BUG: Dump/Load May Fail to Work with Older Tape Drives and SCSI

 Last reviewed: April 30, 1997
Article ID: Q163152
The information in this article applies to:
  • Microsoft SQL Server, version 6.0 Service Pack 3
  • Microsoft SQL Server, versions 6.5 Service Pack 1 and Service Pack 2
BUG #: 15689 (6.0) 
       16517 (6.5)

SYMPTOMS

A DUMP and LOAD may fail if a tape drive does not support variable block mode and the MaximumBlockSize reported by the GetTapeParameters API call is less than 32,768 bytes.

WORKAROUND

Dump databases, transaction logs and tables to disk devices, and then use the Windows NT Server Backup utility (located in Administrative Tools group) to back up the disk devices to tape.

STATUS

Microsoft has confirmed this to be a problem in Microsoft SQL Server version 6.0 Service Pack 3 and 6.5 Service Packs 1 and 2. We are researching this problem and will post new information here in the Microsoft Knowledge Base as it becomes available.

MORE INFORMATION

Microsoft has created a utility called SQLTPTST to determine the capabilities of a tape drive. You can obtain this tool from Microsoft Technical Support.

The following errors may occur with this problem:

  • The client receives the following error and the SQL Server errorlog does not contain any errors: 

          Msg 3201, Level 16, State 1
      Can't open dump device '\\.\tape0', device error or device off line.
      Please consult the SQL Server error log for more details.
  • The SQL Server errorlog contains the following errors: 

          kernel   Unnamed tape \\.\tape0 mounted on tape drive \\.\tape0
      kernel   tprhdrs: HDR1 label not found
      kernel   tbsreadhdr: Tape rejected

Additional query words:SP1 SP2 SP3 headeronly QIC blocksize variable
Keywords : kbbug6.00.sp3 kbbug6.50.sp1 kbusage SSrvAdmin SSrvGen
Version : 6.0 6.5
Platform : WINDOWS

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Last reviewed: April 30, 1997
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