Cleaning The Tape Path On The 4.0Gb 4 Mm Tape Drive - IBM R30 Operator's Manual

Cleaning the Tape Path on the 4.0GB 4 mm Tape Drive

The 4 mm tape path should be cleaned either approximately every 30 hours of tape motion
or once a month, whichever occurs first. The 4 mm tape drive monitors the recording quality
of the tape cartridge and indicates that the tape path requires cleaning when the disturbance
status light (amber) is on.
More frequent cleaning may be required if the drive is operated in a dusty environment or in
humid conditions. If the dust is allowed to accumulate, the drive has to perform more reads
and writes. This can cause data loss, and may be prevented by regularly scheduled cleaning
of the drive.
The cleaning cartridge cleans the 4 mm tape drive 50 times before it needs to be discarded.
If you attempt to use a 4 mm cleaning cartridge more than 50 times, the tape drive
automatically detects the error and ejects the cleaning cartridge with the disturbance status
light (amber) remaining on.
Before loading the cleaning cartridge, make sure the power to the 4 mm tape drive is on.
To load the 4 mm cleaning cartridge, do the following:
1. Grasp the edges of the 4 mm cleaning cartridge with the window side of the cartridge
facing up.
2. Slide the cleaning cartridge into the opening on the front of the 4 mm tape drive until the
loading mechanism pulls the cartridge into the drive.
Window Side of
Cleaning Cartridge
Disturbance Status Light
(Amber)
After the 4 mm cleaning cartridge has been fully inserted into the 4 mm tape drive, the
following cleaning operations are performed automatically:
1. The cleaning tape is loaded into the tape path.
2. The drive is cleaned by moving the cleaning tape forward for approximately 30 seconds.
3. The tape is unloaded and the cleaning cartridge is ejected from the tape drive when the
cleaning operation is complete.
4. A successful cleaning operation is indicated when the disturbance status light (amber)
goes off (if it was activated before the cleaning operation).
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Operator Guide
4 mm Cleaning Cartridge
Unload Button