BUG: Loading Database Dumps Spanning Tapes Fails

• Microsoft SQL Server, version 6.5

SYMPTOMS

When you attempt to load a dump that spans tapes, the load may fail, and you may receive the following errors:

   Msg 4032, Level 16, State 2
   Cannot find file 10 on tape 'SS0001'.

   Msg 3203, Level 16, State 2
   Read on dump device '\\.\TAPE0' failed, vsn=0 return=-2 status=-2.
   Please consult the SQL Server error log for more details.

   Msg 3103, Level 16, State 1
   Unexpected end-of-dump while loading database, attempting to continue.
   Please verify database integrity.

• One of the tapes that the dump continued or spanned onto already contains a SQL Server dump.
• The NOINIT option (the default option) was used on the dump that created the tapes.

WORKAROUND

To work around this problem, do one of the following:

• Always make sure that the tapes you are using are blank.
• Use the INIT option on the DUMP DATABASE command, so that the spanned tapes are overwritten.
• Use tapes that supply more backup capacity than you require, so that spanning is not necessary.
• Use stripe dumps to multiple tape devices, so that spanning is not necessary.

STATUS

Microsoft has confirmed this to be a problem in Microsoft SQL Server version 6.5. We are researching this problem and will post new information here in the Microsoft Knowledge Base as it becomes available.