HP Tape Library - DLT7000/8000 warning reading data

[ITMAK]

We use omniback to backup and restore data - one for production and one for development.

We had to import a tape from production to development, which we have done on a number of occasions before but for some reason (about 30 mins into the restore) we got:-

02/21/05 19:24 1 DLT 7000/8000 Tape Drive has problems reading data. There is no loss of data but the drive's performance is reduced. (1) WARNING

The throughput has reduced by 1/6 so what normally takes 5 hours to complete has now been running for over 15 hrs!

We tried recycling the power and cleaning the head but no good

My question is does anyone have an idea why this has happened and what checks I can do to diagnose the cause.

Thank you

 

[meddig]

First off, run the Library and Tape tools utility and flash the firmware. If you do not have the utility it is available for free at the HP site. Run a device analysis test and a connectivity test and then follow it with a read/write test. If all those pass then do a small backup job to verify that everything is okay. If your configuration is the same as it always was then just make sure your SCSI card is still seated properly and make sure that the drive is isolated on the SCSI bus. Even if it has worked a million times before, Back up drives should always be isolated and terminated in all cases. HOpe this helps