tape devices different

[Jeff Hagstrom]

I'm trying to do a Progress restore of a database from one K460/9000 to another(both machines are the same). When I do I'm getting an error: # /u/dlc9/bin/prorest liveapl /dev/rmt/1m
SYSTEM ERROR: Read of /dev/rmt/1m failed, errno = 5 (1052)
SYSTEM ERROR: Error reading backup header (1057)
!!! ERROR - Database restore utility FAILED !!! (8564)

The PROGRESS web site says: The device configuration for the tape device on the restore system differs from the device configuration on the backup system.
The blocking factor is not the same.


How do I look at the 2 configurations and make them the same?

[A. Clay Stephenson · Accepted solution]

To examine the two device nodes in greater detail do an "lssf /dev/rmt/1m". Man lssf. Tape device nodes are somewhat unique in that normally the minor device number tells the driver everything it needs to know (rewind/norewind; Berkeley/AT&T positioning convention; compression/no-compression; density; ...) but there are not enough bits in the minor device number to specify all the combinations and permutations. Instead some of the bits in the minor device number are used to specify an index into a table that in turn does specify the device characteristics. This means that identical major/minor device tuples for tape drives on two otherwise identical HP-UX boxes can have very different characteristics. It is essential that tape device nodes be created with the insf command rather than simply mknod. The insf command not only creates the device node but also modifies the tape device table.

Now having said all this, it's very unusual to create device nodes where the blocking is specified but it is possible. I rather doubt this is your problem. I would start with a simple tar or cpio tape from one box to the other. If that works then the problem actually lies in the Progress program (possibly a configuration file) rather than the underlying tape devices.

[Steven E. Protter]

Shalom,

I agree its probably not the tape devices.

try to rmsf the devices then:

insf -e
insf -C tape

I think the former.

This seems like a software problem not a system configuration problem.

SEP

[Torsten.]

Based on the message you get I would suspect the drive itself, not the config.

As advised, try to read/write to the tape on both systems (dd, tar, ...).
Maybe one of the drives is just bad.
BTW, try a different tape media too.

[Jeff Hagstrom]

Tar worked fine, I should have stated that in the beginning. I was leaning toward software also.