BE 8.6 Error

[kabeerk]

 Hello,
I am getting the following error on Veritas BE 8.6.

Warning
Device: DEVICE1 (SERVERNAME)

The tape drive is having problems reading data.  No data has been lost, but there has been a reduction in the performance of the tape.The tape drive is having problems reading data.  No data has been lost, but there has been a reduction in the performance of the tape.

I tried to put in a cleaning disk before the last backup and it still gave me the same error.  Please Help.

Thanks
Kabeer

[Brian_h1]

Hello kabeer,

you either have bad tapes or a bad tape drive, get it replaced now before you need to do a restore of all your data.

Brian

[shirmal]

 Hi Kabeer,
How long has the tape(s) been in use? I agree with Brian that you might have bad tapes or a bad drive. To narrow it down, buy one new tape and see if you still have the problem.

---cheers

shirmal

[kabeerk]

 brian & shirmal,

We use different tapes M-F so the error is caused by the Tape seems unlikely, but will give it a shot. If I put in a new tape to run tonight, do I have to add it into a library or anything like that? OR do I just add the new tape in the drive?

Kabeer

[shirmal]

Use Veritas to import it into the library, inventory it and add it to the appropriate media set.

You might also consider going to the devices tab, right clicking on the drive, select properties, go to cleaning tab and see how long it's been since the last cleaning. In a library, you can't manually insert the cleaning tapes. You have to:

1. Import a cleaning tape and run a cleaning job
2. Have a cleaning tape always in the library and the library will use it as needed.

If the cleaning statistics don't show a cleaning has been done, then one hasn't been done. It's not like a single slot tape drive where the stats aren't updated unless you manually update them. Libraries automatically update the cleaning stats.
Hope this helps

---cheers

shirmal 

[kabeerk]

shirmal,

This is a single drive server.  So I would have to manually add in the information.  We already tried to insert the cleaning disk several times, and it seem to clean it and kick the tape back out.  So I am not sure ...

[shirmal · Accepted solution]

 Then it sounds like the drive should be clean.

Put the brand new tape in the drive, then in BE go to the device tab. Right click on the drive and select inventory. That should find the tape. Right click on the tape and select Label Media. Give the tape a name. Then let the job run. My suggestion is to go ahead and run the job manually (on active job list, right click on the job, select RUN NOW). Why wait to see if there's a problem? If it fails, you can try other things. If it succeeds then let it run as scheduled using the same tape.

If it fails with the same error and you've cleaned the drive; you might have a damaged head on the tape drive. (One other thing, how old is your cleaning tape? How many times has it been used? They are only good for a few cleanings)
Hope this helps

---cheers

shirmal