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loading & unloading autoloader

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loading and unloading autoloaders

contents of this section

loading a magazine and cartridges

ejecting the magazine

forcing ejection

related topics

interpreting the front panel lights

cartridges

localizing language display (DAT

40x6 only)

autoloader modes of operation

loading a magazine and cartridges

The autoloader is configured to use DDS cartridges. Any other cartridge will be

treated as write-protected; you will only be able to read it, not write to it. See

Choosing Cartridges for advice on which cartridges to use with your autoloader.

In order to maximize drive and media reliability, we recommend that you normally

use the autoloader to provide one week's backup per magazine. Ideally, use five

cartridges and one cleaning cartridge in each magazine (DDS-3 cartridges with

HP SureStore DAT 24x6 autoloaders and DDS-4 cartridges with HP SureStore

DAT 40x6 autoloaders). This allows you to perform a full backup, up to 40 GBytes

for DAT 40x6 models and 24 GBytes for DAT 24x6 models, each working day,

and ensures that the tape heads are cleaned once a week.

Note: For best performance and error-free operation, it is advisable to use only

one brand and type (tape length) of data cartridge in a magazine. Ideally, use only

HP's DDS-4 or DDS-3 cartridges. Do not mix DDS-1 (90m) with DDS-2 (120m),

DDS-3 (125m) or DDS-4 (150 meter) cartridges. It is perfectly acceptable to

include a cleaning cartridge in a magazine.

Place the required number of cartridges

in the magazine so that they point

towards the center of the magazine.

You can use any number of cartridges

from 1 to 6, and can place the

cartridges in any of the magazine slots.

However,for ease and speed of use,

start by using slot 1. During a

stacker

mode backup, the drive will attempt to

load the first cartridge from slot 1.

1. Insert the magazine through the door in the front of the autoloader. Make

sure that the large arrow is uppermost and pointing towards the autoloader,

as shown below.

2. Apply steady pressure until the mechanism takes the magazine and pulls it

into the autoloader. The autoloader will then check which magazine slots

contain cartridges.

3. When the magazine check is complete, use either your backup software on

the host computer or the autoloader's front panel buttons to select and load

a cartridge from the magazine into the drive.

internal autoloaders

external autoloaders

The drive now performs a load sequence. This takes a maximum of 25 seconds

from the time the cartridge is inserted to the time the drive is ready to start acting

upon the next command from the host. The sequence is as follows:

● The drive mechanism threads the tape and checks the tape format (DDS or

audio). If the tape is blank, the drive leaves the tape at BOT (Beginning of

Tape) and awaits the next command.

● If the tape is in DDS format and is write-enabled, the drive performs write

and read tests. If the error rate is high, the Operator Attention Required light

illuminates and an error message may appear on the front panel display.

● The drive reads the tape log, which contains details of the history of the

tape.

● The drive rewinds to BOP (Beginning of Partition) and goes online, awaiting

a command from the host.

Depending on whether the host computer instructed the autoloader to load a

cartridge or you pressed the Load Cartridge button, the autoloader goes into one

of two modes of operation: random mode, where movement of cartridges is

controlled by the backup software, or stacker mode, where cartridges are loaded

in numerical order from the magazine. For more information, see

Autoloader

Modes of Operation.

ejecting the magazine

1. To eject a magazine, press the Eject button.

2. The autoloader ejects the magazine.

internal autoloaders

external autoloaders

If one of the cartridges is still in the drive mechanism when you press the Eject

button, the autoloader performs the following sequence of actions first:

● The drive rewinds the tape and updates the tape log (unless the cartridge is

write-protected). It then ejects the cartridge from the drive mechanism.

● The changer mechanism replaces the cartridge in the magazine.

● The magazine is ejected.

Note: It is possible for the host computer to disable the Eject button by sending a

PREVENT MEDIA REMOVAL command via SCSI. This will remain in force until

either the host sends an ALLOW MEDIA REMOVAL command or the autoloader is

reset or power-cycled.

forcing ejection

If you press the Eject button when the autoloader is busy, it may be a long time

before the autoloader will respond to the request because it will finish the task it is

performing first. This ensures that the task is terminated in a controlled manner

and no data is lost.

However, if you need to unload a cartridge urgently, even at the risk of losing

data, you must force ejection.

Caution: You can lose data if you force ejection. The tape may also end up

invalidly formatted because an EOD (End of Data) mark might not be written.

Force ejection only as a last resort to recover a cartridge.

To force ejection:

Hold the Eject button down for at least five seconds (usually between 5 and 10

seconds). The autoloader responds as follows:

● The front panel display will show "Force Eject."

● The autoloader waits 35 seconds to give the normal eject procedure a

chance to occur.

● Once this time has elapsed, if there is a cartridge loaded in the drive it is

immediately unloaded, regardless of what operation the drive was

performing. The cartridge is then returned to its slot in the magazine, and

the drive is reset as though the power had been cycled.

Because the forced ejection may interrupt any operation, it is possible that

the drive will not write an EOD (End of Data) mark before the cartridge is

ejected. This will cause loss of data and leave the cartridge with an invalid

format.

● If no cartridge is loaded in the drive, the autoloader assumes that you want

to eject the magazine. Following the 35-second pause, it does this. The

autoloader is then reset as though power had been cycled.

Note: A forced ejection will abort any SCSI operations that may be in progress on

the autoloader and overrides any SCSI PREVENT MEDIA REMOVAL in effect.

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