Tape Media is marked as "Not appendable (End Marker Unreadable)" if the Backup Exec Job Engine stops during a backup.
Problem
Tape Media is marked as "Not appendable(End marker unreadable)" if the Backup Exec Job Engine stops during a backup.
Error Message
Not appendable (End marker unreadable)
Cause
1. If the Backup Exec Job Engine service (bengine.exe) stops for any reason during a backup, the end marker on a tape may not be written to the media. Backup Exec will then view the tape as "Not appendable" and "End marker unreadable". This happens because it does not know at what point on the tape the last backup stopped writing to it. Once this occurs, the tape must be erased and an overwrite job has to be run prior to being able to append to the tape again.
2. A bad tape could cause this issue by corrupting the end marker. Erasing the tape can get this resolved.
3. A bad tape drive can cause this issue by being unable to write the end marker to the tape. If there are many hard read or hard write errors on the drive, contact the hardware manufacturer.
4. A complete network connection outage caused by a faulty cable, controller, router or switch, due the end marker on a tape may not be written to the media. This happens because it does not know at what point on the tape the last backup stopped writing to it. Once this occurs, the tape must be erased and an overwrite job has to be run prior to being able to append to the tape again.
Solution
1. Create a Duplicate backup job to duplicate the data from the tape to a disk or to another tape.
For more information on this procedure, refer to documents:
2. Run a Quick erase on the tape that could not be appended.
3. Duplicate the data back to the tape, if it is necessary for that data to be on the original tape, then run append jobs to it afterward.
**To prevent the issue from re-occurring, attempt to fix or isolate the cause with the following suggestions:
1. Make sure Backup Exec is updated with latest hotfixes.
2. Run a Quick erase on all tapes (new and used) before overwriting the affected Tapes or brand new one.
3. Check for hardware errors in the system event logs and clean the tape drive.
4. Change the media by using a new or different tapes.
5. Make sure the media server is not rebooting and/or the Backup Exec Services are not stopping during a backup.
6. If a backup or restore job needs to be canceled, do so via the Backup Exec User Interface and allow it to cancel without stopping the services.
Was this content helpful?
Translated Content
Please note that this document is a translation from English, and may have been machine-translated. It is possible that updates have been made to the original version after this document was translated and published. Veritas does not guarantee the accuracy regarding the completeness of the translation. You may also refer to the English Version of this knowledge base article for up-to-date information.