Finish an interrupted tag operation
If a tag write or clear is interrupted — the tag moved, power was lost, Spoolman was offline — the station remembers where it stopped and offers to finish, even after a restart. Until then it will not start a write or clear on a different tag.
What you see and what to do
Open MANAGE TAG on the touchscreen (browser: Manage tag).
| Touchscreen title | What it means | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| Finish writing this tag | A write stopped part-way. The tag may be half-written. | Put the same tag back on the reader and tap FINISH WRITING. |
| Finish clearing this tag | A clear stopped part-way. | Put the same tag back and tap FINISH CLEARING. |
| Link not saved yet | The tag is written and checked. Saving the link in Spoolman failed; the reason is shown. | Fix the reason, for example start Spoolman. Then tap TRY SAVING LINK AGAIN. The tag is not written again. |
| Unlink not finished | The tag is erased. Removing its link in Spoolman failed. | Fix the reason, then tap TRY UNLINKING AGAIN. The tag does not need to be on the reader. |
In the browser the same situations look like this:
| Situation | Browser |
|---|---|
| Write interrupted | Manage tag shows the button Resume tag workflow. |
| Link not saved | Retry Spoolman link or Skip linking in the tag dialog. |
| Clear interrupted | The Reuse this NFC tag? dialog opens again. |
| Unlink not finished | Tag cleared · cleanup pending with Retry Spoolman cleanup or Skip cleanup. In Manage tag the button reads Retry cleanup. |
Messages that point here
| Message | What to do |
|---|---|
Another tag (…) has an unfinished write or clear. Place that tag on the reader to finish it first. If it is lost, choose Skip recovery on the Tag screen. |
Finish the tag named in the message first, or skip its recovery. |
Retry pending association first |
Finish Link not saved yet first. |
Retry pending unlink first |
Finish Unlink not finished first. |
Finish Clear / Reuse recovery before another operation |
Finish Finish clearing this tag first. |
A message about Spoolman's tag list, for example Spoolman already links this tag to spool #N. Remove it from that spool in Spoolman, then try again. or Spoolman still links this tag after removing it; try again |
Spoolman 0.27 or later holds a link that does not fit. See Tag links in Spoolman's tag list, fix it in Spoolman, then retry. |
Clearing this tag was interrupted and the Spoolman settings have changed since. Restore the earlier Spoolman settings to finish, or choose Skip recovery on the station's Tag screen. |
Set the Spoolman settings (address, extra field names) back to what they were when you started the clear, then finish. Or skip recovery. |
Skip recovery
Use this only when you cannot finish: the tag is lost or damaged, or the spool no longer exists in Spoolman.
Touchscreen: tap the red SKIP RECOVERY, read the Skip recovery? screen, then tap SKIP RECOVERY again. BACK returns without skipping. Browser: Skip linking or Skip cleanup. An interrupted write or clear can only be skipped on the touchscreen.
The station then stops trying and shows Recovery skipped with "Stopped. The tag keeps its current contents. Spoolman may already be partly updated; check the spool there. Read the tag again before using it." Skipping changes neither the tag nor Spoolman, so what is left depends on where it stopped:
| You skipped | What is left behind | What to do afterwards |
|---|---|---|
| Finish writing this tag or Finish clearing this tag | The tag may be half-written. The station cannot finish it, and may not be able to write or clear it either. | Skip only if the tag is lost or damaged. If you still have it, place it again; discard it if the station says it can't be used. |
| Link not saved yet | The tag is written, but Spoolman does not know it belongs to the spool. When the tag was being moved, the old spool may already have lost its link. | Link it later: Manage tag → LINK TO A SPOOL (browser: Link to a spool). |
| Unlink not finished | The tag is erased, but Spoolman may still list it on the old spool. | In Spoolman, open the old spool, empty its nfc_uid and opentag_instance_uuid fields, and on Spoolman 0.27 or later remove the tag from its tag list. |
Good to know
- An unfinished operation survives a restart.
- A factory reset or USB reinstall forgets it. A half-written tag can then no longer be finished.
- To avoid interruptions, keep the tag on the reader until the screen says done.
While the tag is being written the screen shows
Keep the tag on the reader.and a block counter.