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backups randomly fail with directory is invalid error

parfivetx
Level 3

i am running backup exec 12.5 on server 2003 r2.  i have a backup set created to run daily M-F.  recently backups have been failing.  for the month of march all jobs finished successfully.  beginning in april the jobs will complete successfully for 3 or 4 days in a row then the same job will fail 3 or 4 days in a row.  then it will run successfully for about 5 days then fail 1 then succeed 1 then fail 3 or 4 times.  each time it fails it shows:

Error:  e000fe09 - The directory is invalid.

backup log is: (sometimes directory is Qbooksw2009, sometimes Qbooksw2010)

Backup- E:
Directory Company\Qbooksw2009\ was not found, or could not be accessed.

None of the files or subdirectories contained within will be backed up.

V-79-57344-65033 - Directory not found. Cannot backup directory \Company\Qbooksw2009\xxx xxxxx and i...

not sure why it will run successfully sometimes but not others.  no changes have been made to the backup sets.  the directorys still exist and security rights are all set to allow.  we use tapes to backup and it doesnt matter which tapes are used, ive had failures and successes with each tape set.  we do have to change tapes during the backup process since data is too large to fit on one tape.

any help...thanks

15 REPLIES 15

AmolB
Moderator
Moderator
Employee Accredited Certified

Try the following steps

1) Run live update and install all the latest patches.

2) Check if the Anti virus is running during the backup window

3) Check the fragmentation of the drive where the directories in question are located.

parfivetx
Level 3

checked live update, everything is up to date.  AV runs and completes 3 hrs before backup starts.

disk needed defrag, running that now.  will report back when i get to test again.

thanks 

parfivetx
Level 3

defrag completed.  backup ran successfully for 4 days then failed again.  same error as before.  any other thoughts?

"Backup- E:

Directory Company\Qbooksw2009\ was not found, or could not be accessed.

None of the files or subdirectories contained within will be backed up."

 

each time it fails i see this in event log:  "the shadow copies of volume E: were aborted because the shadow copy storage could not grow due to a user imposed limit." 

i have previously increased the shadow copy size to 40GB, it was set to 30GB.  i still dont understand if this is the issue why it works for 4 days then decides to not work.  i went in and reset the shadow copy size to 50GB to see what happens.

Simon_B_
Level 6
Partner Accredited

The required size for shadow copies depends on may factors, one is how much data changes during the time the snapshot is needed. If you do not have enough storage for VSS available on the same volume you can also change the volume the snapshots are written in the VSS properties.

parfivetx
Level 3

ok i have 2 volumes (C: - 68.33GB capacity 40.44GB free) and (E: - 273.40GB capacity 60.21GB free)

the volume i am trying to backup is E:.

 

shadow copies is set as follows:

Volume     Next Run Time   Shares  Used

C:\            disabled              4          

E:\            5/10/2011           5           2505 MB on E:\

use limit on E:\ is 51200 MB

shadow copy is scheduled to run M-F at 7am and 12p

parfivetx
Level 3

so far so good.  after 2 days in a row failing, backup went successful last nite.  i will continue to monitor and report back if i experience failures again within the next few days.

thanks for all the help so far

pkh
Moderator
Moderator
   VIP    Certified

Have you run a chkdsk on that particular volume?  It could be that the directory is corrupted.

parfivetx
Level 3

backup failed again.  no havnt tried chkdsk.  will try that now.  thanks, hopefully this will work.

parfivetx
Level 3

looks like chkdsk might have worked.  successful backups 5 days in a row...thanks.  will monitor a few more days. if successful will close as completed.  thanks for all the help

parfivetx
Level 3

well after 10 days of successful backups, had another one fail.  same error as before.

 

Job ended: Friday, May 27, 2011 at 7:14:59 AM
Completed status: Failed
Final error: 0xe00084af - The directory or file was not found, or could not be accessed.
Final error category: Job Errors

For additional information regarding this error refer to link V-79-57344-33967

only difference is its a different directory.  this seems to be a randomly recurring issue.  always a different directory even though i can verify that the directory does exist and is accessible.  not sure what to do at this point.

 

any other advice

pkh
Moderator
Moderator
   VIP    Certified

Did you run chkdsk again after getting this error?  If chkdsk again shows errors in your file system, then there is a very high possibility that the surface of your harddisk is failing.

parfivetx
Level 3

no, the window for taking down the server is limited.  i can run again hopefully this weekend and see what happens.

parfivetx
Level 3

will report back when i get results of chkdsk

parfivetx
Level 3

just checked event logs again and am still seeing the error "the shadow copies of volume E: were aborted because the shadow copy storage could not grow due to a user imposed limit"  each time it fails.  the drive i have shadow copy set up on has the most available space. 

pkh
Moderator
Moderator
   VIP    Certified

This error has nothing to do with BE.  It is due to yoru shadow copy setting.