Quantum LTO-3 manual Operation Drive Maintenance

Chapter 3 Operation

Drive Maintenance

Cleaning the Tape Excessive tape debris or other material may accumulate on the tape heads

Driveif the drive is used with non-approved media or operated in a hot, dusty environment. In this case, the drive may experience excessive errors while reading or writing, and the amber Status LED remains on continuously during operation. This means that the drive heads need to be cleaned.

The LTO cleaning cartridge has the same dimensions as the data cartridge and contains an LTO-CM (Cartridge Memory), but is loaded with cleaning media instead of recording media. Always keep the cleaning cartridge in its protective case when not in use.

To clean the drive, insert an LTO Ultrium cleaning cartridge. During the cleaning process, both the Status and Drive LEDs remain lit. After the cleaning process is completed, the cartridge may be ejected automatically, or you may need to press the load/unload button to remove the cartridge, depending on the drive configuration. Each time you use the cleaning cartridge, write the date on the label for future reference.

Note: If the Status LED comes on continuously within 24 hours after a cleaning cycle, perform the cleaning cycle again. If, after three cleaning cycles in a 72-hour period, the Status LED lights up again, contact Customer Support.

Each time the drive is cleaned, the tape advances to a new, unused section of media. After approximately 50 cleanings, all of the media will be used up and you should discard the cleaning cartridge. When a cleaning cartridge is used up, the amber Status LED flashes, while the green Drive LED remains on. Do not reuse a spent cleaning cartridge

Note: The cleaning procedure will not run and the cleaning cartridge will be ejected in the following circumstances:

•The drive does not recognize the cartridge as an LTO cleaning cartridge.

•All of the tape on the cleaning cartridge has been used up (at EOT). In this case, the Status LED will flash rapidly while the Drive LED remains on.

LTO-3 Tape Drive User’s Guide 29