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Loading and unloading tape cartridges

Learn about loading and unloading tape cartridges from this drive.

To avoid problems with loading and unloading tape cartridges use only one label on a cartridge. If the tape cartridge has too many labels or poorly placed labels, the drive-load mechanism might clog.
Parent topic: 160/320 GB internal tape drive VXA-320 (FC 6279)

Loading a tape cartridge

To load a tape cartridge, complete the following steps:
  1. Make sure that the tape device power is on.
  2. Grasp the tape cartridge by the outer edges, with the window side up and the write-protect switch facing you.
    Note: Make sure that the write-protect switch is correctly set.
  3. Slide the tape cartridge into the opening on the front of the device until the loading mechanism pulls the tape cartridge into the drive and the drive door closes.
To indicate that the load operation was successful, the ready status light comes on.

Unloading a tape cartridge

To unload a tape cartridge, complete the following steps:
  1. Make sure that the tape device power is on.
  2. Press the Unload button. The device rewinds, unloads, and ejects the tape cartridge.
    The process might take from 15 seconds to several minutes, depending on the position of the tape and the amount of data written. During this task, the status lights do the following sequence:
    • The ready status light turns off.
    • The activity status light flashes during the unload operation.
    • The activity status light turns off when the cartridge is ejected from the tape drive.
Attention: An emergency eject and reset feature can be used to release the tape cartridge and to reset the drive. Use the emergency eject feature if the cartridge does not move correctly or if the unload process fails. The emergency eject and reset feature procedure might result in loss of data. To perform an emergency eject operation of the tape cartridge or a reset operation of the drive, press and hold the Unload button for at least 10 seconds. If a cartridge is in the drive, the cartridge automatically ejects without rewinding the tape.

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Last updated: Thu, July 10, 2014