#QB problem
12 messages in this thread
I'm having a problem with Quarterback 6.0.1 that makes it near useless for
reliable backup. When QB writes to my A3070 tape drive (150MB), it puts
about 133MB on a tape, then asks for a second tape. After writing the
remaining files to the second tape, it then asks for the first tape again
for read verification. The problem is, it only verifies about 79MB on the
first tape before asking for the second tape, and then it gets an error,
because of course the data it expects to find on the second tape is still
on the first tape.
Is there a bugfix update for 6.0.1 to fix this problem? If not, I'll have
to revert back to the previous version I used here. I could trust that
one, because it always let me get to all the files on my backups. Version
6.0.1 won't.
– dan
Dan,
don't know what's causing your particular problem, but can suggest the
lazy man's solution: use a 6250 tape (250 megs). Although not
documented, the 3070 will use the longer tape just fine, and eliminate
your tape swapping woes and give you true unattended backup.
Gary
on AutoPilot from Charlotte, NC
Using a larger tape won't solve my problem. Several weeks ago, I had a
similar problem when rearranging my partitions. I backed up all my
partitions, and the tapes all verified fine (I had no partitions that
needed a second tape at that time). Then I repartitioned and reformatted
the drive, and attempted to restore from the tapes. My largest partition
failed to restore completely, because QB asked for a second tape after
only reading part of what was on the tape. The partition only had 80-some
MB on it, and there _WAS_NO_ second tape. QB refused to believe there was
no second tape. I was less than happy with QB just about then, since I've
always been able to trust it previously.
Luckily, I had an earlier backup and it only took me a few hours extra to
get things right again. But I most definitely shouldn't have had to do
that… 🙁
– dan
Dan,
Did you try the restore a second time? You may have a problem with termination
or bus noise that is causing the problem. I just finished comparing 15 sessions
spanning two tapes using equipment very much like yours without a problem. I'll
backup my 300MB partition next and let you know.
Randy Brooks
Central Coast Software
A division of New Horizon Software, Inc.
Yes, I did. When I'm faced with the prospect of several hours work trying
to reconstruct my partitions, you can believe that I tried the restore
several (more than three) times before giving up on it.
– dan
Dan,
You might need to clean your tape drive. Or if your real unlucky, your
drive may need servicing, like I think mine does. 🙁
I cleaned my drive but I'm was still having troubles with read errors and
I had gotten several of those messages asking for the second tape, even
though I can easily fit two sets of backups on one tape. While cleaning
the tape drive I noticed the the read/write head seemed to be showing
wear, so I suppose its time to take it in to the shop. Luckily the
problems have only occured with the second set of backups to a tape so for
now I'm only putting one set of backups on a tape.
//
\X/ Amiga or bust! Gary Bonnstetter, Bonnsoft
Dan,
Are you using any tapes that were ever used on Unix systems without being bulk
erased. The A3070 has a strange rom "Feature" that can cause tapes to be read
in a different format than they are written. It manifests itself with a failure
to recognise data past ~79M. I will look into the problem at this end and see
what I can find out.
Randy Brooks
Central Coast Software
A division of New Horizons Software, Inc.
No, these tapes are all 3M DC6150 tapes, and they've never been used on
any system other than my own Amiga. I do reuse them, but this happened
with a brand new, not previously used, fresh from the plastic wrapping,
tape.
Why is it that I've never seen this problem with QB 5.x, but only with
6.0.1?
– dan
Dan,
I just finished my first test situation that I had hoped would duplicate your
conditions and had no problems (I filled a 6150 and a 6250) I am afraid that my
next test will require backing up a volume that is on slow network so I won't
know more until tomorrow as I'll have to leave it going overnight.
Did you try the compare a second time after a rewind? Maybe your drive got in a
confused state somehow.
Randy Brooks
Central Coast Software
A division of New Horizons Software, Inc.
ps My compare just went past the tape 1-2 boundry and is still going strong.
I'll abort it now and start my single drive backup and see how it goes.
No, I didn't try the compare a second time. If it doesn't work on the
first try, I just don't trust it to save me a month later (or whenever I'm
unfortunate enough to need it). Unreliable backups are simply not worth
the trouble…
– dan
Dan,
Give me a rundown of your setup again. My test ran right past the ~79MB point
on the compare. I'll leave it going the rest of the day (I'm backing up across
a doubletalk network) but once it starts reading the tenth track you can be
pretty sure that the drive is reading in the right format.
Also does your 3070 have the Caliper mechinism or does it report something
else. To my knowledge only the Caliper supplied mechanisms had the rom
"Feature" that I mentioned in my earlier message.
Randy Brooks
Central Coast Software
A division of New Horizons Software, Inc.
This is my setup: A2000, A2630, HardFrame with several disk drives and an
A3070 (Caliper CP150 drive) attached, 4M 32-bit fast RAM, 4M 16-bit fast
RAM, 1MB chip RAM, Kickstart <mumble>, and Workbench <mumble>. The
previous version of Quarterback (5.whatever) didn't have this problem, but
QB 6.0.1 does, so I can't see how it'd be a hardware problem, since I
haven't changed the hardware.
Several weeks ago, I tried to restore a partition that had backed up and
verified successfully, but QB asked for a (nonexistent) second tape
somewhere near 80MB during the restore (I don't recall the exact number).
A few days ago, a different tape failed to verify after backing up 148MB
of data onto 2 tapes. The first tape had about 133MB on it, but QB asked
for the second tape after verifying only about 80MB from the first tape.
Just for grins, I put in the second tape, which it then said had an error,
and then it read to the end of the tape and asked for a (nonexistent)
third tape.
– dan