Loading and Unloading cartridges

To avoid problems with loading and unloading, use only one label on a cartridge. Having too many or poorly placed labels can clog the drive-load mechanism.
Parent topic: 160/320 GB internal tape drive VXA-320 (FC 6279)

Loading a cartridge

To load a cartridge, complete the following steps:
  1. Make sure that the tape device power is on.
  2. Grasp the cartridge by the outer edges, with the window-side up and the write-protect switch facing you.
    Note: Make sure that the write-protect switch is correctly set.
  3. Slide the cartridge into the opening on the front of the device until the loading mechanism pulls the cartridge into the drive and the drive door closes.
To indicate that the load operation was successful the Ready status light comes on.

Unloading a cartridge

To unload a cartridge, complete the following steps:
  1. Make sure that the tape device power is on.
  2. Press the Unload button. The device rewinds, unloads, and ejects the tape cartridge.
    The process might take from 15 seconds to several minutes, depending on the position of the tape and the amount of data written. During this task, the status lights do the following:
    • The Ready status light turns off.
    • The Activity status light flashes during the unload operation.
    • The Activity status light turns off when the cartridge is ejected from the tape drive.
Attention: There is an emergency eject and reset feature that releases the tape cartridge and resets the drive. Use the emergency eject feature if the cartridge does not move correctly or if the unload process fails. The emergency eject and reset feature procedure might result in loss of data. To perform an emergency eject of the tape cartridge or a reset of the drive, press and hold the Unload button for at least 10 seconds. If a cartridge is in the drive, the cartridge automatically ejects without rewinding the tape.
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