[Info-vax] VS80 redux, any service info available

[Rich Jordan]

On Feb 8, 2:43 pm, "Richard B. Gilbert" <rgilber... at comcast.net>
wrote:
> On 2/8/2011 1:45 PM, Rich Jordan wrote:
>
>
>
> > Going to try one last time.  I've had zero luck finding a service
> > manual or any useful service info on the VS80 DLT drive.  We picked up
> > a couple of p/n 337701-001 new in box in 2009, new but out of warranty
> > per HP.  One has been working great, the other worked for about 10
> > backups then the leader self destructed.
>
> > The leaders are available online, though no other parts or info seems
> > to be.  I got a couple of replacements, put one in, and got part of
> > one backup to a brand new tape, then it pulled the tape apart and
> > couldn't eject.  Used HP's 9 volt battery trick to eject the cartridge
> > and reset the leader.  Next cartridge (used this time) also failed but
> > this time the drive leader self destructed again, damaging the end of
> > the tape itself.
>
> > Today we installed the last leader, pulled and reseated every
> > connector we safely could (two of the thin ribbon cables are very
> > badly placed for that and could not be done without excess
> > disassembly) and cleaned the rollers and interior (but not the heads)
> > with proper swabs and cleaning fluid.  The drive started loading the
> > tape then errored out.  Turned out it broke the tape again; the drive
> > leader looks ok.
>
> > We're done playing with this drive unless we can get some usable
> > service information; there's no budget for repair or replacement (it
> > was to replace DAT backup on the cluster; the DAT drives are still
> > working.  The other VS80 got hijacked by the peecee weenies).
>
> > So... is there anyinfo or documentation publicly available out there
> > to help diagnose and possibly fix this drive?
>
> > Thanks for any input
>
> Google for "DLT Tape Drive Repair" and you should get a screen full.
> This is NOT a do it yourself project.  If you can't find $300-$500 in
> the budget, you will probably have to learn to live without it.

Richard,
     repair depots and businesses are all I could find, using any
reasonable keyword set.  Apparently service info for the end user is
just not available at all.

     If it turns out to be electronics failure requiring test
equipment to determine the fault, much less access to 'spare' parts
beyond the leader itself, I know its a dead issue.  I was rather
hoping that a service guide would help make that determination, but
apparently Quantum et al have never made such available, at least to
'the public'.

     And no, there's no budget for this unless and until the DAT
drives fail and make it an issue.  At most I could try to buy a cheap
nonworking one on ebay and swap parts to see if I could get one to
work.  Probably not worth the time, especially if this is a 'common
failure mode' for this drive.