Cleaning The Tape Path On The 12/24Gb 4Mm Tape Drive - IBM RS/6000 User Manual

Cleaning the Tape Path on the 12/24GB 4mm Tape Drive

Clean the 12/24 GB 4 mm tape path either approximately every 30 hours of tape
motion or once a month, whichever occurs first. The 12/24 GB 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 can be prevented by regularly
scheduled cleaning of the drive. The amber disturbance status light also comes on
automatically after 30 hours of tape motion without cleaning.
If you attempt to use a 12/24 GB 4 mm cleaning cartridge beyond 20 cleanings, the
tape drive automatically detects an error and ejects the cleaning cartridge with the
disturbance status light (amber) remaining on.
Before you load the cleaning cartridge, make sure the power to the system unit is on.
To load the 12/24 GB 4 mm cleaning cartridge, do the following:
1. Grasp the edges of the 12/24 GB 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 12/24 GB 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 12/24 GB 4 mm cleaning cartridge has been fully inserted into the 12/24GB
4mm Tape Drive, the following cleaning operations are performed automatically:
1. The cleaning tape is loaded into the tape path. The cleaning cycle lasts
approximately 30 seconds.
2. The tape is unloaded and the cleaning cartridge is ejected from the tape drive when
the cleaning operation is complete.
4-mm Cleaning Cartridge
Unload Button
Chapter 2. Using the 44P Series Model 270
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