tar error

[Juan Manuel López]

I?ve got a tape with several files, once of them is 9 Mb file. when I try : tar -tvf /dev/rmt/0m then the tape read the first files ( small files ) so when it?s time to the big (9mb) file, then give back an error:
"tar: tape error (5)"
Anibody could tell me if I have to change any kernel parameter ? or what can happening ?

[Tom Danzig · Accepted solution]

Sounds like a bad tape. Try first cleaning the drive. If that doesn't help, try another tape drive in another machine.

There are no kernel parameters that would cause this error (not that I'm aware of).

[Bruce Regittko_1]

Hi,

The tar utility will not have any problems with a 9MB file. tar will handle files up to 2GB. Sounds like a tape or tape drive problem.

--Bruce

[Iain F. Brown]

error 5 from tar, has three potential reasons

1. Dirty heads
2. Bad media
3. Hardware problem