25.1 Common Issues

Since most modern tape systems today use the IBM Linear Tape Filesystem, it is quite common for media to find issues. This is because any tape left loaded into a drive can be subject to LTFS failures due to misuse of the drives. Such actions as power cycle, resets, and unloads can cause the LTFS system to become corrupted on tape. This can lead to several different issues all related to the same issue of failing to mount the volume.

LTFS file system cannot be mounted.

On some older tapes, (from other archive vendors) the LTFS filesystem may struggle or fail entirely mounting and making available a tape.

An example error within the logs would contain:

  • 2/7/2025 8:41:29 AM[1]:30adf3 LTFS30252I Logical block protection is disabled.
  • 2/7/2025 8:41:29 AM[1]:30adf3 LTFS11026I Performing a full medium consistency check.
  • 2/7/2025 8:41:29 AM[1]:30adf3 LTFS17037E XML parser: failed to read from XML stream.
  • 2/7/2025 8:41:29 AM[1]:30adf3 LTFS17016E Cannot parse index direct from medium (-5000).
  • 2/7/2025 8:41:29 AM[1]:30adf3 LTFS11194W Cannot read index: failed to read and parse XML data (-5000).
  • 2/7/2025 8:41:29 AM[1]:30adf3 LTFS11220E Medium check failed: extra blocks detected. Run ltfsck.
  • 2/7/2025 8:41:29 AM[1]:30adf3 LTFS11027E Cannot mount volume: medium consistency check failed.
  • 2/7/2025 8:41:29 AM[1]:Volume is inconsistent.
  • 2/7/2025 8:41:29 AM[1]:Executing ltfsck /dev/sg15

Note that the archive system will attempt to rectify this situation by running an ‘ltfsck’ command itself on the volume. The outcome of this check can be one of two things:

  1. The volume is corrected, and all data becomes available
  2. The volume is unable to be corrected, and the data is unavailable.

How do I troubleshoot a tape that is not recognized by SF Migrate?

  • Run
    1. sudo ./NxScsi -u to rescan devices.
  • Check for errors.
    1. /usr/share/SFS/logs/NxScsi.log
  • Verify SCSI cabling and power.

How do I troubleshoot a job that is stuck in the queue?

  • Use Web UI or NxQueue to inspect job status.
  • Check
    1. /usr/share/SFS/logs/NxQueue.log.
  • Restart NxQueue service if necessary.

How do I troubleshoot database connection issues?

  • Verify /usr/share/SFS/connectionInfo.txt settings.
  • Test MySQL connectivity with mysql -u sfs -p sfs_database.
  • Check /usr/share/SFS/logs/NxCore.log for DB errors.