The following (just scripted, with commentary added) is a little long and rather un-good.
samar 9# script Script started, file is typescript Position us at the start of the next volume. This volume has been relabeled after setting the block size on the tape (last week). samar 1# /usr/local/sbin/amcheck samar Amanda Tape Server Host Check ----------------------------- ERROR: holding disk /usr5/dumps/amanda: statfs: No such file or directory amcheck-server: slot 7: date X label SAMAR08 (exact label match) NOTE: skipping tape-writable test Tape SAMAR08 label ok Server check took 4.311 seconds Amanda Backup Client Hosts Check -------------------------------- Client check: 1 host checked in 0.168 seconds, 0 problems found (brought to you by Amanda 2.4.4p1-20030716) Find out the current block size. I has expected 32768, it isn't. samar 2# mt -f /dev/sdlt2 blksize Recommended tape I/O size: 131072 bytes (256 512-byte blocks) Minimum block size: 4 byte(s) Maximum block size: 16777212 bytes Current block size: Variable Get the current label. We failed unless we specified the blocksize of 32768. samar 5# mt -f /dev/sdlt2 rewind samar 2# dd if=/dev/sdlt2 of=./scratch Read error: Invalid argument 0+0 records in 0+0 records out samar 3# dd if=/dev/sdlt2 of=./scratch bs=32768 1+0 records in 1+0 records out Many null characters removed from cat output. samar 6# dd if=/dev/sdlt2 of=./scratch bs=32768 1+0 records in 1+0 records out samar 7# cat -evt scratch | more AMANDA: TAPESTART DATE X TAPE SAMAR08$ ^L$ [EMAIL PROTECTED]@[EMAIL PROTECTED]@[EMAIL PROTECTED]@[EMAIL PROTECTED]@[EMAIL PROTECTED]@[EMAIL PROTECTED]@[EMAIL PROTECTED]@[EMAIL PROTECTED]@[EMAIL PROTECTED]@[EMAIL PROTECTED]@[EMAIL PROTECTED]@[EMAIL PROTECTED]@[EMAIL PROTECTED]@[EMAIL PROTECTED]@[EMAIL PROTECTED]@[EMAIL PROTECTED]@[EMAIL PROTECTED]@^@ Set the blocksize to the drive recommended size. samar 8# mt -f /dev/sdlt2 setblksz 131072 samar 9# dd if=./scratch of=/dev/sdlt2 obs 131072 Bad argument: "obs" samar 10# dd if=./scratch of=/dev/sdlt2 obs=131072 Write error: Invalid argument 64+0 records in 0+0 records out samar 11# mt -f /dev/sdlt2 blksize Recommended tape I/O size: 131072 bytes (256 512-byte blocks) Minimum block size: 4 byte(s) Maximum block size: 16777212 bytes Current block size: 131072 byte(s) samar 12# dd if=/dev/sdlt2 of=./scratch bs=131072 0+0 records in 0+0 records out samar 13# mt -f /dev/sdlt2 rewind samar 14# dd if=/dev/sdlt2 of=./scratch bs=131072 0+0 records in 0+0 records out samar 15# !cat cat -evt scratch | more samar 16# mt -f /dev/sdlt2 rewind samar 17# dd if=/dev/sdlt2 of=./scratch bs=131072 0+0 records in 0+0 records out samar 18# /usr/local/sbin/amcheck samar Amanda Tape Server Host Check ----------------------------- ERROR: holding disk /usr5/dumps/amanda: statfs: No such file or directory amcheck-server: slot 7: reading label: Invalid argument amcheck-server: slot 8: reading label: Invalid argument Progressed this way through the rest of the tapes. - use amtape to reset us to slot 7. Probing the drive I find a block size of 32768 again. samar 25# mt -f /dev/sdlt2 setblksz 131072 samar 26# /usr/local/sbin/amlabel -f samar SAMAR08 labeling tape in slot 7 (/dev/sdlt2): rewinding, reading label, reading label: Invalid argument rewinding, writing label SAMAR08 amlabel: writing label: Invalid argument Have we hit some sort of amanda buffer size limit ? Something that didn't error during the write but did during the read ? Are the new drivers in the OS failing to properly handle the drive ? My money is on an OS problem. Is anyone successfully using SDLT 320 drives on an SGI/IRIX system ? Note, I have the required APD drivers installed and configured. I'm gonna open a call with SGI. Jan 10 10:58:54 3D:samar TapeCheckError[234379]: |$(409)tps1d4,SDLT320,,pid=411237,read,Aborted command,IDE message received Jan 10 10:58:54 6D:samar tps1d4[234379]: Command aborted by target -- Jan 10 10:58:54 3D:samar tps1d4[234379]: Aborted command --- Brian R Cuttler [EMAIL PROTECTED] Computer Systems Support (v) 518 486-1697 Wadsworth Center (f) 518 473-6384 NYS Department of Health Help Desk 518 473-0773