%BACKUP-F-CONTINUED

[Infrastructure Midrange]

Hi,

occasionally our backup fails with the following message (one per saveset):

%BACKUP-F-CONTINUED :[000000] contains a continued file - cannot append

I can't find any documentation on that one... Does anybody know what this means and how to solve this?

Kind regards, Luitzen van Gorkum

[Antoniov.]

Hi Luitzen,
type HELP/MES CONTINUED you can see follow explain:

CONTINUED, 'save-set-spec' contains a continued file - cannot append

Facility: BACKUP, Backup Utility

Explanation: In a save operation with the /NOREWIND qualifier, the
specified volume contained a multivolume file that is
continued on another volume; therefore, a file cannot be
appended to the volume.

User Action: Retry the operation using the /REWIND qualifier to force the
Backup utility to initialize the output volume or use another
volume.

Bye
Antoniov

[Infrastructure Midrange]

Hi Antoniov,

Just before the actual backup command an INIT command is issued (no further switches). I assume the tape is completely clear at start of the backup...

Kind regards, Luitzen

[Willem Grooters]

I kind of remembered you needn't do that, could do it with BACKUP command as well.
Just picked from the manuals:

BACKUP_COMMAND

/INITIALIZE

/INITIALIZE
/NOINITIALIZE

Command Qualifier

Initializes an output disk or tape volume, making its entire
previous contents unavailable. (/REWIND performs the same
function for output tapes.) This qualifier is valid only when
used with the /IMAGE qualifier during restore or copy operations
or when saving files to a sequential-disk save set. The default
is /INITIALIZE for Files-11 volumes and /NOINITIALIZE for
sequential-disk volumes.



BACKUP_Command Subtopic?


You could consider this option ;-)

[Antoniov.]

Hi Luitzen,
it sounds like a multivolume backup or invalid tape reading.
In first case you can receive this message at end of first tape.
In second case you receive message immediatly. You post it happens occasionally so I think you are using DAT tape; DAT technology can bring this problem. If you are using DAT clean frequently the tape device (using clean tape) and when you make back use /REWIND option that means INITIALIZE tape always; /REWIND don't substitute INIT command but write onto tape beginnig from start (so you rewrite old data).
BACKUP/INIT work only in conjuction with /IMAGE.
H.T.H.
Antoniov

[Bruno Ganino]

Hello Luitzen,

This is your problem ...
The reel may be full. Backup is trying to write the beginning of another saveset to the reel, but going off the tape. This happens most frequently on TA90 drives.

This is your resolution (I HOPE)
Try decreasing the block size in your backup command.
You can specify a block size between 2048 and 65,535 bytes. BACKUP may adjust this value according to the constraints of the BACKUP format.
The default block size for magnetic tape is 8192 bytes; the default for disk is 32,256 bytes.

Try a blocksize of 16,384 with Option /BLOCK_SIZE=n

Bye Bruno

[Mitchell Glassman]

I have found that the most effective way to increase the amount of data that can be written to a tape is to use the /MEDIA=COMPACT switch, which causes the data to be compacted. It results in much more efficient use of the tape. I think the backups complete faster as well, but that will vary depending on the data and the speed of the system and the speed of the tape drive. I don't know if this will help your problem or not.

[Willem Grooters]

Mitchell,
Not all hardware will allow that, it may return a fatal device error (as I found out).

[Bruno Ganino]

Hi Luitzen.
Which version openVMS you have ?
Which model machine ?
You can write exactly the message displayed ?
You can write exactly the command backup used ?
(Please Write names used for saveset, label, etc.)
Bruno