Hey guys-

I recently had a new toy fall into my lap, an IBM 9348-012 tape drive.
I know this isn't a hardware group, but this thing is usually hooked
either to RS/6000's or AS/400's, so perhaps you guys can help. I've
been trying to get it to properly load ANY tape, and it just doesn't
seem to do it correctly. Upon inserting the tape, it does its thing of
getting the tape loaded onto the takeup reel, but then when I presume
it should be fast-forwarding till it finds the BOT, it just spools
forward for about half a second, and then chokes, saying there was a
tape load error. Upon eject (which usually fails), it appears to
attempt to unload the tape, but that usually means the rewind procedure
jerks the hell out of the tape, crinkling whatever section it was
working with due to the torque.

I've run diagnostics on most of the stuff I could w/o a tape, and I've
done checks on the BOT/EOT sensor and it appears to be functioning
correctly, so I'm at a loss. It could be that the drive is junk, which
would be sad but understandable. Is there any sort of setting (in the
CONF menu option perhaps) that might cause this?

Thanks a ton guys!
-Steve

"Steve" <krippner@gmail.com> wrote in news:1110819816.111858.222330
@g14g2000cwa.googlegroups.com:

> Hey guys-
>
> I recently had a new toy fall into my lap, an IBM 9348-012 tape drive.
> I know this isn't a hardware group, but this thing is usually hooked
> either to RS/6000's or AS/400's, so perhaps you guys can help. I've
> been trying to get it to properly load ANY tape, and it just doesn't
> seem to do it correctly. Upon inserting the tape, it does its thing of
> getting the tape loaded onto the takeup reel, but then when I presume
> it should be fast-forwarding till it finds the BOT, it just spools
> forward for about half a second, and then chokes, saying there was a
> tape load error.

Try to clean the BOT/EOT sensors and the tape path. You'll need a cleaning
kit an the manual.




--
Doing AIX support was the most monty-pythonesque
activity available at the time.
Eagerly awaiting my thin chocolat mint.