Symptoms
When you perform a database backup to disk or tape, or a restore from disk or tape, the following error message may occur:
SQL Server 7.0
Server: Msg 3266, Level 16, State 1, Line 1
The Microsoft Tape Format (MTF) soft filemark database on backup device ‘devicename’ cannot be read, inhibiting random access.
Server: Msg 3013, Level 16, State 1, Line 1
Backup or restore operation terminating abnormally. SQL Server 2000
Server: Msg 3266, Level 16, State 1, Line 1
The backup data in ‘devicename’ is incorrectly formatted. Backups cannot be appended, but existing backup sets may still be usable.
Server: Msg 3013, Level 16, State 1, Line 1
BACKUP DATABASE is terminating abnormally. SQL Server 2005
Server: Msg 3013, Level 16, State 1, Line 1
The backup data at the end of ‘devicename’ is incorrectly formatted. Backup sets on the media might be damaged and unusable. To determine the backup sets on the media, use RESTORE HEADERONLY. To determine the usability of the backup sets, run RESTORE VERIFYONLY. If all of the backup sets are incomplete, reformat the media using BACKUP WITH FORMAT, which destroys all the backup sets.
Server: Msg 3013, Level 16, State 1, Line 1
BACKUP DATABASE is terminating abnormally.
Resolution
A filemark in the backup device could not be read. There are many reasons why you may encounter a filemark error. Some of the reasons include the following :A media failure may occur on the device where the backup is located.A write failure may occur during the creation of the backup.
For example, a loss of connectivity may occur during a network backup. Or, a failure of the IO path to flush the write to disk may occur after the write to disk was reported to SQL server as successful.
