crc error tape needs cleaning ...every day!

[jerryk]

I've run the cleaning tape repeatedly ...daily. I dont think cleaning is the problem.

I have a new IBM dds3 drive I installed 1 month ago.

I have updated the drivers in my 2yr old Adaptec scsi card.

I have 2 more potential weakneses:
BackupExec is v7 (kinda old)
Server is a 3yr old P3 (handmade by my predecessor)

Any ideas what the most likely culprit is? I'm about to say the heck with it and just buy a new server.

 

[RSA]

Have you tried a backup with a fresh, unused tape and had the same error coming up? On the odd occasion when I was a field service engineer, I have seen this happen with old or incorrect media being used.

It may be worth running a verify after backup to ensure the data on the tape is readable (NOTE, it does not check the data, just that it is readable from the media).

 

[JWhitman]

What problem are you having?

 

[jerryk]

Well, 70% of my backups (3-4 per week) are failing after writing about 8gig to the disk.

All I get it "tape drive needs cleaning" CRC error.

I've run the cleaning cassetes multiple times to really clean the drive and it still occurs.

I've updated my scsi card drivers.

I've replaced the drive (IBM DDS3, from old junky Travan)

Possible Clue: A sample backup took 18.5 min to write 125 meg. Thats about 8meg/min. Isn't that *really* slow? Since I just swapped the drive and let Backupexec re-detect it, are there backupexec "drive settings" like data rates that I should tweak relative to this new drive?

 

[SQLBill]

One thing to check, using BE go to the DEVICES tab and right-click on your tape drive. Go to Properties and then to Cleaning tab. What does it say for "Hours since last cleaning"? If you have a tape library, running a cleaning job automatically resets that value. But on separate tape drives, the value needs to be manually reset. If it hasn't been reset, BE might be thinking that the drive has never been cleaned.

-SQLBill

 

[jerryk]

Uh Oh, I think I'm getting closer.

Looking at drive properties, I'm seeing 36,000 soft write errors! Other threads indicate this means dirty heads or damaged drive.

this is an IBM dds3 drive that is just 2 months old. What are the odds that a practically new was delivered with bad heads?

Could my scsi cable be "poorly terminated" or something, or are SoftWrite errors always indicative of drive failure?

 

[comtec17]

Have you installed the latest Backup Exec Device Driver?

 

[jerryk]

Just installed IBM's tape driver specifically for backupexec. Not helping.

Maybe the drive is toast. How often do mfrs ship bad drives?

Could my ribbon cable cause these softwrite errors? I'm also considering putting the tape drive on it's own scsi card.

 

[SiLvERChiC]

HELP! Did you manage to find a fix?? I am having the exact problem. Only I am running BackupExec v.9.0 build 4175 on Netware 5.1 (SP3). As far as i know all the patches and builds are up to date...except for the Netware SP. I have a HP DLT1 (vs80) tape drive.. it's only a couple of months old. I have ruled out the fact that it is the actual drive itself... as it worked fine on another server with MS Backup. I was also able to get a DDS3 to work on my backup server (netware)...SO WHATS GOIN ON?? I'm open to ANY suggestions. =)

 

[jerryk]

I replaced the tape drive, and put it on it's own (new) scsi card. it was originally on it's own card, but an old one.

Then, I called adaptec and had them walk me thorough setting the scsi card to it's lowest speeds, just in case my server or pci hardware can't handle the throughput.

the number of "soft write" errors dropped from 3400 per backup to about 350 per backup. The errors are still there, but far fewer and the backup runs quickly.

I don't know for sure whether it was the new tape or card that fixed the problem, but it's working now, so I've moved on.

If I may editorialize, I inherited the old "handmade" server we're using, and I think that's part of the problem. I despise "custom" "handmade" servers that are put together in people's basements, to save the company a buck. When our company can budget for it, we're getting a dell server with a warranty and hardware that has been tested to work out of the box.