PBS always erases barcode when formatting a new lto-5 catridge

33335

New Member
Dec 30, 2024
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Hello, I am running Proxmox Backup Server 4.1.0, with HP LTO-6 drive only.
When I trying to format a LTO-5 catridge, it erases the barcode(0x0806) and have to re-write the barcode by
Code:
sg_write_attr /dev/nst0 0x0806=114514L5
.
Is this expected?

Thanks!
 
Hi 33335,

Is this in a tape robot that prints barcodes by itself, or do I misunderstand your question?

I only have plain drives and print labels by myself. I'm not sure whether I explicitly formatted tapes and what the behaviour was. I used the GUI to add tapes. When adding a tape to a media pool (Tape backup --> Inventory --> Add Tape), I type the in the box what is on the label that I printed; when pressing OK, PBS asks me to insert the tape with that label.

It makes some noise initiating the tape and writing its ID, but I don't know if any formatting is involved.

Is this expected?

In my workflow, I don't expect to have to write a new label after adding a tape to a media pool.

Does this in any respect answer your question?
 
Hi, thanks for your reply.
Is this in a tape robot that prints barcodes by itself
No, there is only a single LTO-6 drive without any library or autoloader.
I used the GUI to add tapes. When adding a tape to a media pool (Tape backup --> Inventory --> Add Tape), I type the in the box what is on the label that I printed
I tried your way add tapes to inventory, however I got an error
Code:
media read error - read failed - unexpected block len (65536 != 262144)

I also tried format the tape, write the barcode back using that command. Now the barcode exists in cartridge memory.
Then add to inventory, the barcode was erased again. Seems not only format erases the barcode, but add to inventory also erases it.

The tapes were written by another backup software and block size was different, so I have to format the tape.

I also tried using dd bs=256k but not really working.

I don't really know how library works, do they auto write barcode(0x0806) to cartridge memory?
 
I don't expect to have to write a new label after adding a tape to a media pool.
No, not write the new physical label. I am trying to add tape to inventory, but the barcode in cartridge memory has been erased by format and add operations.

The User Medium Text Label appeared after the "Add" and "Label" operation.