DLT 4000 dying from heat?

In article , Markus Weiss wrote:
Hi all, maybe someone can give me a hint:

Recently I bought a used DLT-4000, mounted it in an external
SCSI-case. It was working fine for about 4 hours. Did a lot of tests
and then wrote a tape with about 10GB.

Then suddenly the whole device stopped working. It was still possible
to eject the tape, and also load the tape, but the SCSI-interface
seemed to be dead.

It is not a problem of the computer/cable, I confirmed this with
another SCSI device.

During my tests, I had the cover of the case open, but the fan was
running all the time. Could it be that the device overheated because
of that? Was the air circulation bad because of the open cover?

Now, if I switch off the DLT and switch it on again, the LEDs on the
left side are either all on, or blinking. A sign of POST-failure, the
handbook says.

If I wait for 15 minutes, then the DLT boots correctly (LEDs are off)
and for about 1-2 minutes, the SCSI-interface is responding again, but
stopping to work soon after.

So it means, it is not completely dead.

What shall I do? Get another DLT and forget about that one, or is
there a quick repair/solution for these problems.

Any help appreciated!


I'd boot a Knoppix CD and see if it I could tar lots of data to the
drive. the drive. It might give you a better error message, But
that's just me.

If you're using Windows look in event viewer to see if there's any
error log.


--
a d y k e s @ p a n i x . c o m

Don't blame me. I voted for Gore.

"Markus Weiss" wrote in message
...
(Al Dykes) writes:


I'd boot a Knoppix CD and see if it I could tar lots of data to the
drive. the drive. It might give you a better error message, But
that's just me.

No, as I wrote, the SCSI interface on the DLT4000 stops working.

Which means no connection at all, no commands can be sent to the
drive. I'm here on unix as well.

A DLT4000 requires quite a lot of power. Make sure the power supply of the
external cabinet is up to the job. When in doubt, try using an AT/ATX power
supply.

Rob

Markus Weiss schrieb:
"Rob Turk" writes:

Which means no connection at all, no commands can be sent to the
drive. I'm here on unix as well.
A DLT4000 requires quite a lot of power. Make sure the power supply of the
external cabinet is up to the job. When in doubt, try using an AT/ATX power
supply.

Thanks for the hint.

I tried it, using a PC power supply. The strange thing: it works quite
a while, then again I get the SCSI lock up. I could use the DLT device
for hours, but then suddenly everything stops working, and after a
power cycle the lamps on the left side are blinking.

So I come to the conclusion that the SCSI-part of the DLT-4000 is
broken. Loading and unloading of a tape still works, though. Very
strange, and I guess that makes the device unusable for anything
except for using it for spare parts.


You might use HPs L&TT Software (stands for Library and Tape Tools).
Runs at least on Windows and Linux. (Its called 'xtalk' on Linux.) These
tools read the internal POST messages. Maybe you get any hint what's
wrong with your drive.

BTW: DLTs are cheap these days on Ebay. I got an internal (library)
DLT7000 drive for about 10 $. Good condition. And there are plenty of
them out there.