Bad media/unknown media

[Ravi_Chetal]

Hi everyone,
For the past few days we have been consistently getting bad media/unknown media errors whenever we try to run the inventory. Every backup we try is failing. This started all of a sudden. No matter what we do, it comes back with a bad media message. If we try to do a quick erase, it takes more than 20 minutes and still no luck with it. On the robotic library, the Clean Me light comes on and then we use the cleaning cartridge to clean the drive. This works - it gets rid of the Clean Me message. However when we put the tapes in to start any kind of process (inventory, backup etc.) the light comes back on. We are using 9.1 build 4691 on our W2K server. The tape drive is a HP. On going through one of the articles - there was a mention of comparing the VSDLoad Table entries against the entries in the adamm.log file. Unfortunately the Primary Inquiry entry is not in the VSDLoad table in the registry. We tried to delete the SCSI changer as mentioned in the article and repair the installation - but still no luck.

Has anyone had any similar experience?

[Joshua_Small]

It's not by chance "Unrecognizable Media" error is it?

[Ravi_Chetal]

Hi Joshua,
Not is not "unrecongnizable media".

[Doug_Hupp]

I had this same error a couple days ago with our robotic library.
I actually reformatted an Identical server and connected the robotic library to the new server and reloaded Veritas and everything is working fine.

I also tried the troubleshooting from th eKB to no avail.

Good Luck
Doug

[Ravi_Chetal]

Hi Doug,
Thanks for posting a reply. I assume that you setup the entire Veritas system (hardware and software) on a new server as a fresh install. I guess that is the only thing left for me to try.

[Shyam_Sundar]

Hello,

You can try installing the latest drivers of Veritas Backup Exec 9.1 4691.

http://support.veritas.com/docs/273853

Ccheck for hardware errors in event logs. Event Id's 9 and 11 indicate hardware errors. You will have to contact the h/w manufacturer for such issues.

Check the SCSI configuration too. Changer should be connected to a lower SCSI Id than the tape drive. And do not use Id's 0 and 1.

Also install drivers for the changer. Veritas does not provide drivers for the changer. Install either Microsoft or OEM drivers.


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[Ravi_Chetal]

Hi Shyam,
I have already installed the latest drivers from Veritas.

[Shyam_Sundar]

Stop and deactivate the Removable storage service, as this service could cause with tape devices that work with Backup Exec.

Also have a look at the following documents :

http://support.veritas.com/docs/247753

http://seer.support.veritas.com/docs/255501.htm

Perform cleaning operation on the drive whenever required as per instructed by the manufacturer. Check the DRIVE STATISTICS for any soft read/write errors. Right click on the device and select Properties.

To isolate the issue you can try performing a small test backup with NTBackup.

Please write to us if the issue persists.

NOTE : If we do not receive your reply within two business days, this post would be marked "assumed answered" and would be moved to "answered questions"pool.