Warrning to read a volume Header

[guru_6]

Dear All,

When ever I take backup with fbackup the backup start but with warning message:UNABLE TO READ A VOLUME HEADER. The backup also completes without any error.
For overcome this message I use the following command before starting the backup, but the problem is that I have to run this command two three times then the backup starts without any warring message. The command is..
# mt -f /dev/rmt/0m rew

Anybody can tell where is the prob. why I have to execute this command,every time before starting the backup. For your information the cartridge are new every time I use.

Looking forward for the solution.

[guru_6]

Hi, Everybody,

No body phased this problem. If any body have answer pl. revert back.

Regrds
Neeraj

[Stuart Whitby]

This sounds like the fact you're using a new tape - you put the tape in, fbackup does a read to check the volume header, and gets an I/O error since the tape is unformatted. It then successfully does a backup, since the writes have no problem.

I'm confused as to why you run the rewind command, since it doesn't appear like you have any problem with the backup apart from seeing this message appear. Not sure why a rewind helps - a write of some data should overcome this since fbackup will have formatted data to read, but I don't understand on a rewind...

[guru_6]

Dear Stuart,

As you said that the tapes are new and thats why I am getting this warring message.
So for overcomming this warrning message do I need to format the tape before I use the fbackup, or it will do it self while using the fbackup. If I have to format it, what is the command.

[Stuart Whitby]

I think this is just a warning message. There's no reason you should need to get rid of this now that you know the meaning, unless it's specifically so you can give other people a worry-free procedure to follow.

My recommendation (untested) to get rid of this message during fbackup would be to insert the tape beforehand and run
tar cvf /dev/rmt/0m /etc/hosts
This puts data to tape, and gives fbackup something to read when you give it a new tape. However, I'll also say that I haven't used fbackup for years and that it may not want to overwrite your tar data without confirmation - in which case your best way of pre-formatting a tape would be to do an fbackup of /etc/hosts to it. And you know the message that would give....

[Govind_3]

Try to see if the following patch is there??--->
Goodluck
-Govind

Patch Name: PHCO_28998

Patch Description: s700_800 11.11 fbackup(1M),frecover(1M) cumulative patch

Creation Date: 03/04/17

Post Date: 03/05/05

Hardware Platforms - OS Releases:
s700: 11.11
s800: 11.11

Products: N/A

Filesets:
OS-Core.UX-CORE,fr=B.11.11,fa=HP-UX_B.11.11_32/64,v=HP
OS-Core.SYS-ADMIN,fr=B.11.11,fa=HP-UX_B.11.11_32,v=HP
OS-Core.SYS-ADMIN,fr=B.11.11,fa=HP-UX_B.11.11_64,v=HP

Automatic Reboot?: No

Status: General Release

Critical: No

Category Tags:
defect_repair hardware_enablement enhancement
general_release

Path Name: /hp-ux_patches/s700_800/11.X/PHCO_28998

Symptoms:
PHCO_28998:
( SR:8606297732 CR:JAGae61234 )
frecover(1M) on SDLT320, SDLT220 and DLTvs80 drives fails
to read the end of file mark with the following message.
Any attempt to salvage the volume fails.
# frecover -x -i /opt/junk -f /dev/rmt/c5t5d0BEST -v
frecover(2105): did not find expected file marker
frecover(5418): not an fbackup volume;
unable to read volume header
frecover(2105): did not find expected file marker

( SR:8606306489 CR:JAGae69527 )
fbackup(1M) fails to read the header from a previously
backed up volume on DLTvs80 tape drives.
fbackup on DLTvs80 driv, two sequential calls :
# fbackup -i /opt/junk -f /dev/rmt/c7t5d0BEST
fbackup(1004): session begins on Fri Mar 14 16:07:41 2003
fbackup(3205): WARNING: unable to read a volume header
fbackup(3024): writing volume 1 to the output file
/dev/rmt/c7t5d0BEST
fbackup(3055): total file blocks read for backup: 332118
fbackup(3056): total blocks written to output file
/dev/rmt/c7t5d0BEST:
332297
fbackup(1030): warnings encountered during backup
#
# fbackup -i /opt/junk -f /dev/rmt/c7t5d0BEST
fbackup(1004): session begins on Fri Mar 14 16:12:21 2003
fbackup(3205): WARNING: unable to read a volume header
fbackup(3024): writing volume 1 to the output file
/dev/rmt/c7t5d0BEST
fbackup(3055): total file blocks read for backup: 332118
fbackup(3056): total blocks written to output file
/dev/rmt/c7t5d0BEST:
332297
fbackup(1030): warnings encountered during backup

fbackup does not increment the number of times
the volume has been used.

PHCO_23914:
( SR:8606195301 CR:JAGad64505 )
Enhancement request for Ultrium tape drive support.

Defect Description:
PHCO_28998:
( SR:8606297732 CR:JAGae61234 )
frecover(1M) fails with SDLT320, SDLT220 and DLTvs80 tape
drives.

Resolution:
frecover(1M) tries to read the end of file mark by making a
1 byte read(2) call. SDLT320, SDLT220 and DLTvs80 tape
drive firmware allow a minimum of 4 byte read, thus the
frecover(1M) command fails to read the end of file mark.
The read of 1 byte has been changed to a read of
10 bytes.

( SR:8606306489 CR:JAGae69527 )
fbackup(1M) fails to read the header from a previously
backedup volume on DLTvs80 tape drive.

Resolution:
fbackup(1M) reads 1025 bytes and 2049 bytes for ansi label
and volume header respectively. Both reads fail as the
tape drive firmware doesn't allow an odd byte read.
Now fbackup(1M) is modified to read 1024 bytes and 2048
bytes to read ansi label and volume header respectively.

PHCO_23914:
( SR:8606195301 CR:JAGad64505 )
Enhancement request for Ultrium tape drive support.

Resolution:
Add Ultrium tape drive support to fbackup/frecover.

Enhancement:
No (superseded patches contained enhancements)
PHCO_28998:
Enhancements were delivered in a patch this one has
superseded. Please review the Defect Description
text for more information.

SR:
8606195301 8606297732 8606306489

Patch Files:

OS-Core.UX-CORE,fr=B.11.11,fa=HP-UX_B.11.11_32/64,v=HP:
/sbin/frecover

OS-Core.SYS-ADMIN,fr=B.11.11,fa=HP-UX_B.11.11_32,v=HP:
/usr/lib/nls/msg/C/fbackup.cat
/usr/lib/nls/msg/C/frecover.cat
/usr/sbin/fbackup
/usr/sbin/fbackuprdr
/usr/sbin/fbackupwrtr
/usr/sbin/frecover

OS-Core.SYS-ADMIN,fr=B.11.11,fa=HP-UX_B.11.11_64,v=HP:
/usr/lib/nls/msg/C/fbackup.cat
/usr/lib/nls/msg/C/frecover.cat
/usr/sbin/fbackup
/usr/sbin/fbackuprdr
/usr/sbin/fbackupwrtr
/usr/sbin/frecover

what(1) Output:

OS-Core.UX-CORE,fr=B.11.11,fa=HP-UX_B.11.11_32/64,v=HP:
/sbin/frecover:
io.c $Date: 2003/04/15 04:32:52 $Revision: r11.11/1
PATCH_11.11 (PHCO_28998)
$Revision: @(#) all CUP11.11_BL2003_0417_1 PATCH_11.
11 PHCO_28998
Thu Apr 17 03:30:52 PDT 2003 $
$ Version_11.11 Mar 31 2003 09:02:37 $

OS-Core.SYS-ADMIN,fr=B.11.11,fa=HP-UX_B.11.11_32,v=HP:
/usr/lib/nls/msg/C/fbackup.cat:
None
/usr/lib/nls/msg/C/frecover.cat:
None
/usr/sbin/fbackup:
$Revision: @(#) all CUP11.11_BL2003_0417_1 PATCH_11.
11 PHCO_28998
Thu Apr 17 03:30:40 PDT 2003 $
/usr/sbin/fbackuprdr:
$Revision: @(#) all CUP11.11_BL2003_0417_1 PATCH_11.
11 PHCO_28998
Thu Apr 17 03:30:42 PDT 2003 $
/usr/sbin/fbackupwrtr:
tape.c $Date: 2003/04/15 04:30:32 $Revision: r11.11/
1 PATCH_11.11 (PHCO_28998)
$Revision: @(#) all CUP11.11_BL2003_0417_1 PATCH_11.
11 PHCO_28998
Thu Apr 17 03:30:44 PDT 2003 $
/usr/sbin/frecover:
io.c $Date: 2003/04/15 04:32:52 $Revision: r11.11/1
PATCH_11.11 (PHCO_28998)
$Revision: @(#) all CUP11.11_BL2003_0417_1 PATCH_11.
11 PHCO_28998
Thu Apr 17 03:30:50 PDT 2003 $

OS-Core.SYS-ADMIN,fr=B.11.11,fa=HP-UX_B.11.11_64,v=HP:
/usr/lib/nls/msg/C/fbackup.cat:
None
/usr/lib/nls/msg/C/frecover.cat:
None
/usr/sbin/fbackup:
$Revision: @(#) all CUP11.11_BL2003_0417_1 PATCH_11.
11 PHCO_28998
Thu Apr 17 03:30:40 PDT 2003 $
/usr/sbin/fbackuprdr:
$Revision: @(#) all CUP11.11_BL2003_0417_1 PATCH_11.
11 PHCO_28998
Thu Apr 17 03:30:42 PDT 2003 $
/usr/sbin/fbackupwrtr:
tape.c $Date: 2003/04/15 04:30:32 $Revision: r11.11/
1 PATCH_11.11 (PHCO_28998)
$Revision: @(#) all CUP11.11_BL2003_0417_1 PATCH_11.
11 PHCO_28998
Thu Apr 17 03:30:44 PDT 2003 $
/usr/sbin/frecover:
io.c $Date: 2003/04/15 04:32:52 $Revision: r11.11/1
PATCH_11.11 (PHCO_28998)
$Revision: @(#) all CUP11.11_BL2003_0417_1 PATCH_11.
11 PHCO_28998
Thu Apr 17 03:30:50 PDT 2003 $

cksum(1) Output:

OS-Core.UX-CORE,fr=B.11.11,fa=HP-UX_B.11.11_32/64,v=HP:
3905607997 368640 /sbin/frecover

OS-Core.SYS-ADMIN,fr=B.11.11,fa=HP-UX_B.11.11_32,v=HP:
2206632884 13974 /usr/lib/nls/msg/C/fbackup.cat
536273479 9718 /usr/lib/nls/msg/C/frecover.cat
2794726073 77824 /usr/sbin/fbackup
2969203022 20480 /usr/sbin/fbackuprdr
181978073 69632 /usr/sbin/fbackupwrtr
1336074046 106496 /usr/sbin/frecover

OS-Core.SYS-ADMIN,fr=B.11.11,fa=HP-UX_B.11.11_64,v=HP:
2206632884 13974 /usr/lib/nls/msg/C/fbackup.cat
536273479 9718 /usr/lib/nls/msg/C/frecover.cat
2794726073 77824 /usr/sbin/fbackup
2969203022 20480 /usr/sbin/fbackuprdr
181978073 69632 /usr/sbin/fbackupwrtr
1336074046 106496 /usr/sbin/frecover

Patch Conflicts: None

Patch Dependencies: None

Hardware Dependencies: None

Other Dependencies: None

Supersedes:
PHCO_23914

Equivalent Patches: None

Patch Package Size: 980 KBytes

Installation Instructions:
Please review all instructions and the Hewlett-Packard
SupportLine User Guide or your Hewlett-Packard support terms
and conditions for precautions, scope of license,
restrictions, and, limitation of liability and warranties,
before installing this patch.
------------------------------------------------------------
1. Back up your system before installing a patch.

2. Login as root.

3. Copy the patch to the /tmp directory.

4. Move to the /tmp directory and unshar the patch:

cd /tmp
sh PHCO_28998

5. Run swinstall to install the patch:

swinstall -x autoreboot=true -x patch_match_target=true \
-s /tmp/PHCO_28998.depot

By default swinstall will archive the original software in
/var/adm/sw/save/PHCO_28998. If you do not wish to retain a
copy of the original software, include the patch_save_files
option in the swinstall command above:

-x patch_save_files=false

WARNING: If patch_save_files is false when a patch is installed,
the patch cannot be deinstalled. Please be careful
when using this feature.

For future reference, the contents of the PHCO_28998.text file is
available in the product readme:

swlist -l product -a readme -d @ /tmp/PHCO_28998.depot

To put this patch on a magnetic tape and install from the
tape drive, use the command:

dd if=/tmp/PHCO_28998.depot of=/dev/rmt/0m bs=2k

Special Installation Instructions: None