Tar error

[juno2]

I have use tar to backup file to the tape the command is
# tar cvf /dev/st0 ./*
, the result seems normal and no error, but now I can't list the file out by
# tar tvf /dev/st0
the error is :

tar: /dev/st0: Cannot read: Input/output error
tar: At beginning of tape, quitting now
tar: Error is not recoverable: exiting now

Can suggest what is the problem in my backup ? thx

[juno2]

How can i know - what is in the tape , what is the last modify date of the tape ? thx.

[Steven E. Protter · Accepted solution]

tar cvf /root/myfiles.tar *

This will tar all the files in the current directory recurseively to a tar file called /root/myfiles.tar

syntax

tar

If you want to go to tape, take off the f parameter, because that says, override the default and go to file.

SEP

[juno3]

hi protter,

I wonder if nothing in the tape , it should not pop up this error , so i guess may be there is something wrong on my tape or my system , is it right ? and how can I know what is in the tape ? thx

[juno3]

hi all,

In my case , if pop up this error , what is the most possible reason ? is it possible to restore the file in the tape ? Thx.

[Sunil Sharma_1]

Hi,
I think you can not read from tape error may be because of bad media or drive. just check with some other system if you have.
Sunil

[juno3]

I can list out files for other tapes , so i ensure the drvie is normal, is there any tools or method to check what is in the tape and what is the last modify date of the tape ? thx.

[Tim Sanko]

This is a job for Super... Oops wrong fantasy. Actually I don my nevermind. What you need to do is to investigate a product called backupEdge from www.microlite.com. This product will allow you to
"1. recover from really wrecked archives, and read beyound the damage.

2. swap bytes if necessary.

3. reliably exclude files from tar archive without "futzing with cpio".

4. You should be able to recover even if the checksums don't match. for $400.00 for a permanent license it is a cheap investment. You can download a trial for free!!!

5. Just call microlite and activate the free license.

By the way I get a whole $0.00 for you buying it. It just has saved my bacon several times...

Tim

[John Meissner]

This proceedure will pull off a gzip'd tar file of the tape. you can then look at it in a normal tar -tvf

cd /var/tmp
dd ibs=10k if=/dev/rmt/0m of=archive.gz

[juno2]

Hi all,

I am not sure what I have modified in our system, if there is no problem in our system , is the error due to the tape have been rewinded , cos I remember I run some modification to the tape , eg. fsf , mt offline etc. ? thx.

[John Meissner]

try putting the tape in another server or workstation and using the command I mentioned above