IIRC this came up a while ago with LTO2 and the "resolution" was to initialize the tapes with the manufacturer utility before letting BackupExec touch them.

You'll lose everything on the tapes, but if it gets the capacity set right, it's worth it, right?

I'm in a thread with the same issue on LTO3 tapes. When you say "initialize" the tapes with the MFG utility, what exactly do you mean? Are you saying that I have to touch the tapes with an external utility everytime I use or re-use a tape in BE?

Just when it is used or labeled for the first time

Similar to setting the density override on a DLT drive the first time a tape is used, (except you could do that with the buttons on the front of the drive) After that the header tells the drive what density to write at.

Well, after two successful backups using a different set of LTO3 tapes, I'm ready to blame this issue on bad tapes. Hard to imagine...20 or so bad tapes...

Hope your issue has been resolved.

Hi Ken,
can you expand on this please as when i purchased the tape drive, tapes and BE it all came as a bundle from Dell, there is no MFGR utilities with the drive all i had was the drive (and windows driver) BE and tapes. they were the correct capacity when i started to initially use them its as though backup exec has slowly reduced the size of the tapes on its own.

You should be able to download it from the Manufacturer's support site

Have you tried a new tape? One of the other users who had a similar problem thinks there may have been a bad batch of tapes produced.

Hi Ken thanks for the info i have doublechecked Dells website and there is no option on there to download any utilities for the device, i have spoken to them and they dont have any for it either.

if anyone can help me with a utility that will work with the tape drive feel free to leave me a message about it

its a Dell PowerVault 110T LTO3 TapeDrive.

Try http://www.quantum.com/ServiceandSupport/Softwarea...

Look for xTalk for Windows

Have you tried a new/defferent tape?

Hi Ken,
we are looking to get a new tape to try this with as we have had these LTO tapes in service for the better part of 2 years.

please note that all the tapes i have tried this with are LTO 3 Tapes (400 / 800 GB)

i downloaded and installed xTalk and done a full diagnostic run on the drive below is the only error it came up with, it stated that it could take 20 - 30 mins to run as you can see from the log info it did`nt even take a minute.

xTalk Version 5.5.0

____________________________________________________________

Start: 02/16/2007 10:50:36
Device: IBM ULTRIUM-TD3 -########- 0:6:3

Device_Health_Check
____________________________________________________________

Ready Test
No Problem Detected
____________________________________________________________

Record Drive Settings
Current Compression Status = Enabled
Current Compression Mode 0 == Full SCSI control of compression
No Problem Detected
____________________________________________________________

Drive Detection Test
Drive Type:Ultrium 3 TD
No Problem Detected
____________________________________________________________

SCSI Interconnect Test
Write/Read Pass @ 10 of 100
Write/Read Pass @ 20 of 100
Write/Read Pass @ 30 of 100
Write/Read Pass @ 40 of 100
Write/Read Pass @ 50 of 100
Write/Read Pass @ 60 of 100
Write/Read Pass @ 70 of 100
Write/Read Pass @ 80 of 100
Write/Read Pass @ 90 of 100
Write/Read Pass @ 100 of 100
No Problem Detected
____________________________________________________________

Drive Information Report
Drive Serial Number ------- : ##########
Media Changer Present ----- : No
Vendor ID ---------------- : IBM
Product ID ---------------- : ULTRIUM-TD3
Product Revision Level ---- : 5480
Product Family ------------ : 400.0 / 800.0 GB
Servo FW Revision --------- :
Report Complete
____________________________________________________________

Quick Write Read Test
Setting compression on
Setting variable block mode
Rewinding
Write 2 64k blocks with random data and 2 filemarks...
Write 2 file marks
Rewinding
Read 1st block
Read 2nd block
Read 1st file mark
Read 2nd file mark
Rewinding
No Problem Detected
____________________________________________________________

Small Buffer Write Read Test
Setting the compression on
Setting to variable block mode
Rewinding
Write 1 32k block of FFs...
Rewinding
Read compare 1 32k block...
No Problem Detected
____________________________________________________________

System Level Test
Setting fixed block mode
Setting the compression off
Rewinding
Write 100 blocks with compression off
Rewinding
Read compare 100 blocks
Rewinding
Setting the compression on
Write 100 blocks with compression on
Rewinding
Read compare 100 blocks
Rewinding
No Problem Detected
____________________________________________________________

Bug Check 8008 Test
Setting the compression off
Rewinding
Setting to variable block mode
Write 1900 blocks
Rewinding
Read and compare 1900 blocks
Rewinding
No Problem Detected
____________________________________________________________

Timed Performance Test
Setting the compression off
Setting the block size : 32K
Rewinding
Starting the clock
Stopping the clock
Data Transfer Time: 0:0:2.844
Test Time: 0:0:2.844
Rewinding
No Problem Detected
____________________________________________________________

Pattern Test
Setting to fixed block mode
Setting the compression on
Rewinding
Writing Pattern #1
Rewinding
Reading Pattern #1
Rewinding
Writing Pattern #2
Rewinding
Reading Pattern #2
Rewinding
Writing Pattern #3
Rewinding
Reading Pattern #3
Rewinding
Writing Pattern #4
Rewinding
Reading Pattern #4
Rewinding
Writing Pattern #5
Rewinding
Reading Pattern #5
Rewinding
Writing Pattern #6
Rewinding
Reading Pattern #6
Rewinding
No Problem Detected
____________________________________________________________

LTO Write Read Error Rate Test
Determining the drive type...
ULTRIUM 3 detected

Fetching the drive serial number...
SN: ###########

Loading Tape...

Determining the tape type...
Query for tape type error detected.
Invalid tape type detected. Only LTO1 or LTO2 or LTO3 tapes are allowed for this test.
Problem Detected
____________________________________________________________

Restore Drive Settings
CORE_RestoreCurrentValueCompressionMode CDB failed
Sense: CC: 05 ASC: 1A ASCQ: 00 = "Parameter list length error The amount of data sent in a Mode Select or Log Select command is incorrect."
____________________________________________________________

Test Summary
Drive Detection Test -------- : Passed
SCSI Interconnect Test ------ : Passed
Pre Test Log Page 7 --------- : Skipped
Tape Load Test -------------- : Passed
Quick Write/Read Test ------- : Passed
Small Buffer Wr/Rd Test ----- : Passed
System Level Test ----------- : Passed
Bug Check 8008 Test --------- : Passed
Time Test ------------------- : Passed
Multi-Pattern Test ---------- : Passed
LTO Error Rate Test -------- : Failed
Collect Log Page 7 ---------- : Skipped
Problem Detected

____________________________________________________________

Finish: 02/16/2007 10:51:34
Elapsed Time: 00:00:57.72
____________________________________________________________
Message was edited by:
Kristiaan Davies

Loading Tape...

Determining the tape type...
Query for tape type error detected.
Invalid tape type detected. Only LTO1 or LTO2 or LTO3 tapes are allowed for this test.
Problem Detected


For some reason it doesn't like the tape that was mounted

that is the biggest problem every tape i insert, and i have 12 LTO 3 tapes generate this error, so far i have`nt seen one of my tapes work.

the capacity of the tapes should also be 400GB but they all display 35GB total capacity.

i am now not sure if its the tapes OR the drive, i do not have any spares to try this against. but am trying to get some purchased as soon as to see if its the drive or tapes...

i have been told though that you do not need to initialise or format (which ever word you want to use) the LTO 3 tapes as there done once from the factory after that you only need to erase them.

using backup exec perform a long erase or format (if the option is available) on one of your tapes and test it again. let us know if you make out any better.

Hi Kristiaan

you say a single Dell LTO3, so i'm guessing a PowerVault 110T LTO3.

It looks like the test is sensing the 'correct' tape unit:
____________________________________________________________

Drive Information Report
Drive Serial Number ------- : ##########
Media Changer Present ----- : No
Vendor ID ---------------- : IBM
Product ID ---------------- : ULTRIUM-TD3
Product Revision Level ---- : 5480
Product Family ------------ : 400.0 / 800.0 GB
Servo FW Revision --------- :
Report Complete
____________________________________________________________

What version of firmware is on your tape unit? (Properties of the tape drive in BE will tell you this).

I believe 110T LTO3 started at 5BG2, and is now at 6B20.
Check this for me.
If you need to update firmware, we'll take it from there.

Cheers

I don't quite know what to tell you about your BE problem.. but for those of you who are getting that error in xTALK.. it is likely due to the fact you are attempting to test an IBM drive in a Quantum friendly application. The LTO 123 ErrorRate Test is new and replaced the Drop Out Screen test that DID actually work fine w/ IBM's. If you look back to the 4.x version of xTALK they should still be there. I have never had that test work with the IBM drives and dont expect to.

If you want a full diagnostic check use IBM's Tape Diagnostic Tool:
http://www-1.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=ssg1S...

The main BE problem you're having probably relates directly to the fact that BackupExec is a bloated pain in the ass.

Hi Robert, sorry for the delay the tape drive is now on the latest firmware 6B20, i flashed it around 2 weeks ago.

Although since this i have spoken to dell and had the drive and hardware replaced, after there engineer spoke to me and diagnosed that it looked like a drive fault.

anyway i have reinstalled the drive and associated hardware etc, and re installed veritas, now veritas refuses to acknowlage the drive at all whereas NT Backup works flawlessly.

Just to Resolve this problem,

i have finally fixed the issues with the tape drive, it required me todo a complete and untter uninstallation of BE and the tape drivers, once this was done a quick reboot, then 7 attempts to get Symatecs software to install there Driver for my tape drive.

once the Driver for the tape drive was a Veritas one i re-installed BE on the system, formatted one of my old tapes and just like nothing had ever happened Backup Exec was reporting the tape size as 375GB (close enough to 400GB for me).

since then i have had 4 successfully 300GB backups with the software and no errors, plus no signs that the old problem is coming back or has come back!!!!

so after all this.

tried NTBackup (this worked fine, even tho BE would`nt),
replaced tape drive ( and associated hardware, cable, card) with dell,
replaced tapes,
replaced veritas tape driver with dell one,
phoned and PAYED �50.00 for a tech incident with veritas, for them to tell me before they could help me i needed todo a reinstallation of the software and driver just to make sure.

after this reinstallation guess what?? its working fine......

there is no difference in the software version OR driver version i am using now compared to the ones i was using, but at least its working for me now!!!

hope this helps someone else with this problem.

 Before Backups of 150GB+ had been completing successfully on one tape (see history).  Now after 126GB it is requesting a 2nd tape. any solution to avoid this type of  loading media issue

There are many factors that can cause this test to fail.  The two most important are Tape and drive head.  Of course there are more such as board electronics, spindles, etc.

The first thing to do is to make sure that you have the latest firmware for your particular tape drive.  Most are readily available from the manufacture to download and many supply a tool to flash the drive.  Xtalk is a great one which is easy to upload the new firmware with their FU option button.  Just make sure your tape is removed from the drive. Once done, make sure to reboot your system and have the drive recycle it's operating status. If you have a specific firmware you need to use in a library or server, then obtain that specific version and continue.  Re-flashing a drive will not disrupt any functions, as they are made to increase performance and older errors that were found to be issues with other product.

After boot up, open your testing software such as (Xtalk) , insert a cleaning cartridge to clean the head of debris.  Once finished, insert a new tape or one that has been LONG formatted and then, select the full test.  It will check many conditions of the drive including the Error Rate Test that failed previously.  If you do not want to do a full test, Xtalk allows you to run the Error Rate Test separately to save time if this is the only thing you are concerned about.  If the test fails again, try flashing the firmware again.  I have had a few that I had to re-flash 3 times to have this error go away.

There are additional things that can cause the LTO's to fail this test and strange as it may seem, re-installing the LTO Windows driver is one of them. Yep, weird huh?  The board electronic also can cause this error, along with a really dirty head or faulty head.  There really isn't any way to test this as the manufacture's have their own testing facilities to do this.  If you are lucky enough to have another identical drive that you know has a bad head, you can swap boards to see if the board was at fault.

Most of the issues I have seen is with tapes and bad heads.  Even new tapes, you can find a batch that just don't cut it and give erroneous errors when testing or backing up.  The key point is to go through process of elimination and find the fault.

Hope this has helped anybody with this common error with LTO drives.

Thanks