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| ERROR_UNABLE_TO_UNLOAD_MEDIA | ERROR_BUS_RESET |
ERROR_MEDIA_CHANGED
the media in the drive may have changed.
ERROR_MEDIA_CHANGED means that a removable-media device indicates that the loaded medium or its generation changed since the caller established state.
Where the result appears
- removable disks, optical drives, tape devices, and card readers.
- applications caching volume geometry, labels, catalogs, or file handles.
- device reset or operator media exchange.
- virtual removable-media changes in hypervisors or remote management.
Typical causes
- the user or library replaced the medium.
- the device was reset and invalidated its change counter.
- a virtual-media provider attached a different image.
- the same physical medium was reloaded and must be revalidated.
What to collect
- device and volume identity before and after the event.
- Change counter, media serial/label, mount events, and handle timestamps.
- operator/library actions and virtual-media management logs.
- which cached geometry, catalog, or filesystem assumptions remain in use.
Handling and recovery
Invalidate cached media-dependent state, close stale handles, re-query the device, and verify identity before continuing. For writes, require explicit confirmation that the newly detected medium is the intended target.
Common misinterpretation
The wording says “may have changed” because the driver detects a generation transition, not necessarily a confirmed human swap. Revalidation is still required.
References
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