Tape Write Error

[rgj]

Hi,

We've moved from VMware with Nakivo backup, to Proxmox with PBS.
We have a remote PBS with a tape changer attached. It was previously running a Nakivo transporter without any problems.

When doing a backup, we now get:
"Tape Backup failed: write chunk failed - write failed - Medium Error, Additional sense: Write error"

It might happen on the first tape in the job, or it might happen on the second tape. Not really any pattern in the failure.
Tapes are brand new. Tape drive has been cleaned, and was running without problems with Nakivo.

Changer is a IBM 3573-TL with a IBM ULT3580-HH6 LTO-6 tape drive.

Is the any way to debug more on it? There isn't any other errors in the logs.

Cheers,
René

 

[dietmar]

What is the output of:

# pmt cartridge-memory

(For a tape which produced such write error)

 

[rgj]

0|Remaining Capacity In Partition|485823
1|Maximum Capacity In Partition|2384185
2|Tapealert Flags|(empty)
3|Load Count|8
4|MAM Space Remaining|3024
5|Assigning Organization|LTO-CVE
6|Formatted Density Code|5a
7|Initialization Count|6
9|Volume Change Reference|000003a7
522|Device Vendor/Serial Number at Last Load|IBM 10WT106652
523|Device Vendor/Serial Number at Load-1|IBM 10WT106652
524|Device Vendor/Serial Number at Load-2|IBM 10WT106652
525|Device Vendor/Serial Number at Load-3|IBM 10WT106652
544|Total MBytes Written in Medium Life|4841447
545|Total MBytes Read In Medium Life|938
546|Total MBytes Written in Current Load|1917513
547|Total MBytes Read in Current/Last Load|7
548|Logical Position of First Encrypted Block|ffffffffffffffff
549|Logical Position of First Unencrypted Block After the First Encrypted Block|ffffffffffffffff
1024|Medium Manufacturer|HPE
1025|Medium Serial Number|F161021231
1026|Medium Length|846
1027|Medium Width|127
1028|Assigning Organization|LTO-CVE
1029|Medium Density Code|5a
1030|Medium Manufacture Date|20161021
1031|MAM Capacity|16384
1032|Medium Type|00
1033|Medium Type Information|0000
2054|Barcode|LQ7915L6
4096|Unique Cartridge Identify (UCI)|042843295430335030313131534f4e59202020200007874f00200000
4097|Alternate Unique Cartridge Identify (Alt-UCI)|042843295430335030313131463136313032313233310020

 

[dietmar]

That looks good. But the error "write failed - Medium Error" still look like a hardware error. Maybe you can test with another tape drive? Also Check if SCSI cables are OK ...

 

[rgj]

Hi,

Realized that I never got around to replying in the tread.

It was the tape drive. Apparently Nakivo had only been using the other drive in the changer, so after switching to the other drive, the job completes without error.

 

[f.sennj]

Hello all, i have the same error arising but it seems since the latest update:

Tape Backup failed: write chunk failed - write failed - Medium Error, Additional sense: Write error

root@pbs2:~# pmt cartridge-memory
using device /dev/tape/by-id/scsi-HUL338G1PP-sg
0|Remaining Capacity In Partition|4070970
1|Maximum Capacity In Partition|11444091
2|Tapealert Flags|(empty)
3|Load Count|4
4|MAM Space Remaining|2672
5|Assigning Organization|LTO-CVE
6|Formatted Density Code|5e
7|Initialization Count|9
9|Volume Change Reference|00000a87
522|Device Vendor/Serial Number at Last Load|HP HUL338G1PP
523|Device Vendor/Serial Number at Load-1|HP HUL338G1PP
524|Device Vendor/Serial Number at Load-2|HP HUL338G1PP
525|Device Vendor/Serial Number at Load-3|HP HUL338G1PP
544|Total MBytes Written in Medium Life|25119783
545|Total MBytes Read In Medium Life|2355
546|Total MBytes Written in Current Load|7050360
547|Total MBytes Read in Current/Last Load|935
548|Logical Position of First Encrypted Block|0000000000000004
549|Logical Position of First Unencrypted Block After the First Encrypted Block|ffffffffffffffff
1024|Medium Manufacturer|HPE
1025|Medium Serial Number|T3KXH9894W
1026|Medium Length|960
1027|Medium Width|127
1028|Assigning Organization|LTO-CVE
1029|Medium Density Code|5e
1030|Medium Manufacture Date|20230617
1031|MAM Capacity|16352
1032|Medium Type|00
1033|Medium Type Information|0000
2048|Application Vendor|Proxmox
2049|Application Name|Proxmox Backup Server
2050|Application Version|3.2.6
2051|User Medium Text Label|DIENSTAG
2056|Media Pool|LTO8
4096|Unique Cartridge Identify (UCI)|4312eec7473841435039375646554a4946494c4d001550df00800000
4097|Alternate Unique Cartridge Identify (Alt-UCI)|4312eec7473841435039375654334b584839383934570080

is there anyway to test the tapedrive with proxmox tools on linux?

 

[dcsapak]

is there anyway to test the tapedrive with proxmox tools on linux?

what exactly do you mean? you can use any tools available on linux/debian with your drive

Hello all, i have the same error arising but it seems since the latest update:

Tape Backup failed: write chunk failed - write failed - Medium Error, Additional sense: Write error

the error is very clear, the medium has an error, so you should look for the problem in the drive/tape/hba/cables. etc