Cleaning The Tape Heads; Updating Firmware - IBM DDS Gen 5 User Manual

Cleaning the tape heads

If excessive dust or debris collects at the tape heads, your drive may not be able to
read from or write to tape. To avoid this situation, clean the drive's tape heads:
1. After every 30 hours of tape motion
2. If the Clean LED goes ON or flashes
3. If your applications software or system management software asks you to
To clean tape heads, use only IBM recommended cleaning cartridges. The latest
IBM recommended list can be found by going to www-3.ibm.com/pc/support and
searching for "MIGR-39931".
Note: Do not use an audio DAT cleaning cartridge, as the drive cannot recognize
it. Also, avoid liquids, swabs, and other methods other than those recommended in
this section.
To clean the tape heads:
1. Insert a cleaning cartridge into the drive. The drive loads and runs the cleaning
2. When the cleaning cartridge finishes cleaning the heads, the drive ejects the
3. Remove the cleaning cartridge from the drive and store the cartridge in a safe
Most cleaning cartridges are good for roughly 30 cleaning cycles. When the
cleaning cartridge needs to be replaced, the entire tape is used up. In this case, the
Clean LED will flash rapidly and the cleaning cartridge should be replaced.

Updating firmware

IBM periodically releases new firmware to fix problems or provide additional
enhancements. The latest firmware, as well as instructions on how to load it, can
be found by going to www-3.ibm.com/pc/support and searching for "tapetool".
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DDS Gen 5 Tape Drive: User's Guide
cartridge for about 30 seconds.
Note: If the cleaning cartridge runs for less than 30 seconds and the Clean LED
is flashing, the cartridge has expired. Replace the cleaning cartridge with a new
one and repeat step 1.
cartridge automatically.
place.