LTO cleaning cartridge

The LTO cleaning cartridge is used to clean LTO tape drives.

To maintain the operating efficiency of the drive, IBM® supplies a cleaning cartridge with the first frame of each media type. Each drive determines when it needs to be cleaned and alerts the library. Depending on which cleaning method you choose (automatic or manual), the library uses the cleaning cartridge to automatically clean the drive or you are required to select menus to initiate cleaning.

Note: The volume serial (VOLSER) number on the cleaning cartridge's bar code label must begin with CLNI or CLNU, or the library treats the cleaning cartridge as a data cartridge during an inventory.

The LTO Cleaning Cartridge (known as the universal cleaning cartridge) and the LTO Cleaning Cartridge are compatible with all LTO tape drives. To enable your LTO 1 drive to use these cartridges, update the drive with the latest drive firmware.

Before a drive can be cleaned, ensure that a cleaning cartridge is loaded in the library . You can load multiple cleaning cartridges and store them in any cartridge storage slots except the slot that is reserved for the diagnostic cartridge.

The TS3500 tape library monitors the use of all cleaning cartridges. The cleaning cartridges are valid for 50 uses. When the cartridge expires, the library displays the following sample message on the Activity screen (where xx equals characters of the cartridge's VOLSER):

Remove CLNUxxL1
Cleaning Cartridge Expired

You can also enable automatic eject of expired cleaning cartridges through the Tape Library Specialist web interface by selecting Settings > Library > Cartridges.