Troubleshooting Steps for Ejecting Stuck Tapes/Media from PowerVault Backup Tape drives

Note: This article is part of the Dell PowerVault knowledge library, available here.

1. Manual Troubleshooting of stuck tape
2. ITDT Troubleshooting of stuck tape

PowerVault Backup Tape Drive will not Eject Tape/Media successfully. The drive fails or the Media seems to be stuck in the tape drive.
You can attempt to resolve this issue by following the steps relevant to your model in the next section.
If you are still unable to eject the tape, please contact your local Dell Technical Support for further assistance.

Manual Troubleshooting of stuck tape

The following are are general troubleshooting steps to eject a tape or media from a PowerVault Tape Drive:

1. Try to eject the media using the software.
   If software eject does not work, stop then disable all backup services.
   Make sure Removable Storage is stopped and disabled (for Microsoft Windows 2003 Server).
2. Press the eject button on the drive to eject media.
3. For IBM® tape drives put the drive in maintenance mode by pressing the eject button 3 times within 1.5 seconds.
4. Reset the drive then try to eject. See relevant model in the list below:
   
    
   1. DLT VS 80 can take up to 10 minutes to rewind media. To reset the drive press and hold the eject button for 7 seconds.
   2. All 3 LED’s will come on, release the eject button.
   3. DLT VS160 is reset by holding the eject button down for 27 – 30 seconds. All four lights on the front of the drive should be on solid.
   4. SDLT 320 is reset when the drive is power cycled.
   5. DAT 72 is reset by pressing the eject button for greater than five seconds.
   6. LTO2 IBM® is reset by pressing the eject button for 10 seconds. If the status light is flashing wait until it turns solid.
   7. LTO2 Certance® is reset by pressing the eject button between 5 to 15 seconds then release it.
   8. LTO2 Tandberg® double press the eject button. Or try pressing and holding the eject button for at least 10 seconds.
   9. LTO3 IBM® is reset by pressing and holding the eject button for 10 seconds.
   10. LTO3 060 IBM® is reset by pressing and holding the eject button for 12 seconds.
   11. LTO3 060 Tandberg® is reset by pressing and holding the eject button for 12 seconds.
   12. LTO4 120 IBM® is reset by pressing and holding the eject button for 10 seconds.
   13. LTO4 120 Half Height IBM® is reset by pressing and holding the eject button for 10 seconds.
   14. LTO4 120 Half Height Quantum® is reset by pressing and holding the eject button for 5 seconds.
   15. LTO5 140 Half Height IBM® is reset by pressing and holding the eject button for 10 seconds.
   16. LTO6 IBM® is reset by pressing and holding the eject button for 10 seconds.
       
        
5. Download and update the latest firmware if available.
   If media is detected in the drive the newer firmware update will try to eject the media before the firmware update.
   Tape drive firmware can be obtained at www.dell.com/support/drivers

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ITDT Troubleshooting of stuck tape
 

This section explains how to manually release a tape stuck in a LTO type drive using ITDT:

Java has to be installed on your server.

Please Download ITDT (v 5.0.1) and install the 32bits or 64 bits according to the Java version used on your system.
Before starting, make sure to shut down all your back-up software services.

This Symantec article  explains how to stop the Symantec Backup Exec services.

 

Steps:

Launch ITDT, and then click on Scan to detect the present drives.
Select the drive in which the tape is stuck.

Use the following options for the manual recovery:

1. Click on the small arrow on the right of Test
2. Click on Stuck Tape/Eject Test





Check if the tape is correctly released.
If the tape doesn’t eject, please contact the technical support.

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• Power server off, if drive is external power the drive off as well, remove SCSI, SAS or FC from the tape drive.
  If the drive is external power it on. Once the drive has completed POST, reset the drive as per steps 3 & 4, then try to eject.
  
  If drive is internal, power the server on and boot to the server BIOS. Once drive has completed POST, reset the drive as per step 3 & 4, then try to eject media.
  
   
• If troubleshooting a tape library, try the drive in a different slot.
• If media does eject. Test theb drive with another piece of media for proper operation.