On 12/19/05, Gene Heskett <gene.heskett@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote: > On Monday 19 December 2005 18:46, Matt Morgan wrote: > >I'm trying, still to get a working Amanda setup. This is on my home > >system in advance of setting it up for a client next week :-). It's > >FC4, and the drive is a Quantum DLT 7000, which I think is a 35/70Gb > >model. It's old. > > > >I think the old DLT drive (haven't used it for a few years, but it > >worked the last time I had it plugged in) may be dead. Here's what I > >notice: > > > >1) The "use cleaning tape" light was on. I plugged in a cleaning > > tape, and the light went out; but then when I plugged i na real > > tape, the drive pretty quickly turned the "use cleaning light" back > > on again. This has happened a few times--the cleaning tape seems to > > work, but then as soon as I put in a real tape, the drive wants > > cleaning again. > > > How old are your tapes, and under what conditions have they been > stored? Well, they're as old as the drive ... and they haven't been stored in anything like the conditions you recommend :-). I don't let my nice wines sit around very long in this apartment, for example. I bet you're right. Yuck--so now I have to decide whether my project is worth another $40. > > Old tape, particularly if its been stored in a humidity exceeding 50%, > can get quite abrasive and leave large amounts of oxide gunk on the > heads rapidly. I'd also see about getting it (the drive) out of its > skin and making use of a chamois stick moistened with alcohol (not > rubbing, its got water in it, use paint thinner or better) to gently > clean the head, making sure you do not rub it sideways, but in the > same direction the tape travels. > > 75F and 80+% relative humidity is death for tape, but only mildly > uncomfortable for us humans. It's good to hear someone say this with authority. Back when I was using these tapes at work, they seemed to go bad a lot, even after only a couple months. On the tape container the environmental requirements listed were a little broader. The room was air-conditioned but not humidity-controlled and this is New York, where 80%+ humidity is common in Summer. We were going through enough tapes at the time, and had a redundant enough backup, that the loss of a few of them wasn't really worth worrying about in advance of our upgrade to a big LTO library and a better tape storage system. I always wondered, though. Thanks, Matt
