Discussions related to exporting backups to tape and backing up directly to tape.
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U.Sundermann
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Full Name: Uwe Sundermann
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LTO9 Failed to detect tape block size

Post by U.Sundermann »

Hello,

once or twice a week we got this error on tape backup:

"Failed to detect tape block size" and "The operation has stopped because an error has occurred..." and "The tape drive may have an hardware fault" and the tape is moved to the "Retired" pool.

It is an HPE LTO9 1x8 G8 Autoloder with an Windows 2022 Server and Veeam 12.0.0.1420

We also opened an Case: Case # 07193080 - LTO9 Tape Backup Media Pool "Retired"

The LTO9 was an new drive. This problem was there form the beginning. After calling the HPE Support the Drive was exchanged. But the problem still exists. New drive, same problem.

After deleting the Tape with the HP LT&T tool and removing ti from retired theis tape can be used. All new Tapes have been initializized and calibrated with the HPE Command View as needed. Also we changed the Tape Block Size to maximum. All HPE Drivers and SAS Contoller Firmware is at the newest version.

So the question, if anyone knows about this problems. I thonk, we don´t have an second broken LTO9 drive or all medias with probems..
Regards
Uwe Sundermann
david.domask
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Re: LTO9 Failed to detect tape block size

Post by david.domask »

Hi Uwe,

Thank you for your detailed post and for sharing the case number; just for clarification, as the referenced case 07193080 is closed after it was reported that the firmware/driver update helped, you are still experiencing the "failed to detect tape block size" issue or the intent on your post is to share the experience you had and the resolution?

If the issue is still continuing, I would advise let's get another Support Case open so the Support Team can review the most recent logs.

I'm not aware of any specific known issues (Veeam or otherwise) that would result in this, so if the issue is still occurring, please open a new Veeam Support case and provide logs from one of the affected jobs (use the 1st radio option, select any job which is experiencing the issue).

As a side question that you can check pretty fast, do you see any hplto error/warning events in your System Event log on the tape server? (/var/log naturally if you're using a Linux Tape server) If you are seeing errors from the tape server accessing the tape hardware, it might be a hint about an issue with the Tape Server itself (bad HBA, bad cable, etc)
David Domask | Product Management: Principal Analyst
U.Sundermann
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Full Name: Uwe Sundermann
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Re: LTO9 Failed to detect tape block size

Post by U.Sundermann »

Hello,

yes, the event log shows this:

Fehlerhafter Block bei Gerät \Device\Tape0.
Translated: Bad block on device

The Hardware is complete new and the drive has been changed. The case has closed because the drive was identified as the problem. May be i will try to use LTO8 tapes.

Best ragards
Uwe
david.domask
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Re: LTO9 Failed to detect tape block size

Post by david.domask »

Thank you for clarifying. I would still recommend an additional Support case just to track the issue and behavior, but I'm not aware of any Veeam specific issues that would trigger it at this time, but perhaps Support has different information and they can clarify a few points on the hardware setup and check for any potential misconfigurations.

Out of curiosity, when the drive was replaced, were the cabling/hba checked/replaced also? It's possible it's about the connection between tape server and tape hardware, but Support can assist with identifying this. That Windows is returning errors leads me to thinking about hardware still, and if you're not confident it's the drive, it's worth checking the other hardware elements.
David Domask | Product Management: Principal Analyst
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