Re: Media Errors on Tapes -- MIDRANGE-L

Your issue may be totally different from what I encountered in 2015.
I got a message to change the tape, followed almost immediately by an
abort of the SAVE 21 operation. Nothing wrong with tape or tape
drive. Troubling that I can't recall what the fix was. Something
with an object that was spanning the tape. Maybe it is in the
archives.

Sorry I am so vague. Mind seems to be like a sieve anymore.

But, the error I had was consistent, and at the same point in the save.

John McKee

On 3/30/17, Jerry Adams <midrange@xxxxxxxx> wrote:

I can understand a tape drive going bad. What puzzles the heck out of me
is
why it fails at exactly the same place every night.

The hardware vendor found a replacement, which they are going to put in
today. It is used and no warranty that it will solve the problem, of
course.

We use the tape drive cleaning cartridge when the system tells us to (about
every 30 days). Back in the day the S/36 had a tape drive (6157). There
was no cleaning cartridge; one was instructed to clean it by using
isopropyl
alcohol on a swab. I mention that because I was wondering if that
could/should be done on these tape drives.

Jerry C. Adams
A clear conscience is the sign of a fuzzy memory.
IBM i Programmer/Analyst
--
NMM&D
615-832-2730

-----Original Message-----
From: MIDRANGE-L [mailto:midrange-l-bounces@xxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Rob
Berendt
Sent: Wednesday, March 29, 2017 10:09 AM
To: Midrange Systems Technical Discussion
Subject: Re: Media Errors on Tapes

This is almost always a sign that the tape drive is going bad. We've had
that with LTO 3 drives in our library. Tapes would start be declared as
bad. We would have them replace the drive and it would go away.
Occasionally we would INZTAP with a CLEAR(*YES) just to ensure it was good
after the drive replacement. I think I could count the number of tapes we
threw away as bad on one hand.

I can't tell you what tape drives are currently compatible with your
system.
Sorry. No alternatives to recommend. And, if it's too new yet still
supported on V5R1 it may have needed a certain PTF level. I've heard that
PTF's can be a bit tough to order for V5R1.

Rob Berendt
--
IBM Certified System Administrator - IBM i 6.1 Group Dekko Dept 1600 Mail
to: 2505 Dekko Drive
Garrett, IN 46738
Ship to: Dock 108
6928N 400E
Kendallville, IN 46755
http://www.dekko.com

From: "Jerry Adams" <midrange@xxxxxxxx>
To: "'Midrange Systems Technical Discussion'"
<midrange-l@xxxxxxxxxxxx>
Date: 03/29/2017 08:57 AM
Subject: Media Errors on Tapes
Sent by: "MIDRANGE-L" <midrange-l-bounces@xxxxxxxxxxxx>

First, full disclosure: Model 250 running V5R1.

We have a cartridge tape drive 7207 Model 122. The data files backup runs
unattended each night. Lately it is crashing and burning with media
errors;
in fact, it has failed the last four [4] nights.

Tapes do go bad, but it seems unreasonable to me to have this many go bad
so
quickly. In fact, some of the tapes, except for initialization, have
never
been used before. Plus it always blows at exactly the same place. And we
have cleaned the tape drive after each failure.

Am I being illogical to think that it is the tape drive, rather than the
tapes, which is at fault? Is there any way to determine that?

I have been trying to get the company to upgrade the system for years
with,
obviously, no success. Any other options? I have been told that this
tape
drive is no longer available (maybe eBay but you get what you pay for
there). But are there any other backup alternatives for off-line storage?

Thanks.

Jerry C. Adams

IBM i Programmer/Analyst

Science is not a liberal conspiracy.

--

NMM&D

615-832-2730

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