DAT24i

[Sami Ullah]

I have a customer who has a internal DAT24 tape drive. She is running Novell Netware 4.x. The problem is that she can't eject the tape while their Novell Netware server is running. In order to eject the tape, she has to restart the server. Just when the server starts, the tape is ejected upon pressing the eject button. No other time can she take the tape out. that is the only way. Can you suggest something.

I've asked her to try holding the eject button for 10 seconds and see if the tape can come out, but it was not able to. I thought maybe we can use L&TT and update the firmware possibly, but L&TT is not supported on Novell Netware 4.x. What are my other options.

The issue is not that a tape is stuck. The issue is that the tape is not ejecting. Let's say, I just did a backup. If I hit "eject", it won't eject. I would have to restart the server all the time and hit "eject". 3 months ago, it wasn't happening as often. Now, it is happening more frequently.

[Bob_196]

I would certainly try running the cleaning tape five times - these drive need to be cleaned once a week or every 20hrs of backup - which ever comes first
you were alos right in your thinking regarding L&TT - I would update or reflash the firmware (current rev is L111)- you may also want to look into seeing if the drive needs recalibration (runt he device analysis test and check the test results) - make sure you have hte current version of L&TT as the recalibration script is only on the newer versions - my suggestion - I know it is a hassle but remove the drive - config it to a windows box and run the L&TT tool - as a side not Novel 5.x and up is support with L&TT - however the above mentioned recalibration script is only supported on the Windows platform