the drive? When the drive
really needs cleaning, there will be an LED stating this. If the drive does
not have a cleaning indication on the LEDs, then please try to find if
Veritas has any hotfixes for their software. Unfortunately I have had too
many instances of Veritas software claiming hardware related problems that
are suddenly 'fixed' by a software patch.

If all appears well, try Exabyte's vxaTool diagnostics software to see if
the drive writes and/or reads properly (Use a SCRATCH tape...). Last but not
least, make sure your SCSI bus is running in LVD mode. The drive can switch
to Single-Ended mode, but this is not a recommended mode and can cause
read/write difficulty.

Rob

Lynn,

Have you tried running a cleaning tape through the drive? When the drive
really needs cleaning, there will be an LED stating this. If the drive does
not have a cleaning indication on the LEDs, then please try to find if
Veritas has any hotfixes for their software. Unfortunately I have had too
many instances of Veritas software claiming hardware related problems that
are suddenly 'fixed' by a software patch.

Not today but I will run a cleaning tape thru the drive. I do know
about the Veritas problem though. I want to upgrade to the 4.85
version now marketed by Stomp Software as Backup My PC
but they have a bug when writing more than 49 GB to a tape.

If all appears well, try Exabyte's vxaTool diagnostics software to see if
the drive writes and/or reads properly (Use a SCRATCH tape...). Last but not
least, make sure your SCSI bus is running in LVD mode. The drive can switch
to Single-Ended mode, but this is not a recommended mode and can cause
read/write difficulty.

One of the problems of the vxatool utility is that there is not a test
for the entire tape. Or do you know of way to test the entire tape ?
I did erase the entire tape last Friday using Vxatool before I used it.

BTW, I tried calling Exabyte here in the USA. I sat on hold for
30 minutes (on my long distance dollar) after my email to
bounced back. Not very professional.

Thanks,
Lynn

Have you tried running a cleaning tape through the drive? When the drive
really needs cleaning, there will be an LED stating this. If the drive does
not have a cleaning indication on the LEDs, then please try to find if
Veritas has any hotfixes for their software. Unfortunately I have had too
many instances of Veritas software claiming hardware related problems that
are suddenly 'fixed' by a software patch.

Not today but I will run a cleaning tape thru the drive. I do know
about the Veritas problem though. I want to upgrade to the 4.85
version now marketed by Stomp Software as Backup My PC
but they have a bug when writing more than 49 GB to a tape.

BTW, the backup fails at 60 GB (out of 100 GB). That is not
trivial to test.

Lynn

"Lynn McGuire" wrote in message
.. .

If all appears well, try Exabyte's vxaTool diagnostics software to see
if
the drive writes and/or reads properly (Use a SCRATCH tape...). Last but
not
least, make sure your SCSI bus is running in LVD mode. The drive can
switch
to Single-Ended mode, but this is not a recommended mode and can cause
read/write difficulty.

One of the problems of the vxatool utility is that there is not a test
for the entire tape. Or do you know of way to test the entire tape ?
I did erase the entire tape last Friday using Vxatool before I used it.

BTW, I tried calling Exabyte here in the USA. I sat on hold for
30 minutes (on my long distance dollar) after my email to
bounced back. Not very professional.

Thanks,
Lynn

Lynn,

I may be able to do something about the full tape test. I write all
command-line versions of the tools, I may be able to add such a test. The
web site doesn't list a Windows version, as most Windows users don't know
how to handle a command line, but I do maintain one. Send me an e-mail (robt
at exabyte dot com) and I'll see what I can do. Available flavors are Win32
(ASPI + SPTI), Solaris, Mac OS-X, Linux, AIX and NetBSD.

Support through e-mail has been stopped some time ago. Although e-mail
appears efficient, in real support situations a person-to-person
conversation turns out to take a lot less time to resolve an issue and to be
much clearer for the end-user.

Rob