Tape Ultrium problem

[Lexxx]

I checked the status of the tape drive-OK
insmp6:/opt/Nokia/backup/lib/miback#ioscan -fnC tape
Class I H/W Path Driver S/W State H/W Type Description
=======================================================================
tape 0 0/0/2/1/1.2.0 stape CLAIMED DEVICE HP Ultrium 3-SCSI
/dev/rmt/0m /dev/rmt/c5t2d0BEST
/dev/rmt/0mb /dev/rmt/c5t2d0BESTb
/dev/rmt/0mn /dev/rmt/c5t2d0BESTn
/dev/rmt/0mnb /dev/rmt/c5t2d0BESTnb
insmp6:/opt/Nokia/backup/lib/miback#mt -f /dev/rmt/0mn status
Drive: HP Ultrium 3-SCSI
Format:
Status: [85114200] EOF write-protected online compression immediate-report-mode
File: 1
Block: 0
But I have problems tarring to tape. What could I miss?
insmp6:/opt/Nokia/backup/lib/miback#tar -cv /etc/hosts
tar: cannot open /dev/rmt/0m
insmp6:/opt/Nokia/backup/lib/miback#

[melvyn burnard]

check the tape media, this may be the problem:
Status: [85114200] EOF write-protected <<<<<<<<<<<<<

[Steven E. Protter]

Shalom,

The most common cause of not being able to write to a tape is:
1) The nasty old write protect tab.
2) Using tapes not certified by HP in the Ultrium Drive.
3) Worn out media.

In order of my personal experience.

SEP

[Duncan Edmonstone]

Hi,

Check whether the kernel parameter st_san_safe is set to 1. If it is then you will find you cannot open 'rewind-on-close' tape devices (this is to prevent issues with SAN attached tape drives). If thats the case then you should find that:

tar cvf /dev/rmt/0mn /etc/hosts
mt -f /dev/rmt/0mn rew

Will accomplish the same thing.

HTH

Duncan