Date: Wed, 12 Aug 1998 10:09:51 -0400 (EDT) From: "Robert D. Keys" <bsdbob@seedlab1.cropsci.ncsu.edu> To: grog@lemis.com (Greg Lehey) Cc: chuckr@Glue.umd.edu, FreeBSD-questions@FreeBSD.ORG Subject: Re: WangDat 3100 SCSI tape (cleaning always good) Message-ID: <199808121409.KAA02853@seedlab1.cropsci.ncsu.edu> In-Reply-To: <19980811145147.S20188@freebie.lemis.com> from Greg Lehey at "Aug 11, 98 02:51:47 pm"
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> On Tuesday, 11 August 1998 at 0:13:30 -0400, Chuck Robey wrote:
> > Here's the log message:
> >
> > Aug 11 00:18:09 moon st0: MEDIUM ERROR info:0x5f000 asc:c,0 Write error
> > sks:80,1
> > Aug 11 00:18:09 moon st0: MEDIUM ERROR info:0x1 asc:c,0 Write error
> >
> > The same error seems to occur every time, even though the tape was
> > changed out (twice).
>
> This can also happen as the result of dirty heads or faulty
> electronics--in my experience, at least as often as with bad tapes.
> Is the drive new? If not, have you cleaned the head?
In my experiences that probably points to a dirty tape drive head.
I run a lot of different tape drives on my old junque, all ancient things,
and there are two problems that seem to surface that folks might pay
attention to. (speaking about older DC600, DC5160 type cartridge drives).
1. Clean the tape heads with a q-tip and some isopropyl alcohol, about
every 10 tape runs on tapes that are used. I find that errors start
to magically appear about that time, with regularity.
2. On unknown tapes, that are reused (yeah, I know I am the tightwad),
retension 3 times, then erase 3 times before use. Clean the head
with a dry q-tip to knock any ferric dust accumulation off the surface.
Then use the tape.
3. If errors occur randomly and you have cleaned the heads, reboot the
machine (shutdown -r). For some unknown reason, that seems to clear
some errors on the drives.
4. Check the tape motor drive wheel rubber surface. I find on a lot of
my older drives that the rubber drive wheels begin to deteriorate with
time (bad rubber chemistry). If that happens it is best to replace
the drive, although I have been known to cut some small pieces of
rubber hose and resurface a drive wheel. It sort of works if you are
careful.
Good Luck,and keep the tapes whirring.....
RDK
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