Product

Platform

Dell; Data General

Operating system

Windows 2000

Error

Symptoms

What do I do when the archiver's cleaning light is on? Do I need to clean a drive?

Cause

Solution

In general, failure of the calibration routine of a tape for any reason will cause the cleaning light to turn on. For example, if a tape contains a bad block, once the drive reads the bad block, it will trigger the cleaning light. If this is the case, we recommend NOT to clean the drive, as it will wear down the drive head more quickly. Instead, find out which tape contains the bad block and stop using it. Also, if the tape library is using a DLT8000 drive, call the Creo Response Center to download the latest drive firmware to handle this false cleaning task.

If the drive does require cleaning, insert the cleaning tape and clean the drive.

To clean a STANDALONE drive:

1) Insert the cleaning cartridge into the drive. The cartridge cleans the drive automatically.

2) Once the drive is clean, open Removable Storage.

3) In the console tree, click Drives.

4) In the Results pane, right-click the drive, and then click Mark as Clean. This procedure is performed only to notify Removable Storage that a stand-alone drive has been manually cleaned, so that a record can be kept in the Removable Storage database.

To clean a FASTSTOR Tape Library, perform either of the following procedures:

1) If there is a need to clean the drive, a CT signal will appear on the LCD panel of the Faststor. Go to the Diag Menu by pressing the MODE and NEXT buttons together.

2) Scroll to Clean DRV and press SELECT.

3) Insert the cleaning tape in Slot 2 and press SELECT. This inserts the cleaning tape into the drive.

For ATL and QUALSTAR Tape Libraries:

Use Cleaner Management in RSM to register a cleaning cartridge into the tape library, to handle cleaning the drive automatically when required.

Permanent fix:

See also

Keywords

archiver FAQs, tape libraries

Technical contact(s)

Amy Chan

Submitted by

Amy Chan

Date submitted

11 Apr 2002