ATAPI Interface Chapter 5
Seagate Travan 40 Product Manual Page 41
• Drive hardware defects
• Worn out media or wrong media
• Expired cleaning tapes
• Abnormal error conditions
The TapeAlert information is accessed via a Log Sense page, and configuration is
via a MODE SELECT page. The Mode Sense/Select configuration of the TapeAlert
interface is compatible with the SMART diagnostic standard for disc drives. The Host
software should first check the tape drive/library to determine whether it supports the
TapeAlert Log Sense page 0x2e. By default the Host software access to the
TapeAlert Log Sense page is via polling.
The TapeAlert Log Sense page is read from a tape drive/autoloader device at the
following times as a minimum:
• At the beginning of a write/read job, even if media is not loaded
• Immediately after a fatal error during the write/read job
• At the end of each tape when the write/read job spans multiple tapes. If the tape
is to be ejected then the Log Sense page must be read BEFORE this.
• At the end of a write/read job
Each time the Host software reads the TapeAlert Log page, it should check all 64
flags to discover which are set (there may be more than one). The definitions of the
64 flags are device type specific, so that there is one definition for tape
drive/autoloader devices, and a different definition for stand-alone changer devices
(in libraries). For each set flag, the Host software should communicate the defined
error message and severity for that flag to the user, and also log it. If multiple flags
are set simultaneously, they will be displayed together in ascending order of severity.
At the beginning of each set of TapeAlert error messages, the tape device/library that
initiated them must be identified. For the tape drive media-related flags (flags 4, 7
and 14) the software label of the media should be included in the TapeAlert error
messages so that the user is aware what piece of media the error refers to. Such
information could also be displayed with the messages for other flags as well, if
required. The information read in the TapeAlert flags should not in itself cause the
software to stop a current backup/restore job.
Each flag will be cleared to 0 in the following circumstances:
• At drive power on
• When the TapeAlert Log page is read
• When specified corrective action has been taken (such as using a cleaning
cartridge)
• On ATAPI bus reset
• On Log Select reset