HP Integrity NonStop H-Series - Manual (Page 47)

9840 (CT9840FC-3) Installation and User’s Guide for the NonStop S-Series Enclosure— 524959-003
5 -1
5
Maintaining the Tape Drive
This section includes:
Identifying Unrecoverable Tapes
1. An unrecoverable defective tape, including a degaussed tape, fails in all operations
or most operations. A failing tape on one drive should be tested on another drive. If
the tape fails on both drives, the tape is most likely bad.
2. To confirm this conclusion, take another tape and test it on the original drive on the
same operation that previously failed. If the operation does not fail with the new
tape, the previous tape is probably defective.
3. Use the Reclaim menu to reformat the tape. If the Reclaim menu rejects the tape,
the tape is unrecoverable and must be discarded.
Forcing a Diagnostic Dump
This operation is also referred to as a RESET operation. It works the same as an IPL
but also forces a diagnostic dump of the present state of the tape drive.
A forced diagnostic dump is usually done in response to an engineering request to
identify drive status at any time during drive operation.
Forcing a diagnostic dump resets the drive and writes the dump to the EEPROM. The
EEPROM can accumulate approximately 12 dumps, depending on compression.
Dumps remain in the EEPROM until it is full. If there is not enough space in the
EEPROM for an additional dump, all previous dumps are erased, and only the newest
dump remains in the EEPROM.
Identifying Unrecoverable Tapes 5-1
Forcing a Diagnostic Dump 5-1
Maintenance Procedures 5-3
Caution. Do not degauss (erase) 9840 tape cartridges. Servo tracks are written on the tape at
the factory. When these tracks are mistakenly erased as by degaussing, you must discard the
tape cartridge.
Note. New dumps are appended to earlier dumps already on the tape.