You might
need to clean your tape drive. Use the procedure in this topic to perform
this task.
Clean the device whenever the Fault status light comes on
or a system I/O error related to the device occurs.
Attention: Use
only the recommended cleaning cartridge to clean the tape drive. Use
of other than recommended cleaning cartridges can damage your drive
and might void the warranty.
The
tape drive will turn on the cleaning indicator for the
following
reasons: - The tape drive exceeds internal preset error thresholds in the drive.
- A cleaning cartridge that has been used the maximum number of times is
inserted in the drive. The cleaning indicator is turned on to indicate that
the cleaning process was not done and the cleaning cartridge is no longer
usable.
- The tape drive exceeds the maximum recommended time between cleaning.
The maximum recommended time between preventive-maintenance cleaning
is 50 tape motion hours. Tape motion hours are defined as the time that the
tape drive is moving tape. If the tape drive reaches 50 tape motion hours
since the tape drives was last cleaned, the drive will turn on the cleaning
required LED to indicate the drive needs cleaning. The tape drive will continue
to operate but the tape drive should be cleaned at the next opportunity to
insert a cleaning cartridge.
To
clean the tape drive, complete the following steps:
- Make sure that the power is on to the tape drive.
- If a tape cartridge is in the tape drive, eject and remove
the cartridge.
Note: Some cleaning cartridges have white
dots on the window side that are designed to be used to log the use
of the cartridge. Each time the cartridge is used, mark one of the
dots on the cartridge with a pen or marker. When all of the dots have
been marked, discard the cleaning cartridge.
- Grasp the cleaning cartridge by the outer edges, with the
window-side up and the write-protect switch facing you.
- Slide the cartridge into the opening on the front of the
drive until the loading mechanism pulls the cartridge into the drive
and the drive door closes.
After the cleaning cartridge has been inserted, the remainder
of the cleaning process is automatic. The tape drive does the following actions:
- Loads the cleaning cartridge into the tape drive.
- Cleans the drive by moving the cleaning tape forward for approximately
30 seconds.
- Unloads the cleaning cartridge when the cleaning operation is
complete.
- Indicates a successful cleaning operation by turning off the Fault
status light (if the Fault light was on prior to the cleaning process.
Note: If
the cleaning operation completes but the Fault light remains on, repeat
the cleaning procedure with a new cleaning cartridge. If the light
still remains on, contact your authorized service provider.
To determine how many times a cleaning cartridge can be used,
check the information printed on the cartridge. If you attempt to
use a depleted cleaning cartridge, the tape drive automatically detects
the error and ejects the cartridge. If the Fault status light was
on prior to the cleaning process, it stays on; if the Fault light
was off, the depleted cartridge causes the light to come on.
If
a system error occurs, clean the drive and retry the operation. If
the operation fails, replace the data cartridge, clean the drive again,
then retry the operation.