ftape 3.04d w/ ztape Linux 2.0.30 #1 Sun Nov 29 23:31:19 EST 1998 i586 unknown ftmt -f /dev/nzqft0 status This is a Conner TSM850R/1700R/TST3200R floppy tape drive, (drive type = 0x0156) drive status = 0x00e35965 generic drive status = 0x49000000 (In particular: * at begin of tape * at end of data * tape online * ) sense key error = 0x00000000 residue count = 0 file number = 0 block number = 0 MTIOCVOLINFO result: file number = 0 block size = 10240 physical space used = 1.5 gigabytes real size of volume = 0.0 kilobytes MTIOCGETSIZE result: total bytes on tape = 1.5 gigabytes total bytes used = 29.0 kilobytes total bytes left = 1.5 gigabytes Problem: We have recently found that we cannot restore from any of our tapes in rotation; we can restore from a tape made with same version of ftape 3.04d and dump from July 1998; so I would assume this means our tape drive and installation of ftape 3.04d is stable. These tapes have been in rotation for a number of months without any indication of problems until we tried to restore. I dump to /dev/nzqft0 to get the compression from zftape. I realize that zftape was taken out; but I haven't had a need to upgrade since 3.04d was working fine. Last restore in December of 1998 was fine. Is there anyway to test the media? Here is the message I get when I try to do a restore: restore ivbf 10 /dev/nzqft0 Verify tape and initialize maps End-of-tape encountered Mount tape volume 2 Enter ``none'' if there are no more tapes otherwise enter tape name (default: /dev/nzqft0) none Tape read error while trying to resynchronize continue? [yn] n Here are the commands I use to make a backup, the email from the script shows that the dump takes place with NO errors: date /sbin/swapout 15 echo Rewinding mt -f /dev/nzqft0 rewind echo Erasing mt -f /dev/nzqft0 erase echo Rewinding to begin Full Backup mt -f /dev/nzqft0 rewind echo Starting Full Backups echo Starting Full of /home /sbin/dump 0uBbf 1618147 10 /dev/nzqft0 /home date echo Starting Full of / /bin/mt -f /dev/nzqft0 eom /sbin/dump 0uBbf 1618147 10 /dev/nzqft0 / date echo Starting Full 0f /usr /bin/mt -f /dev/nzqft0 eom /sbin/dump 0uBbf 1618147 10 /dev/nzqft0 /usr date echo Starting Full of /var /bin/mt -f /dev/nzqft0 eom /sbin/dump 0uBbf 1618147 10 /dev/nzqft0 /var echo Done Full date I'm looking for alternatives to ftape; I'm beginning to think moving to a scsi based solution may be better than the floppy drive controller. I would be interested in hearing comments on this idea. I expect maybe my media has gone bad; all tapes are kept at the same place. But find it hard to believe 7 tapes can all go bad at the same time; and that dumps continue to run and write to the tape but the restore command cannot read from them. The other thing that I have noticed is that ftmt -f /dev/nzqft0 fsf 1 now comes back with invalid argument. In December, last time I did a restore this worked fine and moved between dumps on the tape. Look forward to any input ftape users can provide. Errol Casey [EMAIL PROTECTED]
