Problem with different DLT8000 formats ?

[DCXoP]

Hi,
We have an old HP SureStore DLT8000 drive that has the manual flap that is used to close and lock the tapes in place. We later purchased what we thought were the same drives but from DELL. They are Benchmark DLT1 drives ( one has DLT VS80 printed on it also ), they still take the exact same DLT IV tapes and backup to 40/80 capacity, however, IF a tape has been used in the old surestore drive, when you try and put it into the newer drives they just spit it out, I have tried formatting the tapes and even using a magnet to totaly wipe data in case its a formatting issue but nothing seems to make these newer drives accept the tapes. Now the surestore has died, fails to back much data up at all and is no longer used, it still functions and seems to allow you to format tapes in it but nothing I do seems to allow me to use the tapes that have been in teh surestore in the newers drives.

The main difference I can find is that using the H Ptape tools the surestore can support DLT IIIXT and DLT IV where as the newer drives only support the DLT IV format, but even so both drives USE the DLT IV format and state that is what is in the drive. It infuriating as the surestore has loads of tapes that still have plenty of usefull life in them, if we could only get the newer drives to accept them.


So is ther any0one that can help me with this ??

cheers

Gareth

 

[dltguy]

Gareth,

The issue you are seeing is that the DLT1 formatted tapes are not read compatible with the DLT8000 format. You are swimming upstream. Though the two drives look similar with the difference being transfer rate the DLT8000 also has deeper backward read compatibilty with older DLT formats. The DLT1 at the bottom of the DLT food chain will only read tapes formatted by the DLT4000 and the VS80. The only thing you could do is deguasse the DLT8000 tapes to completely wipe out the format.

 

[DCXoP]

Okay

I figured it had to be some sort of formatting issue, however I do not know how to deguass the tapes.

I even went to the extreme of taking a tape home and sitting it for a few days with powerful magnets around it to try and wipe it )

Now that I know that I need to "Deguass" the tapes I can at least look for a tool to do this so thanks very much for your help, but if you could point me in the direction of such a tool it would be much appreciated

Cheers

Gareth

 

[DCXoP]

after doing a search it seems as if to deguass a tape you need some extra hardware. Is this correct ?

cheers
Gareth

 

[DCXoP]

LOL, FYI :

I tried to find out a price on a Tape degausser. however the three sources I used all came back telling me that for some reason these things are not strictly leagal ??

hence I cannot purchase one

I am looking at some sites to see if it is worth us sending our media to someone else and getting them to degauss or if its better to get the drive repaired ?

Gareth

 

[micromancer]

I've been looking for a DLT/SDLT tape degausser. One of the techs at Quantum Storage Solutions recommended products from the following company;

http://www.garner-products.com/

It's important to note that your average Radio-Shack deguasser will not, for the most part, put a dent in the format of a DLT/SDLT tape. DLT/SDLT tapes have a very high level of magnetic coercivity (sp?) to prevent accidental erasure of the data.

The organization also runs a degaussing service for lightweight deguassing needs.