DLT8000 Flashing LEDs

[Verne Britton]

see thread http://forums1.itrc.hp.com/service/forums/questionanswer.do?threadId=64419

where a DLT8000 makes funny noises and advances the tape, only to stop and flash all 4 LEDS at once ...

one person responded and said:

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Jan 13, 2004 09:44:01 GMT Unassigned

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I've seen exactly the same behaviour: all leds are flashing at the right side. The leader is not dropped. You see the reel spin and then slow down, at this point you see that the tape slacks. When this happens, all leds start blinking at the right side.
After removing the tape, removed the power and checking the drive I noticed that when you manually turn the reel there is too much resistance. Only replacing the drive resolved the problem. In my opinion this error can occur when: the drive firmware is below V86 and the backup software is set that it has to do a eject after backup.
There is an issue that if you do an eject after backup, you have to remove the tape as soon as possible. If you don't do this, like most customers, there is a possibility to damage the drive. V86 prevents this, after an eject you have a short periode of time to remove the tape. If not the drive will remount the tape.

Leon

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I was advised to start a new thread ...

My question:

Leon mentions a problem caused by having a cartridge just sit in the drive ... and that firmware V86 changes a timer to prevent problems ... my question, I have three drives that have this blinking light situation ... do I just throw them away ?

I'm hoping there is some easy cheap fix :-)
(in addition to upgrading the firmware of course once they are working again)


Verne