Bad tapes?

[royeratty]

I bought the ADR2-60 in February. After a little difficulty setting up, I finally got it working and it worked smoothly until last week. At first, I thought something was wrong with the drive or software. The software (BackUp My PC) appeared to no longer recognize the drive, and the drive didn't appear in Device Manager. Got that fixed, but it still wouldn't back up. As it now appears, 5 of 7 tapes won't work in the drive. The green light comes on and stays on, the status indicator says it is reading the media header, and stays that way. The drive doesn't make the usual whirring noises, it is very quiet. I have put all 7 tapes in and out of the drive and get consistent results. The same two tapes work, and the other 5 don't. Why would 5 of seven tapes suddenly not work in the drive? There is nothing about where the tapes are stored that would explain this situation. I'm looking for an explanation before I run out and try to purchase more tapes. Thanks!

 

[gwootton]

What model ADR2.60 is it (IDE/SCSI)? and what version of windows are you running it in? You may be able to use Tape first aid to recreate the tape header for the drive, but i'm pretty sure it only works with ADR2.60IDE. I have the program on my system somewhere...other than that, if it holds the tape in, if you are running Win2k or XP, try inventorying the drive through computer management's removable storage section, see if you can reformat through that.
thanks,
Greg

 

[royeratty]

Yes, it is the IDE drive, running on WXP Pro. Thanks for any help you can give!

 

[gwootton]

ok, first of all, try under computer management inventorying the drive, see if that works. if not, send me an email at greg_wootton@yahoo.com and when i get a chance I'll send you tape first aid to see if that will work.

Thanks,
Greg