can DAT cartridge be re-used ?

[BR723292]

hello,

I've got a Surestore DAT 40 which does backup daily.
After say 15-20 days the tape
is full and I put a new one.
Can old tapes, say one year old, be erased and used again ? Whenever I tried I
got the clean light flashing, which AFAIK means the tape is
no longer reliable.
It is just that cartridges are
so expensive, so it wouldn't be that bad to save some.

Thanks

[Eugeny Brychkov]

Maurizio,
clean you drive regularly - after each 5 full backups or 20 tape pulling hours.
Tapes can be reused many times
http://www.hp.com/products1/storage/products/media/tapebackup_media/tape_dds/overview.html
http://www.hp.com/products1/storage/products/media/tapebackup_media/tape_dds/faqs.html
Eugeny

[BR659932]

Hi.

The yellow flashing led tells you that the drive has problems reading or writing data. What already is said that you should clean regularly holds true, but I just want to point out that the problem can be in other places as well, such as SCSI card, card driver, termination, software problem...

The recommended adapter for this drive is Adaptec 29160LP, I'd suggest you use that one. You can get it from HP with all necessary cables by ordering controller kit C7474A.

HTH,
Arimo

[meloni]

hi
tape cartridges can be erased, as already explained a orange flashing light indicate that the drive have problem reading this cartridge, be sure the tape you are using has bot been degaussed. Some time cartridges comming from another unit may show this too.
Also, you can schedule your backup in a way that you will overwrite the old data instead of append it, and then your cartridges will never become full
marino

[Rothery Harris]

Old tapes can be used again with no problems. You can get your symptoms if the tape has been exposed to a magnetic field and partially erased. It is quite difficult to erase DAT tapes and a normal de-gausser is not normally sufficient. Try writing to the tape, then clean the drive with a good cleaning tape that is not expired. Then try the the tape again. If the problem persists and new tapes are still OK then it may be that your media is defective. What brand id it please?

Rothery

[BR723292]

it is HP dds-4 C5718A.
I clean the drive about
one time per month, or
even at every tape change,
the clean tape is a good
one, not expired yet.
What's strange is that I
never got the clean light
flashing using new tapes,
while it always does whenever I try to put a used tape.
I put the old tape and I do a "quick erase", then I start
the backup and after one or
two hours the clean light
starts flashing.