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Re: HPDLT 80 ext. All left side lights lit

 
Kent Snyder
New Member

HPDLT 80 ext. All left side lights lit

I have a DLT 80 drive connected to a Windows 200 machine usign Backup Exec. It's worked fine for over two years in this configuration. I recently relabelled a DLT tape and tried to backup to it. Overnight, it had made no progress (0 bytes transferred) but hadn't 'failed'. So I cancelled the operation and tried to inventory the tape and got no response.

So I turned off the tape drive and turned it back on and all of the left side lights began blinking constantly. Rebooted the computer with the tape drive connected and it wouldn't get past trying to recognize the drive during the SCSI bios boot. It sits in the SCSI boot device recognition state overnight doing nothing. However, after trying to recognize the drive, during boot (for hours), the computer will instantly continue booting if I unplug the SCSI cable from the back of the PC.

Of course the drive is recognized as being not connected when it boots.

What is the drive doing? Even unplugged, all the left side LEDs are still blinking.
6 REPLIES 6
Eugeny Brychkov
Honored Contributor

Re: HPDLT 80 ext. All left side lights lit

Kent Snyder
New Member

Re: HPDLT 80 ext. All left side lights lit

Listed symptoms for dropped leader from first suggested article:
Write protected LED (Red) Flashing negative
Tape in use LED (Orange) Flashing negative
Use cleaning tape LED (Orange) Flashing negative
Operate handle LED (Green) On Solid positive

I don't believe that the leader is dropped. Also when I insert a tape cartridge, it sounds normal, unwinding the tape. Also, when I eject the tape, it rewinds normally and it makes no strange sounds.

When trying to get the Basic Health Check, holding the Select (only) button on the left side and holding it for 6 (or more) seconds has no effect.

Regarding the tape leader - to casual observance it appears fine and normal.
Steve W
Trusted Contributor

Re: HPDLT 80 ext. All left side lights lit

Left hand side LEDs all flashing indicate an electronics failure detected by the power on self test. It could be a bad 5 volt line on the power supply, (try swapping the power cables or PSU) more likely just a bad electronics PCA. The drive will need to be returned for repair.
Kent Snyder
New Member

Re: HPDLT 80 ext. All left side lights lit

Is there a manual or a support document that I could download that details that sort of failure?
Chris Wyld
Frequent Advisor

Re: HPDLT 80 ext. All left side lights lit

Kent,
I have had this problem several times and have resolved it using the link posted by Eugeny showing how to re-thread the leader on the tape drive. Externally, the drive looks fine, but when you take the cover off, you'll be able to see that leader has become disconnected. If the drive is out of warranty, I would try this approach first before sending it in for service.

Chris
Kent Snyder
New Member

Re: HPDLT 80 ext. All left side lights lit

Alright. I'll take your word for it, though all the other symptoms that I've read for dropped leaders seem to indicate that it's not the problem.

thanks for the help.