T10000D - Permanent Write Errors In Low Humidity Environments

Asset ID:	1-72-2104135.1
Update Date:	2017-08-16
Keywords:

Solution Type Problem Resolution Sure

Solution 2104135.1 : T10000D - Permanent Write Errors In Low Humidity Environments

Applies to:

StorageTek T10000D Tape Drive - Version All Versions to All Versions [Release All Releases]
Information in this document applies to any platform.

Symptoms

Permanent write errors on T10000D drives in low humidity environments. Write perm errors on many drive and across many tapes.

FSC36911, FSC377A, FSC37A4

Cause

T10000D drives will build up head stain over time when they are run in a low humidity environment. Once the head stain becomes severe the drive will start to take permanent write errors. 3961, 377A, and 3A74 are some of the FSCs you may encounter due to this problem. Green (new) tapes run in low humidity are greater contributors to this issue vs. tapes that have been written or read several times.

Solution

If you suspect that low humidity is causing this problem at an account, the first step is to have the customer measure the humidity in the area in front of the library. This air will be pulled into the library and through the tape drives. If the humidity is low, ask the customer to bring the humidity back into a range between 40-50 % Relative Humidity. Once this is done, the drive performance should begin to improve. Some drives may need to be replaced if the head stain is severe. Running a cleaning tape in the drive may bring some temporary help but running cleaning tape alone will not solve this issue. Only raising the humidity will help.

Note: T10000C tape drive are not affected by this humidity symptom. However, the same humidity specs are valid for T10000C drives as for T10000D drives

Also see KB 1617869.1.

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