Cleaning the Tape Path on the 4.0GB 4-mm Tape Drive
The 4-mm tape path should be cleaned either approximately every 30 hours of tape
motion or once a month, whichever occurs first. The 4-mm tape drive monitors the
recording quality of the tape cartridge and indicates that the tape path requires
cleaning when the disturbance status light (amber) is on.
More frequent cleaning may be required if the drive is operated in a dusty
environment or in humid conditions. If the dust is allowed to accumulate, the drive
has to perform more reads and writes. This can cause data loss, and may be
prevented by regularly scheduled cleaning of the drive.
The cleaning cartridge cleans the 4-mm tape drive 50 times before it needs to be
discarded. If you attempt to use a 4-mm cleaning cartridge more than 50 times, the
tape drive automatically detects the error and ejects the cleaning cartridge with the
disturbance status light (amber) remaining on.
Before loading the cleaning cartridge, make sure the power to the 4-mm tape drive is
on.
To load the 4-mm cleaning cartridge, do the following:
1. Grasp the edges of the 4-mm cleaning cartridge with the window side of the
cartridge facing up.
2. Slide the cleaning cartridge into the opening on the front of the 4-mm tape drive
until the loading mechanism pulls the cartridge into the drive.
After the 4-mm cleaning cartridge has been fully inserted into the 4-mm tape drive,
the following cleaning operations are performed automatically:
1. The cleaning tape is loaded into the tape path.
Chapter 2. Using the System Unit 2-41