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

Summary: This Article describes a bug with Red Hat 8.10 and 9.4 which prevents the configuration or use of tape devices.

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/labeling tapes: 
    /dev/st0: Input/output error
scsidev@2.0.1: Input/output error

 

Cause

Red Hat has a bug file for the problem: Contact Red Hat Support for details on RHEL-50156. Further information can be found in 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 the bug's 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, inf NetWorker is unable to access the devices despite them being visible using /proc/scsi/scsi.
  • As of 2025-10-23, Red Hat appears to have fixes for version 8.10 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 required errata are not yet available. Research is going on in RHEL-79681 and RHEL-62269
  • RHEL9.5: The required errata are not yet available. Research is going on in RHEL-79680 and RHEL-62266
  • 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, please 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: 24 Oct 2025
Version:  2
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