UNIX for Dummies Questions & Answers

I fairly new to UNIX and LINUX. I am trying to resolve an issue with my SCO OpenServer Release 5. My backups are failing with the following error:

cpio: MT_RECOVER failed for this device: Bad address (error 14)
cpio: Error occurred during end-of-media operations.
cpio: Please reissue the cpio command using -K with appropriate media size.

I am using a SCSI Dell DDS4 Tape Drive. I am using a script to run daily backups but here is the command I am using to initiate the backup:

cpio -ocvB -P0,1 >$TapeDrive 2>$List

Let me know of any thoughts you may have on how to resolve this.

Thanks,

Austin

Use a command line argument -K with the cpio command.

The -K value tells cpio the size of the media in 1K blocks.
So, for example, you'd use -K 40000000 for a 40GB drive.
When cpio has put this much data on the tape it will call for a new (continuation) volume.
Normally, you would set the -K value to the compressed capacity. So for a 20/40GB drive, you would specify 40GB.

For example, depending on your tape drive capacity.....

Code:

cpio -ocvB -K40000000 -P0,1 >$TapeDrive 2>$List

Completely unassociated with your question you might also consider using a -C switch to speed things up. eg, -C10240 will write the tape in 10k blocks.

I edited the cpio command in the script as you suggested, but I am still receiving the same error.

What's in $TapeDrive ? Is it a "no-rewind" device?

If it's a "no-rewind" device, maybe you are attempting to append to a tape which is already full.

The tape drive is not a "no-rewind" device.

It is a Dell DDS4.

So this device is a DDS-4 20/40GB DAT, yes?

What value did you put on -K?

I suggest that you halve the value, ie, no allowance for compression.

All the -K value does is tell the backup how much data to put on each tape thereby stopping the backup running over the end of the media. So reduce this number drastically and see what happens. Okay, if you use a silly small number then it won't put much data on each tape but at least you'll know that it's working.

What capacity do you reckon the tape is?

Yes its a DDS-4 20/40 DAT.

The tapes I use with this drive are 24GB.

I used 24000000 for my -K value.

would you suggest cutting that in half?

I used the same drive and tapes for the last 8 months without any issue and now I receive the same error every time a run a backup. I am just wondering if its not a system issue that would be causing the failure.