Errors reported during restore operation from HP Colorado 8GBe External Tape Drive!

[Tom Vilov]

I have a HP Colorado 8GBe External Tape Drive connected to a printer port on a desktop computer running Windows 98SE. When I do a restore an error message appears when the operation ends that reports:

"Compression information mismatch ",
"Error reading file from storage device",
"FILE header not found on media ".

These messages keep repeating for each file that was to be copied. I have uninstalled and reinstalled the tape driver several times but the problem does not go away. No problems were experienced or reported the last time the driver was installed. The Device Manager shows no problem with the SCSI Controllers. The Shuttle EPAT External ATAPI Adapter for Win9x. shows that the currently installed files are epatap9x.mpd and ios.vxd. This is not the computer that the tape was made on but I do not feel that it should cause a problem. The restore operation did create the file tree on the C drive as expected but the folders are all empty because noe of the files were restored because of the errors reported. I would really like to know what is causing the problem and if there is a way to correct it?

[Lewis Finch · Accepted solution]

You say this is not the same computer that was used to backup the files. Is the same backup software? Also, I would suspect that the tape has been laying around for awhile. First try doing a small backup and restore using another tape. This will tell you if you have a tape or a tape drive problem. second, do a retension of the tape as the read/write heads may be dirty or the tape may have relaxed a little since it was last used.

[Tom Vilov]

I tried to restore a file after retensioning the tape - the same errors that were reported earlier reappeared. I located two additional tapes, one yielded the same results as reported earlier. The second tape restored files without a problem. I also ran the Tape Drive Diagnost program with the last tape - it reported that the Write and Read Test Passed. I suspect that the two tapes that reported problems during the restore operation were made on the same PC at about the same time. As for the operating system - it had to be either Windows 98 or Windows ME, I am not 100% sure which it was. What puzzles me is that I have only one HP Colorado 8GBe Tape Drive and that the only drivers that I can rember ever using was that which came with the Tape Drive or an updated driver. Secondly, in the process of trying to resolve the problem with restore the original driver was tried along with some later releases, however, I never could find a driver that could read the original tape I was experiencing problems with. So I am at a loss as to how the backup tapes were made using a "format" that appears to be foreign to the tape backup software that is working now. Is it possible that the problem was due to a possible file compression issue? Thank You for the quick response to my posting. Your response was very helpful in verifying that the program is functioning properly.

[Lewis Finch]

SInce you were able to create a backup job and then restore it one would have assume there is something wrong with the other tapes. I would suggest a data recovery company if the data is critical to you. Do you recall what backup software you used. The drive came with Colorado Backup II but the versions for windows 98 and windows Me would have different. Loading the win 98 version on a win Me system may have been the problem. The system appeared to back up ok but when you went to restore there was nothing there to restore