Cleanning Light

[Ayman Altounji]

I have multiple machines with the Compaq 35/70 DLT arrays (4 drives per array (some machines have two arrays for a total of eight drives))attached locally.
Without fail when changing tapes, the USE CLEANING TAPE light will come on, on at least one of the drives in the arrays. usually the same drive. After running a cleaning tape, the light goes out. Then we insert a tape, and the light comes back on. We have tried all combinations of new cleaning tapes, new tapes, tapes from drives that don't require cleaning, and cleaning more than once, but the same thing happens every single night. I have replaced a couple of the tape drives, and that seems to work, but we are talking about over 20 drives now.

I have upgraded the firmware (on the DLT DRIVES... version 2255 or 2552???) to the latest version on one of the servers, but the exact same thing still happens.

It seems like every week another server has the same problem. We have over 60 Proliant servers in-house alone, and this is getting ridiculous.

Please help. This is driving me mad.

[Ayman Altounji]

There can be issues with tape arrays where all the tapes don't have the same firmware and or model, depending on the software driving the array. If it would be easier for you to capture a report (an Inspect report plus whatever else you feel appropriate) to show tape model and firmware, and email it to support@compaq.com - we'll take a look to see if it matches anything we know of and reply directly to you.

[Ayman Altounji]

Related to cleaning DLT drives: how often are you supposed to run the cleaning tape through the drives? Only when the light comes on or on a scheduled basis, say once per month?

[Ayman Altounji]

I am having similar problems with the 35/70 DLT drive, It is the only tape drive on this sever (no auto loader). I am also having problems getting the compression to work. It is showing the tape was written with compression, but after 35 gb it is asking for another tape. any ideas?

[Ayman Altounji]

I have a similar problem, too. Two 35/70 DLT drives requires cleaning every day: when cleaned they do all their work, but the next morning, when tapes are changed, they start to require cleaning again.

[Ayman Altounji]

All my Firmware rev's are the same.
I get that cursed light every time. Im going mad too.
I've been cleaning for several months now and Im tired of cleaning.

[Ayman Altounji]

Dlt drives are supposed to only be cleaned when the led lights up. One possible cause of frequent cleaning led illumination is the media. Try a tape by a different manufacturer, or rotate tapes. Cleaning tapes are good for about 20 uses.
Most data that's backed up has some kind of compression (word processor files, spreadsheets, etc). Many operating systems compress data somewhat when it's written to the disk. You will never get a 2:1 compression ratio if any of the data being backed up is compressed at all.

[Ayman Altounji]

apply the latest nssd or ntssd. it solved it for us