How to load LTO with NO WORM media?

[TomaszB]

Hello

I have Symantec backup exec 2010 R3 connected to Dell robotic tape library.

I wanted to replace one tape, to create new year backup and remove store it in save place.

Problem is, that this new tape is marked as WORM media.

So I change mediaset to retired media, delete it and run library inventory.

Result is, that all tapes in library is now WORM.

How/why does it happend?

What can I do with it now?

Thanks

[ZeRoC00L]

Do you have barcode labels on the tapes ?

The barcodes may contain a specific marker that marks the tapes as WORM tapes.

[TomaszB]

Yes, I have barcodes on tapes.

I did inventory about month ago, with the same tapes and no WORM media was created.

[ZeRoC00L]

How do the barcodes look like ?

What is the exact model of the library you have ?
Most libraries have an ethernet interface, if you connect to the web-interface, how are tapes recognized ?

[TomaszB]

My library with standard dell LTO4 labels.

http://www.dell.com/us/enterprise/p/powervault-tl2000/pd

web interface shows all tapes with it's label number like 0001L4, 0002L4, ... , 0022L4

[pkh]

The suffix L4 in the barcode label is for rewritable LTO4 tape.  You would have to check with Dell as to what suffix to use for LTO4 WORM tape.  This suffix will not be L4.  For example, for HP libraries, the suffix for LTO4 WORM tape is LU, whereas for rewriteable LTO4 the suffix is L4.

[TomaszB]

I have only tapes with L4 suffix and it's what I want.

I don't want to use WORM media, but all tapes in library are marked as WORM media.

I want my tapes to be rewritable, not WORM.

[pkh]

It could be that your tapes are now treated as imported tapes and are thus protected.  Are they associated with your usual media set or the scratch media set?  If not, try associating them with the scratch media set and see whether they become overwriteable.

Also, post a screenshot of your tapes in the Media tab.

[ZeRoC00L]

Do you have any barcode rules configured ?

http://www.symantec.com/business/support/index?page=content&id=TECH92890

[doodsangel]

I'm having a similar issue. I have a backup server, which connects to 2 LTO libraries. I can add tapes as I want to the second Library, but whenever I insert a tape into the First Library, it marks it as WORM.

[Larry_Fine]

What are the libraries & drives?  Are they new?  Has this always been this way?  What changed?

WORM LTO media are purchased that way.  The media have two different colors for the top and the bottom of the cartridge case.  See example at http://www.pcrush.com/images/hi-res/96360.jpg

BE has no control over if a media is WORM or not, as BE uses what the drive tells it about the media.  Barcodes have nothing to do with how BE perceives a media as WORM or not.  It is nice to use logical bar codes for WORM media, but not required.

Please run SGmon with Device & Media configured for verbose logging, then run an inventory of a single slot.  If it is a WORM media, you will see something like this:

PVLSVR:   [06/04/12 11:18:25] [4672]     DeviceIoScsiDrive::GetMediaInfo[19]: totcap=381469MB, remcap=246040MB, wprot=0, worm=1, encrypt=0

I suspect that you either accidently have WORM media or that you have a hardware issue with the second library.

[Larry_Fine]

To make sure we are talking about the same thing, here is a screenshot the properties of a WORM media in BE.