What does Windows error code 1104 (ERROR_NO_DATA_DETECTED) mean?

ERROR_NO_DATA_DETECTED

no more data is on the tape.

ERROR_NO_DATA_DETECTED means that the tape drive found no additional recorded data at the current or subsequent position.

Where the result appears

• Restore and verification scans.
• catalog reconstruction from tape.
• reading beyond the last recorded block.
• blank or partially written media.

Typical causes

• the operation reached the end of recorded data.
• the loaded cartridge is blank or not the expected volume.
• the tape was erased, truncated, or incompletely written.
• positioning selected an unused partition or area.

What to collect

• media barcode/serial, partition, file and block position, and backup-set identity.
• whether filemarks or setmarks were encountered first.
• write history, erase operations, and job completion records.
• drive sense information and tape health indicators.

Handling and recovery

Verify media identity and expected dataset length before concluding that data was lost. In a spanning restore, request the next cataloged volume. For a write job, distinguish normal blank space from an unexpectedly incomplete backup and retain job logs.

Common misinterpretation

This result does not necessarily indicate a read error. The drive may be functioning correctly and reporting that no recorded blocks remain.

References

• Microsoft: System error codes 1000–1299