Solaris

# mt stat
HP DDS-4 DAT (Sun) tape drive:
sense key(0x0)= No Additional Sense residual= 0 retries= 0
file no= 0 block no= 0


mt -f /dev/rmt/0mn erase
/dev/rmt/0mn: write protected or reserved.

Getting error while ufsdump ....

--- Dumping / to /dev/rmt/0mn ---
DUMP: Date of this level 0 dump: Fri Apr 02 04:04:16 2010
DUMP: Date of last level 0 dump: the epoch
DUMP: Dumping /dev/md/rdsk/d0 /) to /dev/rmt/0mn.
DUMP: Mapping (Pass I) [regular files]
DUMP: Mapping (Pass II) [directories]
DUMP: Writing 32 Kilobyte records
DUMP: Estimated 1594010 blocks (778.33MB).
DUMP: NEEDS ATTENTION: Cannot open `/dev/rmt/0mn'. Do you want to retry the open?: ("yes" or "no") YES

DUMP: NEEDS ATTENTION: Cannot open `/dev/rmt/0mn'. Do you want to retry the open?: ("yes" or "no") YES

DUMP: NEEDS ATTENTION: Cannot open `/dev/rmt/0mn'. Do you want to retry the open?: ("yes" or "no") YES

DUMP: NEEDS ATTENTION: Cannot open `/dev/rmt/0mn'. Do you want to retry the open?: ("yes" or "no") YES

---------- Post updated at 05:32 AM ---------- Previous update was at 04:28 AM ----------

The tape drive is connected on a sparc machine

check if the tape is write protected..

Yes please physically check the tape wethet it is write protected or not.
There will be a sliding door on the tape.That should be open.

Hi,

check the status of the tape drive with below command befor proceed

# mt -f /dev/rmt/n status

Status is already showing "tape inside the drive"
Please check first post..

# mt stat
HP DDS-4 DAT (Sun) tape drive:
sense key(0x0)= No Additional Sense residual= 0 retries= 0
file no= 0 block no= 0

Some more checks:
Check that physical tape is DDS4 (not DDS3 or a Cleaning Tape).

Run unix "fuser" on all the /dev/rmt/0m* devices. Are there any stuck processes holding on to the device?

Have you run off the end of the tape?
All your commands use the "no-rewind" device and there is no "mt rewind" command posted.
Should an "mt erase" actually be using the "no-rewind" device?
Some devices don't allow "mt erase" - has this worked before?