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All LEDs of an half height LTO-6 drive are flashing with ~ 4 Hz. An LTO-5 tape is still inside, the drive does not react on commands, the flashing continues after a power cycle.

I could not find the error code in the Tandberg manual. The drive is ~3 years old and has just a history of ~15 full backups, the tape was written twice. So I do not expect a mechanical wear, but rather an electronic problem.

This Tandberg LTO-6 drive is an LTO-6 HP drive in individual housings, hence it would also help to know what this code means for the HP LTO-6 drive.

Who knows what the code means and where is it documented?

all LEDs of an LTO-6 drive are flashing

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    I'm voting to close this question as off-topic because it's about a hardware problem that should be asked of the vendor's support contact.
    – Jenny D
    Feb 10, 2018 at 19:40
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    @JennyD You could close nearly all questions with that argument, because you can buy a vendor support for nearly every server related problem. Feb 10, 2018 at 20:40
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    @JonasStein I could close a lot of hardware questions with that, yes. When hardware starts behaving in a way it shouldn't, then vendor support is the way to go - if you're in a business environment, which is what ServerFault is for. Likewise, if a closed-source product doesn't work according to the manual, the vendor's support would be a good place to start.
    – Jenny D
    Feb 11, 2018 at 10:27
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    @JennyD technical SE sites would be so much better without self-proclaimed off-topic police, such as yourself. When I envision your thought process, it's as if you're sitting and thinking "how could I interfere with somebody potentially helping someone else". Mar 6, 2018 at 2:23
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    I don't think you're in a position to lecture anyone on being nice, Maybe it wasn't malitious intent, maybe you are just like described in the third paragraph in the link you posted. Also, thank you for your explanations. Could you also write something longer on what convinced you to think I needed them/ Is thtat the false sense of superiority or the "power" of being a moderator on SE? :) Mar 6, 2018 at 14:20

2 Answers 2

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I googled a few examples of LTO-6 tape drives, and they all seem to have basically the same LEDs, although their arrangement varies by OEM and form factor:

  • encryption
  • cleaning required
  • tape (error)
  • drive (error)
  • ready

There is no power button LED, so my guess is that the power button and its LED are not integral parts of the drive mechanism itself, but related to the external enclosure and its power supply.

I note that all the LEDs are blinking, including the power LED. If the power LED is directly connected to the enclosure's power supply, its blinking might suggest a power supply problem, and the blinking of the tape drive's LEDs might be just a side effect of the enclosure's PSU repeatedly trying to start up and failing, 4 times per second.

Things to check:

  • Power cable firmly plugged in?
  • Incoming power OK? (no over/undervolt)
  • Does the enclosure include a fan? Is it spinning?
  • If the power supply is an external wall-wart style, does it smell bad? Feel suspiciously hot?
  • Try using a different power socket if possible.

It looks like the device might have a 3-year warranty as standard, so it might still be possible to get this fixed/replaced as a warranty support case.

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    It is correct that the drive LEDs are the same, because all LTO-6 drives are the same. The drives can be mounted in a housing with powersupply. Tandberg puts a HP half height drive LTO-6 in this one for example. It sounds very reasonable, that the power supply restarts, this would explain, why it is not documented in the drive manual. Feb 10, 2018 at 20:35
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    The manual covers controlled LED flashing. This is likely a case of uncontrolled flashing as telcoM has pointed out.
    – Zac67
    Feb 10, 2018 at 22:23
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    My experience also says this is a PSU problem. If the drive is not under warranty, you can (carefully!) disassemble the external housing to extract the standard LTO drive inside. On the rear of the drive you'll find a standard SAS power connector, unless this is the fibre channel version. Plug the extracted drive directly into a different server and see if the drive boots up normally. If so, just get a new housing; it's a lot cheaper than a new drive. Of course, if the warranty is valid send the whole thing back without disassembling it first! Feb 12, 2018 at 0:06
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Assuming its a HP drive...

Its broken.

Considering you can't insert a tape... call for service

enter image description here

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    In this LED sequence from the HP manual, only 3 LED's flash. Feb 11, 2018 at 1:28
  • 3 LEDs are flashing. Light is bleeding through to the other two IMO Feb 11, 2018 at 4:00
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    No, the LEDs clearly flash all. The next nearest neighbors are not illuminated by diffuse light. The clear housing of a blue LED can not convert yellow light to blue. Even with the bad designed devices, where neighbor LEDs are illuminated too, it would not illuminate the power LED in 10 cm distance and a different housing. Feb 11, 2018 at 11:11

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