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DLT IV (8000) drive cannot rewind tapes.

 
neilg
New Member

DLT IV (8000) drive cannot rewind tapes.

Is there a DOS command or Windows 2003 Server utility to force tape rewind.
There is no obvious damage to this internal tape drive. It is found in the POST and in device manager but it will not backup or unwind tapes. 4 LEDs on RHS of unit are flashing and it fails the firmware BHC so there may be a fault with it. However it can wind the tape in to the drive so I think it should also be able to unwind the tape . The eject mechanism works OK if I could force the tape to unwind .
Can anybody help me with this please?
3 REPLIES 3
Marino Meloni_1
Honored Contributor

Re: DLT IV (8000) drive cannot rewind tapes.

four leds flashing, is internal errro.
If the tape is inside the drive, and after a power cycle and an eject it do not rewind, probably it has despooled.
only manualy you can remove it
neilg
New Member

Re: DLT IV (8000) drive cannot rewind tapes.

Thanks Marino,
I have the cover removed and I can see that it has not de-spooled. It can wind on but not rewind so you are probably right about the manual rewind option. There are some Unix commands that can be issued to the drive but if there is an internal error this pprobably would not work and I am running Windows anyway.
Marino Meloni_1
Honored Contributor

Re: DLT IV (8000) drive cannot rewind tapes.

not clear what it happens, may be a defective motor or motor controller.
usualy rewind command can be issued when the drive is online and all the steps are send via scsi command, (manualy or via backup application).
if a drive is powered of, at the power on a selftest take place, and the tape should rewind itself, exept if it is not yet attached to the cartridge (despooled) or if the motor do not work correctly.
There is also some optical sensors on the tape path that have to check the whole in the tape indicating the begining ot the tape and the eot, but usualy this cause despooling, not a non rewind.
if you have to do it manualy, here is the howto:
http://h20000.www2.hp.com/bizsupport/TechSupport/Document.jsp?lang=en&cc=us&objectID=lpg50246&jumpid=reg_R1002_USEN

marino