similar tar:cannot open problem

[Joe White]

Hi,
I have a similar issue to a problem that was posted recently concerning tar not opening the default file /dev/rmt/0m.
In my case, SAM sees the tape device, ioscan sees the device and lssf /dev/rmt/0m returns

'stape card instance 0 SCSI target 4 SCSI LUN 0 at&t best density available at address 2/0/1.4.0 /dev/rmt/0m'

yet 'tar' returns 'cannot open /dev/rmt/0m' and
'mt -t /dev/rmt/0m rew' returns
'/dev/rmt/0m: No such device or address'

The HP-UX version is 10.20. Anyone have any ideas?

[Alan Riggs]

Is a tape mounted in the drive? Have you tried replacing the tape with another tape that has been tested in a good drive?

[John Palmer]

Both those messages are output when there is a problem with the tape drive or no tape is loaded.

Have you checked all the SCSI connections? If those are ok then I would suspect a problem with the drive itself.

[James R. Ferguson]

Joe:

I vote for a defective tape drive or a loose connection. See this thread for similarity:

http://my1.itrc.hp.com/cm/QuestionAnswer/1,1150,0x48657e990647d4118fee0090279cd0f9,00.html

...JRF...

[James R. Ferguson]

Joe:

I vote for a defective tape drive or a loose connection. See this thread for similarity:

http://my1.itrc.hp.com/cm/QuestionAnswer/1,1150,0x48657e990647d4118fee0090279cd0f9,00.html

...JRF...

[Joe White]

Thanks for the suggestions. I tried a different tape with the same results. I did however in my troubleshooting forget to power the drive off and on (forgot also to mention that in my initial message). I powered the drive off and on and a 'tar' works. May still be a bad drive (?) but I had rebooted the system recently and forgot to check the drive since the last backup. Sorry to bother you guys...