fbackup write error

[Rosli Ahmad]

Hi,
I've encountered the following error when running an fbackup cronjob:

fbackup(1004): session begins on Fri Apr 25 23:38:55 2003
fbackup(3205): WARNING: unable to read a volume header
fbackup(3024): writing volume 1 to the output file /dev/rmt/5m
fbackup(9999): I/O error
fbackup(3120): write error on a record in the index
fbackup(3025): write error at the beginning of the volume
fbackup(3310): enter '^[yY]' when volume 1 is ready on /dev/rmt/5m,
or '^[nN]' to discontinue:

I've tested the tape drive by running a manual fbackup and managed to restore test files from the tape. However, I do have the following messages in the dmesg:

SCSI: Request Timeout; Abort -- lbolt: 15899577, dev: cd052000, io_id: 5910f43
SCSI TAPE: dev = 0xcd052000 I/O error during close
scb->cdb: 12 00 00 00 80 00
SCSI: Resetting SCSI -- lbolt: 18371316, bus: 5

Is this mean there's something wrong with the drive? But how do we explain the successful online backup? Pls. advise.
Thank you.

[T G Manikandan]

These are the tape drive messages.

The device is c5t2d0

Looks like the tape drive termination is not okay.

The scsi reset messages occur due to bad/improper termination.

check it out.


Thanks

[T G Manikandan]

These are the tape drive messages.

The device is c5t2d0

Looks like the tape drive termination is not okay.

The scsi reset messages occur due to bad/improper termination.

check it out.


Thanks

[T G Manikandan · Accepted solution]

These are the tape drive messages.

The device is c5t2d0

Looks like the tape drive termination is not okay.

The scsi reset messages occur due to bad/improper termination.

check it out.


Thanks

[Michael Tully]

You've encountered an error from your tape drive. You can tell by the "dev: cd052000" message which equates to hex cd=205
# lsdev -c 205
is the 'stape' driver.
# ll /dev/rmt
and look for a minor device 0x052000, this should identify the actual drive.
As suggested make sure that it is terminated correctly.

[malay boy]

Hi Michael,
Just wondering how do you get the cd=205.

regards
mB

[Michael Tully]

It's a hex to decimal converter.

$ printf "%d\n" 0xcd
205
this tell you the major number, hence
$ lsdev -c 205
Gives the kernel driver, and because we know it is a tape drive, look for the minor number of a device being 0x0520000

[Rosli Ahmad]

Hi guys,
I'm quite confuse here... Is the fbackup cron failed because of the termination problem, or is there any issue with the fbackup itself. Pls. clarify.

Thank you.

[john korterman]

Hi,
it is always difficult to pin-point the exact reason in situations like this. Let us first look for a simple solution: the "WARNING: Unable to read a volume header" indicates that the tape has not previously been used in a fbackup session; perhaps a new tape, and perhaps it is defective. Did you use the same tape for your manual testing as in the crontab backup session? If not, try using the tape from your manual test in the crontab session.

regards,
John K.

[omars]

Hi Rosli ,
I would advice you to install a new DAT tape drive

Its seems your DAT tape drive is OLD or not suitable in your system . Else you will need to obtain appropiate patch from the HP Web page !

rgds,
omari