subject: TL891DLX continuosly requests drive cleaning

[Nick Braennstroem]

I have an older Tl891DLX that has been working without a hitch since back in -01.
For some reason now it will only run one job and then require a cleaning of whatever DLT drive that was used. A cleaning DLT is run through and the library will accept another job before a cleaning is once again requested. Both tape drives are doing this.

Any bright ideas or suggestions would be highly appreciated.

Thanks

Nick

[Mark_601 · Accepted solution]

A few questions I have are; how old are the tapes you are using? And how old are the cleaning carts? Are you using the same data tapes over and over again? They will wear out eventually and cause errors. The cleaning carts are only good for about 10 cleanings, then the should be tossed.
Have you switched to a new brand of tapes recently? That could be a problem also.
These drives are 3 years or more old, so the r/w heads could be worn down. Since it's happening on both drives, I would suspect bad or old tapes first. If it's not the tapes, then most likely the drives will have to be replaced. Not a big deal if you have a maintenance contract.

Hope that helps.

[Nick Braennstroem]

Both the data cartrigdes and the cleaning tapes used are brand new and has never been used before.
I've been using HP DLT's exclusively in this library since it was purchased in -01.
I'm leaning towards the drives myself. The heads are looking pretty worn from what I can tell.

Thanks

Nick

[Nick Braennstroem]

I did finally pick up the phone and put in a support call. The transfer rates on one drive were ... bad at best, the other drive was completely dead. The tech was in agreement, the drives need replaced. 2 new DLT8000 are on their way as I'm typing this. Thanks for the input!!!

[Rick Dyson]

It did sound like worn DLT heads. They wear out routinely.

One other thing I would mention is that under the front panel Maint function, you can look at error logs and see more about what the library thought was wrong. Also, as for the cleaning tapes the other poster was right! Many times with "dumber" drives if you use a cleaner that is exhausted, it may turn out the HC LED, but not really clean the head. The cleaning tapes have a REAL lifetime. They will only work a max number of times and then the drive itself knows that from reading the cleaning tape and won't use it. The TL891 maint menu will explictily tell you that, if it was the case.

Just in case you didn't know about this...

Rick

[Andrew Hazell]

Nick

The heads need cleaning or replacing, I know of a company who can do this for you. Let me know if you are interested.