IBM 3590 Tape Drive, Ubuntu Sever, MT read/write error

penguinboy08 · 12-22-2008, 09:05 PM

I have a IBM 3590-H1A tape drive, and I'm trying to read some tapes.

I'm running the lastest (8.10) Ubuntu server edition, a fresh install.

If I run

Code:

sudo mt -f /dev/st0 status

I get:

Code:

drive type = 114
drive status = 0
sense key error = 0
residue count = 0
file number = 0
block number = 0
mt: /dev/st0: rmtclose failed: Input/output error

Then when I try

Code:

sudo tar -xvf /dev/st0

, I get:

Code:

tar: /dev/st0: Cannot read: Input/output error
tar: At beginning of tape, quitting now
tar: Error is not recoverable: exiting now

So basically the same error. Is there anything I can do?

kentyler · 12-23-2008, 12:15 PM

It looks like you have a blank tape.

Ken Tyler
Project Engineer

--
Pantek, Inc. - http://www.pantek.com/ - info@pantek.com
1-877-LINUX-FIX - Expert Open Source Technical Support
2008 Inductee to the prestigious Weatherhead 100

penguinboy08 · 12-23-2008, 03:48 PM

Definitly not a blank tape. I tried several others that are supposed to contain data, and they all output the same error.

Any other ideas?

trickykid · 12-23-2008, 05:05 PM

If you're trying to run:

Code:

sudo tar -xvf /dev/st0

You need to actually specify some files to try and dump to the tape.

Code:

sudo tar -xvf /dev/st0 /some/path/to/file

Do you get the same output if you try using cpio instead of mt? Also make sure the tape itself isn't write protected, you know, the little switch to protect the tape from getting overwritten.

penguinboy08 · 12-23-2008, 05:18 PM

The tapes are all write protected, is this a bad thing? I'm only trying to get data FROM the tapes, I denfinitly do not want to write onto them.

Not sure what the arguements for cpio would be, any help?

Also, that alternate tar command gave the same error.

Thanks for you time!

kentyler · 12-24-2008, 06:41 AM

Yes you need to specify the files to restore or a wildcard.

tar -zxvf /dev/st0 * or a /path/file

penguinboy08 · 01-01-2009, 04:42 PM

Thanks for the reply kentyler, but when I run

Code:

tar -zxvf /dev/st0 *

All I get is:

Code:

tar: /dev/st0: Cannot read: Input/output error
tar: At beginning of tape, quitting now
tar: Error is not recoverable: exiting now

gzip: stdin: unexpected end of file
tar: Child returned status 2
tar: Pattern matching characters used in file names. Please,
tar: use --wildcards to enable pattern matching, or --no-wildcards to
tar: suppress this warning.
tar: *: Not found in archive
tar: Error exit delayed from previous errors

Any more ideas?

michaelk · 01-01-2009, 05:19 PM

Some additional ideas.
IMHO you might have a hardware problem. You can try listing the contents
tar -tvf /dev/st0

Might want to try testing the drive by reading/writing with a blank tape.

Was the data written using the same drive?

penguinboy08 · 01-01-2009, 07:59 PM

Now I'm trying the tape drive with a fresh install of Red Hat Enterprise Edition 4.

More info, running "IBMtapeutil -f /dev/st0 status" returns the following;

Code:

Generic ANSI SCSI-2 tape drive
File number=-1, block number=-1, partition=0.
Tape block size 0 bytes. Density code 0x0
Soft error count since last status=0
General status bits on (1010000):
 ONLINE IM_REP_EN

Could it be that the tape IS actually blank, (as suggested above)? I'm trying several tapes that are supposed to have data, so there might be a tiny tiny chance that they are all be blank.

Running "tar -tvf /dev/st0" returns:

Code:

tar: /dev/st0: Cannot read: Input/output error
tar: At beginning of tape, quitting now
tar: Error is not recoverable: exiting now

Much as before.

Quote:

Was the data written using the same drive?

No, the tapes come from an external party, we don't know what model tape drive they were using.

kentyler · 01-05-2009, 07:55 AM

Add files to the tape to see if the hardware works then try to restore the files.

dlethe · 01-17-2009, 02:26 AM

Looks like you need to run some diagnostics. There is a spec and software called TapeAlert. There is a $90 software product from santools that runs full diagnostics, monitors tape/autochangers, and gives you error results and such. The code is ported to LINUX on 32 and 64-bit chips, links to some tape-related diag screen dumps are http://www.santools.com/smart/unix/m...erttesting.htm or just http://www.santools.com/smart/unix/manual for the main page.

I know it will work on IBM 3590s.

jkieth · 02-14-2009, 09:44 AM

I realize this is a fairly old post and you've probably rectified the problem by now but maybe you could call up the manufacturer. Usually the systems come with lifetime tech support and I'm sure they could help you out with trying to get this data read. I personally am annoyed by most call in tech services but if you can get past the annoying part they can usually figure it out for you. For more information on the IBM 3590 H1A model you can visit our site at http://www.cpuinc.com/3590-tape-driv...1-tape-drives/. You can also email us with tech support questions at techsupport@cpuinc.com. I hope this helps.