Datasheet

z Poor Quality media, or worn out media being used. Clean the drive and retest the operation with a new IBM data
cartridge recommended for the drive.
z Misunderstanding of the meaning of the LED's on the tape drive.
z Environment not suitable for tape drive operation.
z PTF's level of the system does not support the tape drive.
z Bad blocksize, attempts to read at one blocksize and the tape is written at another. Or the blocksize, attempting to
write at is preceded by a 0 (ZERO), 0512 is not the same as 512. The zero is recognized by the system as Octal and
some applications do not support Octal values.
z Device buffering turned off causing the drive to write every block of data as it is received. Normal operation is to
buffer the data allowing the drive to stream the data to the tape as a continuous operation.
z Writing a tape with one command then attempting to read the tape with a non compatible command, such as: writing
the tape with a "tar" command and attempting to read the tape with a "restore" command.
z Improper SCSI bus termination.
z Conflict of tape drives SCSI address with another device on the bus.
z Electrical problems with the electrical power going to the system and the tape drive. This could be no electrical
ground, poor electrical ground, measurable voltage on the ground or neutral, etc..
This is not for the user to check, a trained professional should check this.
z Other device causing "noise" on the bus.
Problem Determination Steps
When experiencing problems with IBM tape drives, 1/4", 4mm, VXA, LTO, 8mm, or DLT tape drives you should do the
following before placing a service call:
Cleaning the tape drive
It is very important to follow the recommended cleaning information provided with the tape drive. If the tape drive is not
cleaned properly even new media may not perform properly.
Do not over clean the tape drive as over cleaning can damage the tape drive, follow the cleaning information
provided with the drive.
If the recommended cleaning schedule or non IBM cleaning cartridges have been used it may be necessary to clean the tape
drive more than once to get the drive fully cleaned.
Clean the tape drive using the IBM Cleaning Cartridge:
1/4" Tape Drives
Note:
* May be used for up to 50 cleanings
** Supported with a minimum microcode level of I09.23 or I09:23
Model Description Cleanin
g
Cartrid
g
e P/N
150mb drive 7207-001 QIC-150 16G8572*
520mb drive 7207-011 QIC-525 16G8572*
1.2GB drive 7207-012 QIC-1000 16G8572*
35L0844**
4GB drive 7207-122 SLR5-4GBSL 35L0844*
13GB drive 7207-315 QIC-5010-DC 35L0844*
30GB drive 7207-330
7212-102
SLR60 35L0844*
50GB drive 7212-102 SLR100 35L0844*
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