Chapter 3 Operation
Cleaning the Tape Drive
LTO-4 Half-Height Tape Drive User’s Guide
18
Cleaning the Tape Drive
Excessive tape debris or other material can accumulate on the tape heads
if the drive is:
• Used with non-approved media
• Operated in a hot, dusty environment
When this happens, the drive can:
• Experience excessive errors while reading or writing
• Display the letter “C” on the seven-segment LED, illuminate the
amber status LED continuously, and flash the LED dot during
operation
This means that the drive needs to be cleaned.
The LTO cleaning cartridge has the same dimensions as the tape cartridge
and contains an LTO Cartridge Memory (LTO-CM), but is loaded with
Do not:
• Expose the cartridge to dirt, dust or moisture.
• Touch the tape media within the cartridge.
• Bulk erase Ultrium tape cartridges. LTO tape
cartridges have prewritten servo patterns that
cannot be reformatted by the tape drive. A bulk
erase operation would make them unusable.
• Use tape cartridges outside the specified operating
conditions: 10
o
C to 40
o
C, 20% to 80% relative
humidity.
If a tape cartridge has been exposed to conditions
outside the specified range, recondition the tape
before using in the operating environment by
exposing it to the operating environment for a time
equal to or greater than the time it was outside the
operating environment, up to a maximum of 24
hours. Then re-tension the tape to stabilize the tape
pack for better performance.
