NetWorker: Red Hat 8.10 / 9.4: I/O errors accessing tape

Summary: This article describes an issue with Red Hat 8.10 and 9.4 that prevents the configuration or use of tape devices with NetWorker.

This article applies to This article does not apply to This article is not tied to any specific product. Not all product versions are identified in this article.
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Symptoms

  • Recent install or upgrade to Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9.4 or 8.10
  • Errors attempting to configure a tape library, running inquire, or mounting or labeling tapes: 
    /dev/st0: Input/output error
scsidev@2.0.1: Input/output error

Cause

Red Hat has a bug filed for the problem. Contact Red Hat Support for details on RHEL-50156. More information can be found at https://access.redhat.com/solutions/7073119This hyperlink is taking you to a website outside of Dell Technologies..

Resolution

There are several ways to deal with the problem before its resolution:

  • Boot the affected system using 8.9 or 9.3 kernels, respectively. See https://access.redhat.com/solutions/226423This hyperlink is taking you to a website outside of Dell Technologies. for details on booting with a pervious kernel.
  • Moving a tape cartridge manually using mtx or sjimm and running 'mt -f <device_handle> rewind' on each in turn may correct the issue appearing after reboot, if NetWorker is unable to access the devices despite them being visible using /proc/scsi/scsi.
  • As of 2026-06-18, Red Hat appears to have fixes for version 8.10, 9.4, and 9.6. From the bug record:
    • RHEL8.10: The underlying issues are fixed in kernel-4.18.0-553.42.1.el8_10 (released with RHBA-2025:2352) and later. The fixes were developed in RHEL-78415 and RHEL-28790.
    • RHEL9.4: The underlying issues are fixed in kernel-5.14.0-427.117.1.el9_4 (released with RHSA-2026:6310) and later. The fixes were developed in RHEL-79681 and RHEL-62269.
    • RHEL9.5: Upgrade to a stream where a fix is available.
    • RHEL9.6GA has kernel-5.14.0-570.12.1.el9_6 (released with RHSA-2025:6966), which contains the fixes for this issue. The fixes were developed in RHEL-78429 and RHEL-28791.
Note: This issue is specific to the Red Hat Enterprise Linux version mentioned. NetWorker Support provides this information to help with faster problem identification. For further assistance, contact Red Hat Support. The links provided were valid at the time of writing but may require an active Red Hat subscription for access.

Affected Products

NetWorker
Article Properties
Article Number: 000228322
Article Type: Solution
Last Modified: 03 محرم 1448
Version:  3
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