The short answer is yes, a DELETE with DISCARDDATA=YES will update the
ADSM data base and return your tape to scratch.

Could you be more specific about the error that cause you to get a
read-only status?

If a robot problem (failure to mount a tape, for example) has caused the
tape to be marked read-only or unavailable, changing the access mode
back to read/write should work.  You should then be able to do a MOVE
DATA to get the data onto another volume.  If that doesn't work, you
have a tape drive problem that is creating unreadable tapes, or the
tapes themselves are bad.  If the tape is bad, you should eject it from
the library, not return it to scratch.


When I have a bad tape, I first try a MOVE DATA.   ADSM will move
anything it can read, and that is the fastest form of recovery.

Once the tape contains only unreadable data, the ideal way to recover
(if this is a primary pool tape and you have copy pool tapes available),
is  to do a RESTORE VOLUME.  ADSM will rebuild the data into your
primary pool from your copy pool tapes.  And when the RESTORE completes,
it will return the damaged tape to SCRATCH for you.

If you can't do that, an AUDIT FIX (if the tape is still mountable) or a
DELETE with DISCARDDATA=YES will clean up the data base for you.  Before
you discard it, you probably want to list the contents to see what you
are about to lose.

Hope this helps.

===============================================================
Wanda Prather
Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Lab
301-953-6000 X8769
wanda_prather AT jhuapl DOT edu

"Intelligence has much less practical application than you'd think."
              - Scott Adams/Dilbert
===============================================================


        ----------
        From:   Richard A. Krogel[SMTP:rkrogel AT pop500.gsfc.nasa DOT gov]
        Sent:   Thursday, January 08, 1998 11:02 AM
        To:     ADSM-L AT vm.marist DOT edu
        Subject:        ADSM Storage Pool Tapes, Access Mode Read-Only?

        Hello,

        Error conditions in our STK silo have caused numerous tapes to
be marked
        with an error status and as read-only.  We have been unable to
move the
        data to another volume or reuse the tape by changing the access
mode back
        to read/write.  We would like to reuse these tapes by returning
them to the
        ACSLS scratch pool.  If we delete a volume discarding the data,
is the
        database updated as to the unavailability of this data?

        Anyone have a recommendation of how best to handle this
situation?

        Thanks


        *****
        Richard A. Krogel
rich.krogel AT gsfc.nasa DOT gov
        Senior Principal Systems Engineer         http://www.rmstech.com
        RMS Information Systems Inc.              voice:  301.286.3592
        NASA/GSFC Code 550.9                      fax:    301.286.1730
        Greenbelt, MD 20771                       page:   301.708.8353