NTBackup - Hardware Failure

[Anthony Yates]

We currently use NTBackup on one of our servers to backup two local
drives and the system state to an external HP SDLT 110/220 tape drive.
For some reason we get the following error in the backup log after a
large portion of the backup has completed.

Error: The device reported an error on a request to write data to
media.
Error reported: Hardware failure.

I've checked the Event logs and they do not contain errors that would
give me a clue as to what the issue would be.
How can I obtain more information on the hardware failure?

I've also used HP StorageWorks Library and Tape Tools to run tests on
the tape drive which also produced strange results. I could run a
connectivity test or a media analysis test and it would return a 2101
I/O timeout error and sometimes ask me insert a cleaning tape. If I
closed and opened the program and run the tests again they would
return no errors???

We would like to use a third party backup tools but the software we
use on this particular machine is not compatible with Backup Exec,
which we use everywhere else. We may use different software later but
I wanted to find out if there was a problem with the drive, controller
etc.

Speaking of the controller. I've noticed that the Backup device is
connected to the "Compaq Integrated Smart Array Controlled" which also
has the local drive connected to it. Do you think this could be a
problem? Maybe we should move the tape drive onto its own SCSI
controller.

Anthony

 

[Mary]

I have a similar problem and it seems to have started with
installation of Service pack 4 on our 2000 server.
We get the same error intermittantly on writing, and every
time on the verify as noted -
Error: The device reported an error on a request to read
data from the media.
We replaced the tape drive, all the tapes, installed a new
controller card - no fix.
Was wondering if you fixed your problem?