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Can’t access Tolis Support – Need to restore tape contents to RAID
I’m using the current build of ArGest Backup 4 and the Tape Import tool. My archive was missing some tapes. I used the Tape Import Tool to import a tape, but when I go into ArGest Backup to restore the contents of the tape I JUST imported, the Archive tells me “No Archive Catalog Found.”
I went to the Tolis support page (http://support.tolisgroup.com/) and get “Problem loading page.” I sent an email to su*****@********up.com and am yet to hear back.
I desperately need to get the contents of that tape restored to my RAID. Isn’t there a Terminal command (tapectl) that I can use to copy the contents of the tape? I’m not a wiz at the Terminal, and if anybody can point me to directions or a tutorial or something similar, I’d be grateful.
If Tim Jones is still on this list and with Tolis, perhaps you can advise me on getting through to Tolis support.
Thank you.
Jim Curtis
jamesphilipcurtis.comMacPro7,1 24-core – 256 GB RAM – AMD Radeon Pro Vega II 32 GB – 10.15.5
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50 Replies
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when you eventually get Tim Jones CEL phone #, please publish this phone # on Creative Cow.
Do you see all the crazy political posts on all the news forums these days ? Well, I am kind of crazy. I feel that if Tolis decides that they are still in business, and will not respond promptly to people, then I should find out all their family members CEL phone #’s, and publish them on Creative Cow (and other forums) – because if you are paying for support, you should get PROMPT response. We can be the REVOLUTION ! We don’t need to storm his home – we just need to be able to get a question answered promptly, and if we have to publicly post that number here – THEN BE IT !
Viva La Revolution !
Bob Zelin
Bob Zelin
Rescue 1, Inc.
bobzelin@icloud.com -
Is there truly any possibility that Tolis is on the brink? I have quite a few tapes I started archiving with BRU PE many years ago. Their format is proprietary, and If I have to convert my tapes to another vendor’s format, that could take weeks.
I am paying for support. Their pledge when I signed on was they’d respond within 24 hours.
Their slogan is “It’s the restore that matters.” Well, I can’t restore my tape. And yes, that matters.
I have a workaround: Pull my ATTO HBA from my 2019 Mac, install it on my 2012 Mac, and use the last working build of BRU PE for High Sierra to import my tape catalog, restore the contents, and then copy them over ethernet to my editing Mac. Another downside is that all my PCI slots are in use in that computer, and using it for an archive station renders it useless for what I have it configured.
As sure as shinola, if I swap cards, I’ll hear from them asking me to try something on my new Mac and current ArGest app. That routine gets old quickly. However, that’s what I had to do for the first couple of months after their build for Catalina was released with loads of bugs and I became a reluctantly assigned beta tester.
Jim Curtis
jamesphilipcurtis.comMacPro7,1 24-core – 256 GB RAM – AMD Radeon Pro Vega II 32 GB – 10.15.5
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I’ve written to two email addresses at Tolis, including the email they supplied on their site for special COVID related issues the company is having (covidsupport@tolisgroup.com).
No replies.
This can’t be good. I’ve paid in advance for a year of support, and still have several months remaining on my contract. What’s worse is having tapes I can’t get media from without jumping the hoops I described in my previous post.
HEY TOLIS! IS ANYBODY HOME?
Jim Curtis
jamesphilipcurtis.comMacPro7,1 24-core – 256 GB RAM – AMD Radeon Pro Vega II 32 GB – 10.15.5
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It’s been a while since I’ve used BRU and I don’t have it currently installed but looking at the manual page 81 and 82 you can use macOS terminal commands without opening BRU/Argest app https://www.tolisgroup.com/assets/bru-pe-user-guide-3.1.pdf
Rewind tape to beginning:
tapectl -f ntape0 rewindRestore to path:
bru -xvvvf ntape0 [path to restore to]This assumes your drive is ntape0, you can confirm this with:
tapectl displayThis should restore the entire tape to the specified path. Good luck!
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THANK YOU, JAMES. I tried what you suggested.
I determined my device is ntape0 by entering: tapectl display
Here’s what I’m entering for the restore to line:
bru -xvvvf ntape0 Volumes/SAS RAID/ANTHEM restore from LTO
My RAID is named “SAS RAID”, the restore to folder is at the top level, named “ANTHEM restore from LTO” Does my file path look right?
I’m getting this error:
bru: [W130] warning – read error on first block: errno = 60, Operation timed out
bru: [A121] load volume 1 – press ENTER to continue on device ‘ntape0’
bru: [Q120] (C)ontinue (N)ew device (Q)uit [default: C] >>When I input C, then press Enter, it just repeats the error.
I get the same error if I delete “Volumes/” from my file path in the restore to line.
Jim Curtis
jamesphilipcurtis.comMacPro7,1 24-core – 256 GB RAM – AMD Radeon Pro Vega II 32 GB – 10.15.5
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ctrl+ C to exit that command.
Then
tapectl tell– what is the output?You will need to enclose the path in quotes if it has spaces eg
“/Volumes/SAS RAID/ANTHEM restore from LTO“
and I think you need the leading / as per my example.Looking at those error messages I’m not sure if this will fix your restore though.
What state is the drive and tape in? Has it been left since trying to import using Argest? You could try ejecting tape, power cycling your Mac and drive. Then trying the command again. I’m sure there’s a more elegant way to do this but my memory of BRU is a little rusty!
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Nothing happened when I entered
tapectl tell
It just reverted to the default prompt: JPC@2019-Mac-Pro ~ %I tried adding the quotes to the path, and I got the same error.
I have power cycled the tape drive, and entered Control-C in the Terminal before re-entering:
bru -xvvvf ntape0 “/Volumes/SAS RAID/ANTHEM restore from LTO”I suspect the issue is:
bru: [W130] warning – read error on first block: errno = 5, Input/output error
But, what that means is over my head.I can input tapectl header and it will return the name of the tape, and the name of one of the folders. Does this tell you anything?
JPC@2019-Mac-Pro ~ % tapectl header
ntape0a875209d 0 058217117 20000 01234 0 12 1 1 0 0 08323 0 0ntape0mac-osx2016-11-08 ANTHEM 2016 03DarwinJims-Mac15.6.0Darwin Kx86_64*** BRU BACKUP DATA *** Info: TOLIS Group, Inc. http://www.tolisgroup.com/usr/local/bin/bru -c -m -vvvvvvvvv -j -O -A -QB -f ntape0 -QX -L 2016-11-08 ANTHEM 2016 03 -4000-5362/9884da94 1 058217117 20000 02345 0 12 1 1 1 0 08323 0 41ed 2 1000003 0 22 0 0 05820f4a8581b429a581b429a 200 21 057891a5158217117% JPC@2019-Mac-Pro ~ %I appreciate your help.
Jim Curtis
jamesphilipcurtis.comMacPro7,1 24-core – 256 GB RAM – AMD Radeon Pro Vega II 32 GB – 10.15.5
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What does
bru -g ntape0give you? -
It returns
bru: [W130] warning – read error on first block: errno = 5, Input/output error
bru: [A121] load volume 1 – press ENTER to continue on device ‘ntape0’
bru: [Q120] (C)ontinue (N)ew device (Q)uit [default: C] >>With the tape drive unloaded, or no tape in it. So, I loaded the tape, and pressed ENTER, and this was added the Terminal window, same as before:
bru: [W130] warning – read error on first block: errno = 5, Input/output error
bru: [A121] load volume 1 – press ENTER to continue on device ‘ntape0’
bru: [Q120] (C)ontinue (N)ew device (Q)uit [default: C] >>I had ejected the tape and turned the drive off before doing this.
Jim Curtis
jamesphilipcurtis.comMacPro7,1 24-core – 256 GB RAM – AMD Radeon Pro Vega II 32 GB – 10.15.6
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Ok, put in a known good tape (one from your old system that you have successfully restored from your new system) and press C. What is the output?
I am on UK time but could have a more detailed look tomorrow if you still can’t get through to support. Contact me on LinkedIn
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