Question : Problem: SCSI DAT Drive Not Accecpting Tapes

A main server in a rack of workstations and servers for a business has a SEAGATE DAT 9SP40-000 SCSI drive in it which is used along with VERITAS to do daily backups to swappable tapes.

Using TDK 20/40 GB tapes, the drive just spits it out after about 10 seconds of reading a brand new tape.  The drive indicates ready and has been cleaned multiple times with a cleaning tape, as well the indicator that lights up when the drive needs to be clean is no longer lit.  The drive was lit for some time, at that time we were not using the device.

I have not been able to find any diagnostic tools or much for information on this particular problem.  It seems to just be a hardware issue.

Note that the system was for some time under the worst possible environment conditions for any computer to be in .. not in a rack, not environmentally controlled, construction zone.  As I said the device was cleaned, as well as the computer itself before we put it into a server room in a rack, but perhaps damage was done to the drive.

Any help and suggestions is greatly appreciated.

Answer : Problem: SCSI DAT Drive Not Accecpting Tapes

We have a customer that runs a dental arts place that makes teeth and the grinding of the porcelin they use creates a ton of fine dust and their tape drive died multiple times because of the dust build up so we moved them to an external hard drive backup solution using two identical drives to swap out for offsite backup. I would recommend this if it is sitll in dusty/dirty conditions. Otherwise if it's in better conditions and you have plenty of money in tapes it would be best to replace the drive.