Verification Failures
Updated July 17, 2026
Verification Failures
When a verification does not come back clean, one of three things happens: the copy is marked Failed, the copy is marked Missing, or, when the check could not actually run (a transport error, an offline cartridge), the status is left untouched so you can retry. Unproven is not condemned. This article explains what each state means, what Hiberden will and will not do about it, and how you get back to protected.
What Failed means
Failed means the copy could not be proven intact by reading it back: either Hiberden re-read the copy from its medium and the re-hash did not match the SHA-256 recorded when the archive was created, or the copy could not be read all the way through.
A copy can also earn this mark at restore time: if the copy you are restoring from fails its read-back on the way out, it is marked Failed at that moment and the app says it plainly: "X is corrupt: it failed its read-back hash and was marked Failed."
What Missing means
Missing means the copy is not where the catalog expected it. The file is gone from the folder or share, the object is gone from the bucket, or, for tape, the copy's own cartridge is mounted and the archive is not on it. During a restore the prompt for this case reads: "X is gone: it was marked Missing."
Hiberden informs, it never repairs
On any failure, Hiberden tells you and stops there. It never rewrites, repairs, or deletes a copy on its own. An archive tool must not silently change what you treat as immutable, so it reports the truth and leaves the decision to you.
The practical consequences are visible, not hidden: a Failed or Missing copy is no longer offered as a restore source (only Verified copies are), and the archive's coverage badge drops to match.
How to restore protection
The fix is always the same shape: re-write that copy from a good one.
- Confirm you still have a good source. Verify the archive's other copies so you know at least one is intact. See Running a verification.
- Fix the underlying cause. A failing disk, a moved or renamed file, a bucket lifecycle rule that deleted objects. Re-writing onto a broken medium just fails again.
- Write that copy again from a good source. In this build the path is: remove the failed copy's record, then use Add archive on the folder to write it again. If the original folder is gone, restore the archive from a Verified copy first; that gives you healthy bytes, re-hashed on the way out.
One shortcut worth trying first: if a disk or NAS copy shows Missing and the drive or share was simply disconnected, reconnect it and run the verification again. Verification reads the actual medium, so a clean read-back is what settles the question.
Tape: what can and cannot prove Missing
Tape gets a stricter rule, because a cartridge that is not in the drive proves nothing. A tape copy is marked Missing only when its own cartridge, matched by the LTFS volume label, is mounted and the archive is not on it. Anything less leaves the status untouched:
- The cartridge is not loaded: status unchanged. During a restore the app prompts "X is offline: the cartridge isn't loaded. Its status was left unchanged." and offers "Retry this copy".
- The wrong cartridge is in the drive, or the cartridge cannot be read: status unchanged.
- A mount drops partway through a restore: status unchanged.
An offline tape is unknown, not gone: a tape copy is never condemned unless its own cartridge was actually checked. (Disk and NAS play by the simpler rule above: an unreachable path shows as Missing until the medium is back and a re-run verification proves otherwise.)
When you are stuck
If a copy keeps failing and you cannot see why, or a status does not match what you can see on the medium, export a support bundle (Settings > General > Support bundle) and email it to support@hiberden.app. It is a single zip that you review and send yourself; nothing is uploaded automatically. See Export a support bundle.