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Resolving Media-Related Problems
To resolve problems that are related to media, the Ultrium 2 Tape Drive’s firmware
includes:
v Test Cartridge & Media diagnostic that verifies whether a suspect cartridge and
its magnetic tape are acceptable for use.
v Statistical Analysis and Reporting System (SARS) to assist in isolating failures
between media and hardware. To determine the cause of failure, SARS uses the
cartridge performance history that is saved in the cartridge memory (CM) and the
drive performance history that is kept in the drive’s flash erasable programmable
read-only memory (EPROM). Any failures that SARS detects are reported as
TapeAlert flags on the server (see Appendix B, “TapeAlert Flags” on page 97).
Attention: If you insert the IBM LTO Ultrium Data Cartridge into another
manufacturer’s tape drive, the SARS data in the cartridge memory may become
lost or invalid.
If you encounter a media-related problem, use the following procedure:
Attention: When you run the Test Cartridge & Media diagnostic, data on the
suspect tape is overwritten. Use only a scratch data cartridge to run the test.
1. If possible, run the tape cartridge in a different tape drive. If the operation in the
other tape drive fails and 6 or 7 displays, replace the media. If the operation
succeeds, run the Test Cartridge & Media diagnostic (see Function Code E in
Table 9 on page 36).
2. If the Test Cartridge & Media diagnostic fails, replace the media. If it runs
successfully, clean the tape drive and run the tape drive diagnostics (see
“Cleaning the Drive Head” on page 35 and Function Code 1 in Table 9 on
page 36).
3. If the tape drive diagnostics fail, replace the tape drive. If the tape drive
diagnostics run successfully, perform the operation that produced the initial
media error.
82 IBM TotalStorage LTO Ultrium 2 Tape Drive