Bar Code Labels Not Recognized

[Brett_Walters_2]

I inserted about 15 new tapes into an HP Library which has been running Veritas forever without trouble with bar codes, and now it does not recognize and label the media with the bar code number. Instead, it labeled the tape DLT000001, DLT000002...etc. It has not done this before, and I have added new tapes with labels from the same HP label pack of 100 labels and it recognized them fine.

Can I correct these tapes? Otherwise, restoring will be damn near impossible from a specific tape.

Thanks!

PS: After inserting the new tapes with new bar codes, I did Inventory the library, and it was successful...however, I did not look at the time to see how it identified the tapes, as it has never had a problem doing so before.

[Keith_Langmead]

I think you'll find the bar code recognition functionality is provided by the library hardware rather than through Backup Exec. So when Backup Exec interagates the library to find out the bar code for the tape, the library uses it's bar code reader and then returns it to the software.

Now my guess would be that when Backup Exec has determined the label from the bar code it then uses that information to label the tape itself. Therefore even if your bar code reader dies at a later date, the tapes have already been labeled so you wouldn't need it to get the information. You'd only realise when you came to use a new tape like you have.

Probably the only way to be sure is to try it again with a completely new tape and confirm if the inventory job still sets the tape to DLT... if it does I'd look at getting the bar code reader looked at / repaired.

[Brett_Walters_2]

The bar code reader can read existing tapes when I inventory them. In this particular instance, I added 15 new tapes, but also put in another 5 already used/assigned tapes. The existing 5 were inventoried with their bar code names.

I suppose I could try and take an existing bar code label and put it on a new tape an see what it does, or put an existing bar code on one of the newly assigned DLT00000x tapes and see how it inventories it. Doesn't make a lot of sense. Of course, if it is the bar code reader itself, then it would have to have broken since the last time I added new tapes to the library as since it then, it has only recyled the same media over and over...

[Keith_Langmead]

Yeah that's what I mean, since the bar code had already been read and that label used to label the tape itself, then when the library couldn't read the information from the bar code it would read it from the tape instead.

Switching the labels round sounds like a good idea, switch two existing labels and if they still show up using their old labels that probably goes along with my theory.

[Brett_Walters_2]

Keith - Your theory is indeed correct. The bar code reader in the library is bad, as has been confirmed with HP (library vendor) today. We ran some other tests and diagnostics on it, and it definitely is not reading labels. Awaiting parts/engineer to repair it now.

Thank you for your help!