viewing the contents of Tape on Solaris 10 1

[foorsa]

Hi all,
i would like to view the contents of Tape on Solaris 10
i issued the following command

tar -tvf /dev/rmt/0m

i'm getting the following error

bash-3.00# tar -tvf /dev/rmt/1m
tar: tape read error

by the way the reference to the command is on sun's http://wikis.sun.com/display/BigAdmin/To+See+Tape+Contents+(in+English+and+Portuguese)"]wiki [/URL]
any alternatives
Thanks in advance

 

[bfitzmai]

Normally at "tape read error" indicates a bad tape... But, if you tape drive is dirty, you will get this error. Try running a cleaning tape through your tape drive. Also, the 1m (medium density) is the default density for tar... You can also try tar -tvf /dev/rmt/0

 

[foorsa]

Thanks for your helpful reply
i alreay cleand the drive multiple times with new cleaning tape
also the tape cartridge works vey well
also tried to read the contents with
tar -tvf /dev/rmt/0
any further idea

 

[bfitzmai]

Was the tape created on the same device? Has this device been attached to your Sun Box before? Are you sure the data on the tape is in a tar format (may-be a ufsdump or another format)... Sorry for the preliminary questions... But, if the answers to the questions are "yes", the tape is probably bad. Please keep in mind that just because the mechanics of the tape appear good, the magnetic tape itself can be flawed.

 

[foorsa]

the answer to all question is yes
and i agree with you perhaps its a tape flaws
anyways i'll try to write it again