Hi, Wouter!
Trying to kill the keyboard, Wouter Hanegraaff ([EMAIL PROTECTED])
produced 1,7K in 40 lines:
> But I don't like the fact that pieces of foam remain somewhere in my
> tapedrive very much, and the fact that I have to reboot my server just
> to clean the tapedrive is not really acceptable, especially because the
> manual suggests to clean the tapedrive after an hour use and a backup
> takes 2 hours...
> So, my questions are:
> - Is this behavior normal?
I cannot tell, the instructions for my late Ditto easy 3200
(insider) told me to use isopropyl-alcohol(sp) and a cotton
swab, but to *only*(!!!) wipe up-down (perpendicular to the
tape motion. My current DAT drive's firmware knows how to
use a cleaning tape.
> - Can I just clean the head with a cotton bud and the fluid? seems
> better than foam in my tapedrive...
Maybe, but I won't give any guarantee ...
> - How often do you really need to clean tr-3 tapedrives? or is it better
> to get a new one?
Every 20'ish hours said mine, but it needed less. Only saw
dirt on the cotton swab the first time I cleaned it.
> I don't like this situation, as I have a lot of tapes for this drive and
> I would really like to use them again...
If you have a *server* you might consider changing the backup
hardware. I have no idea how deep your purse is, but DAT
tapes are cheap (compared to TR-3 tapes) and often larger.
I assume you use a 1.6/3.2 GB tape. DAT I offers 2.0/4.0 GB
for 3.5-5 Euro; DAT II gives 4.0/8.0 GB for 6-7.5 Euro per
tape, IIRC.
DAT I drives should be aviable for 250-330 Euro ... but I am
guessing here, ask your local dealer.
There are cheaper systems aviable, like the OnStream DI30
(ATAPI) which should be $300 and tapes at $35, according
to Tim Jones, which may or may not be a system you'll want.
(If you need many tapes rather than big tapes, maybe not!)
-Wolfgang
