Date: Tue, 02 Apr 2002 19:27:38 -0700 From: Ian <freebsd@damnhippie.dyndns.org> To: freebsd-stable <freebsd-stable@freebsd.org> Subject: Re: SCSI tape error using Amanda/dump Message-ID: <B8CFB6AA.BB3A%freebsd@damnhippie.dyndns.org> In-Reply-To: <Pine.BSF.4.21.0204021923460.313-100000@veager.jwweeks.com>
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>> FWIW, anybody know of a way to "rejuvinate" corrupted, >> but otherwise little used tapes? > > Have you tried a large magnet? Sounds like a joke, but it works on other > magnetic media. I used to see these commercial sold to clear VHS > tapes. If the tape is otherwise un-usable, give it a try. > > -- > Jim It needs to be a moving magnetic field to wipe a tape, a fixed magnet won't do it, not even a huge one. (I tested once using the 22lb magnets on my 17" woofers, and they wouldn't wipe a floppy or a DAT tape.) A tape head demagnetizer, a transformer, or anything really that generates a good strong magnetic field using alternating current will wipe the media nicely. On the other hand, I've never heard of a DAT tape that you couldn't overwrite following an error, in the 10 years I've been using DAT. I've had a few tapes become so error-prone I've thrown them away, but they're not like pre-formatted with hard sectors or anything. Try using dd to copy from /dev/zero to the tape and if it dies in the same spot every time I'd say the tape is physically bad at that spot. I've had no problems wuth Fuji tapes. (I once read there are really only 3 manufacturers of magnetic tape in the world, and brand name makes little difference. That was about 8-10 years ago though.) -- Ian To Unsubscribe: send mail to majordomo@FreeBSD.org with "unsubscribe freebsd-stable" in the body of the message
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