graham.elliott@canremote.uucp (GRAHAM ELLIOTT) (11/05/90)
mu>We have a EXA-Byte 8200 and want to use it with a SGI 4D/20. mu>But when we try to tar some bytes we get messages like the following: mu>Oct 22 18:05:04 mira unix: NOTICE: SCSI tape #5 Uncorrectable media mu>error Oct 22 18:05:04 mira unix: NOTICE: SCSI tape #5 Unrecoverable mu>error Oct 22 18:05:04 mira unix: NOTICE: SCSI tape #5 had 2215 mu>recoverable Errors There was some traffic on a local newsgroup recently about media errors with Exabyte drives. In summary, the concensus was to avoid Sony tapes. We use BASF almost exclusively, without any problems. Graham. =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-==-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Graham Elliott aerostr@ecf.toronto.edu Institute for Aerospace Studies graham.elliott@canremote.UUCP University of Toronto, Canada --- %a #563
jeremy@cs.adelaide.edu.au (Jeremy Webber) (11/14/90)
In article <c9bff5d119ad2734a964@canremote.uucp> graham.elliott@canremote.uucp (GRAHAM ELLIOTT) writes:
There was some traffic on a local newsgroup recently about media
errors with Exabyte drives. In summary, the concensus was to avoid
Sony tapes. We use BASF almost exclusively, without any problems.
This is interesting, because discussion I have seen elsewhere suggests that
Sony is the _only_ brand you should use. I think some other brands cause
problems, but most likely any high-quality tape should work (poorer quality
ones are a definite no-no).
I've been using Sony tapes for years now on Exabytes with no problems.
However, I have seen problems caused by dirty heads (get a head cleaning tape)
and by a manufacturing fault with early model Exabytes (a bad batch of
capacitors), both of which caused (apparent) media errors. If your tape drive
has not been cleaned for some time it may be necessary to get someone who knows
what they're doing to disassemble the Exabyte and clean the heads by hand.
This should _not_ be attempted by someone who doesn't know how to handle video
heads as they can be destroyed very easily by mishandling.
-jeremy
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Jeremy Webber ACSnet: jeremy@chook.ua.oz
Digital Arts Film and Television, Internet: jeremy@chook.ua.oz.au
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Australia Papernet: +61 8 346 4537 (FAX)SOFPJF@VM.UOGUELPH.CA (Peter Jaspers-Fayer) (11/14/90)
Well over the past month now, I've heard people say "Stay away from MP tapes", and now "Don't use Sony". Well I can't help myself, I just have to say: We use Sony MP tapes exclusively. We have NEVER experienced any media problems. So there ! :-) Yeah, we see 3 or 4 recoverables now and again, but we see more on the cartridge drive. (The tapes are labelled "SONY(R) p6-120MP Video8"). /PJ No afiliation with Sony. My employers don't know I have opinions.
MOHRINGJ%ESVAX@dupont.COM (11/15/90)
AS Peter Jaspers-Fayer in Message-ID: <9011141008.aa15706@VGR.BRL.MIL>
writes;
>We use Sony MP tapes exclusively. We have NEVER experienced any media problems.
So there ! :-)
We also used (before I found data Cert.) without any "unrecoverable"
errors. Now I use the DATA Cert. for my backups but I still use the MP's for
backing up files and user accounts. (data Cert. are 3X's the cost.) One thing
I have always done, which I haven't seen mentioned here is a "mt ret" before
I use ANY tape. This command runs the tape to the end and rewinds it, putting
unifrom tension on the tape. It takes a few minutes, but what I've seen
reported here, appears to be worth it.
Jim Mohring
DuPont Experimental Station
Node: mohringj%esvax%dupont.com
Phone 302-695-4325
FAX 302-695-1173
"Silence is the ONLY acceptable substitute for Brains" nagy%warner.dnet@fngate ("Frank J. Nagy:VAX Guru,Wizard&Loose Cannon") (11/15/90)
We use *lots* of 8mm media here at Fermilab (>30,000 cassettes) in a wide mix of systems - mostly VAXes running VMS but also SGIs. We also interchange media between systems (raw data written on a VAX or a VME-based small kernel data acquisition system, 1st processing pass (In:raw, Output:Processed) on SGI or VAXes,other passes on VAXes, SGIs and an Amdahl. Besides data tapes for high energy physics experiments, we use 8mm tape for backup on a large number of systems with few media-related problems. We have done a bit of limited media testing and have found that the best media right now is the Fuji P6-120 Metal Powder tape. This is closely followed by the Sonly P6-120 MP (Video8) Metal Particle tape. These media are very inexpensive and seem to work better than the 3x$ "data certified" cartridges. In my experience, I have had more problems with "certified" cartridges from the 8mm drive vendors than I've ever had with the Sony or Fuji tape. We have also had big problems with the Sony Hi8 Metal-P tapes causing (apparently) damage to tape drives. We do not permit these tapes to be used any long and have returned the unused tapes to Sony for replacement. Note that this might just be a bad tape lot, since initial testing showed no problems and we continue to have *no* problems with the Sony Video8 tapes. = Dr. Frank J. Nagy "VAX Guru & Wizard" = Fermilab Computing Division/Distributed Computing Dept/Special Projects Grp = HEPnet/SPAN: WARNER::NAGY (43198::NAGY) or FNAL::NAGY (43009::NAGY) = Internet: NAGY@FNAL.FNAL.GOV = BitNet: NAGY@FNAL = USnail: Fermilab POB 500 MS/234 Batavia, IL 60510