Off-topic Onstream ADR30 tape problem

[Paul R. Ganci]

J. Erik Hemdal wrote:

>I've never seen "software write protected" tapes, but I have seen
>soft-formatted ones.  If the tapes are not truly factory-fresh and
>formatted, then all bets can be off.  If they were "bulk-erased" (where
>someone applies an external magnetic field to thoroughly erase data), if the
>tapes were mishandled en route to you or magnetically damaged, the
>formatting can go awry.  Then you simply might not be able to use the tapes
>at all, without re-establishing a clean reformat.  That might not be
>possible without equipment from the tape manufacturer's factory.  It's not
>what's recorded on the tape that's the problem, but what ISN'T there that
>needs to be.
>
>  
>
Thanks for this little tidbit. I had to go through some real contortions 
in that I had to install Win2K on a spare drive and load an OnStream 
supplied program called Tape at Once. The Tape at Once program allowed me to 
format the ADR30 cartridges. After I did that to the 6 tapes in question 
I rebooted into FC1 and I could write perfectly to them. I did a series 
of writes and reads using the bacula btape program to test the media so 
I am confident the tapes are suitable for my home backup application.

-- 
Paul (ganci at nurdog.com)