Re: Dump/restore mystery (off topic)
From: Triffid (triffid_at_nebula.net)
Date: 11/30/04
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Date: Mon, 29 Nov 2004 23:15:34 -0500
CJT wrote:
> Triffid wrote:
>
>> Not a Solaris question, actually CX/SX - but the relevant newsgroups
>> have been dormant for 10+ years so I'll try my luck here. I think I
>> need a lateral thought, but none have come to me yet...
>>
>> I am responsible for some ancient Harris systems running CX/SX. Some
>> background here:
>>
>> http://tinyurl.com/5e3s4
>>
>> One of them refused to reboot after an unscheduled power outage last
>> weekend - hard disk failure. This should not have been a problem - it
>> happens with monotonous regularity - I just drop in a new disk, boot
>> from tape, and restore the latest backup.
>>
>> This time it didn't work. The restore script reported numerous
>> instances of "file not found on tape". The system was (barely)
>> bootable after restore, but many files and directories were missing. I
>> tried several backup tapes with the same result, leading me to
>> conclude the tape drive had been writing unreadable backups for some
>> time without reporting any errors.
>>
>> I tried restoring a backup from another system with identical hardware
>> and similar software configuration as I figured I could reconcile the
>> differences without too much difficulty. This worked, but I cannot
>> backup and restore the resulting system - I get the same "file not
>> found on tape" errors.
>>
>> I've narrowed the issue down somewhat:
>>
>> 1. Backup tape from System B restores without error on System A
>> 2. System A boots normally after restore, and appears to be a perfect
>> System B clone
>> 3. Backup of System A immediately after restore completes without error
>> 4. Attempt to restore System A from step 3 tape gives numerous "file
>> not found on tape" errors
>> 5. Swap out the System A tape drive (6 times so far!) and repeat from
>> step 1 - same result!
>>
>> So it seems to me I either have 6 tape drives that boot and read just
>> fine, but can't write a usable backup tape - or something else is
>> causing the problem. 6 tape drives with the same problem seems highly
>> unlikely. The backup script must be identical (since it was restored
>> from System B), as must the restore script (it's on the boot partition
>> of the backup tape), so WTF is going on here?
>>
>> TIA
>>
>> Triffid
>
>
> Are these SCSI tape drives?
Yes, Seagate SCSI 4mm DAT (DDS1) drives.
> Is it possible there's a problem with the controller or cabling?
Possible, but seems unlikely - I have 3 complete systems I can
substitute for System A above, and all have the same symptom. I have not
seen anything in the logs that looks like SCSI bus problems.
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