POWER7 information

Cleaning the tape drive (FC 5746)

You will need to clean your tape drive. Use the procedure in this topic to perform this task.

Clean the device whenever the Fault status light comes on and a C is displayed in the single-character display (SCD), or when a system I/O error occurs that is related to the device.

Attention: Use only the recommended cleaning cartridge to clean the tape drive. Use of other than the recommended cleaning cartridges can damage your drive and might void the warranty.

The tape drive will set the cleaning indicator when one of the following conditions occurs:

The tape drive exceeds internal preset error thresholds in the drive.
The tape drive exceeds the maximum recommended time between cleaning.
This is an internal drive calculation where the drive maintains information on the amount of data written and read and when this value reaches a total of approximately 20 full tape writes or reads the drive will request cleaning. The cleaning indicator will be turned on when the tape is ejected.
There is a write or read failure of the tape drive to the data cartridge.

Note: When a cleaning cartridge that has been used the maximum number of times is inserted in the drive, the drive will turn on the fault indicator. The SCD displays 6 or 7 to indicate that the cleaning process is not done and the cleaning cartridge is no longer usable. If the fault indicator was on and a C was in the SCD prior to the cleaning process, the indicators will stay on after the depleted cleaning cartridge is removed. If these indicators were off prior to inserting the depleted cleaning cartridge, they will turn off once the depleted cleaning cartridge is removed from the drive.

To clean the tape drive, complete the following steps:

Make sure that the power is on for the tape drive.
If a tape cartridge is in the tape drive, eject and remove the cartridge.
Grasp the cleaning cartridge by the outer edges, with the insertion arrow on top and the write-protect switch facing you.
Slide the cartridge into the opening on the front of the drive until the loading mechanism pulls the cartridge into the drive.

After the cleaning cartridge has been inserted, the remainder of the cleaning process is automatic. The tape drive does the following actions:

Loads the cleaning cartridge into the tape drive.
Cleans the drive by moving the cleaning tape forward for approximately 30 seconds.
Unloads the cleaning cartridge when the cleaning operation is complete.
Indicates a successful cleaning operation by turning off the C in the SCD, if the C in the SCD was on prior to the cleaning process.

Note: If the cleaning operation is completed but the C in the SCD remains on, the cleaning cartridge might not be usable. Repeat the cleaning procedure with a new cleaning cartridge. If the C in the SCD still remains on, contact your authorized service provider.

To determine how many times a cleaning cartridge can be used, check the information printed on the cartridge. If you attempt to use a depleted cleaning cartridge the fault indicator will be turned on and the SCD displays 6 or 7 to indicate that the cleaning process was not done and the cleaning cartridge is no longer usable. If the fault indicator was on and a C was in the SCD prior to the cleaning process, the indicators will stay on after the depleted cleaning cartridge is removed. If these indicators were off prior to inserting the depleted cleaning cartridge, they will turn off once the depleted cleaning cartridge is removed from the drive.

If a system error occurs, clean the drive and retry the operation. If the operation fails, replace the data cartridge, clean the drive again, and then retry the operation.

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Last updated: Thu, July 10, 2014