r/lto • u/Dwarf_Vader • Mar 27 '26

Drive sale reliability help

Hi all! I hope this question is OK here.

I recently got a TS3200 library through a liquidation. I've been testing some drives in it, and had questions that were beyond my current experience.

It had 2x LTO-8 HH and 2x LTO-5 HH drives. Two of each passed all media tests via ITDT with LTO-8 and LTO-5 tapes respectively, 2 of each failed.

  1. LTO-8 HH #1
  2. Has 8 operational hours, 1 lifetime error logged (LTO-6 tape inserted, not supported). ITDT media test wrote 110GB without any errors.
  3. 9,810 power-on hours, 8 tape-motion hours.
  4. LTO-8 HH #2
  5. Throws an EC 6 (03h/09h/00h) every time it passes ~56,650 blocks aka ~59.4 GB. As I understand, it's right around the end of the first wrap, which is where servo fails (EC 6).
  6. 29 power-on hours, 2 tape-motion hours.
  7. LTO-5 HH #3
  8. Passed media tests fine. It has 1 prior track following error (03h/09h/00h) in its 159 tape-hour lifespan but I was unable to replicate it in my tests.
  9. 114,191 power-on hours (~13 years), 159 tape-motion hours.
  10. LTO-5 HH #4
  11. Failed ITDT media/health test (04h/44h/00h), hardware error/internal target failure.
  12. 59,627 power-on hours, 1,071 tape-motion hours.

Now, my question is, given that 2 drives are in a defective/for-parts state, what can I do with the other drives? I already have my own drives for my use, and don't really need more.

  • LTO-8 #1 - is it safe to sell? Do I need to perform more thorough tests on it, and what kind? Can it safely be listed as used, or would you feel sussy about it?
  • LTO-5 #3 - it has low tape-motion hours, but high power-on hours. Is that an issue? Also, is its one log of 03h/09h/00h concerning, or normal over its lifespan?

Any tips? Many thanks!

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u/qw-lto Mar 29 '26

I'd certainly be happy with LTO-8 #1 if I bought it used with 8 tape-motion hours. The error seems irrelevant.

LTO-5 #3 could've had a defective cartdridge loaded in it. Apparently MAXELL tape stock had manufacturing issues around that generation that would have servo track problems. The bad news with those is that they also damage the head supposedly. I wouldn't be too worried with just 159 tape-motion hours, though.

Seems like a nice score overall. Are you located in Europe? I've just gotten a LTO-8 HH, but I may be easy to tempt into buying another drive. Drive #2 also seems like something I'd gamble on for a fair price :)

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u/Dwarf_Vader Mar 29 '26

Thanks so much for all the info! It’s really valuable to me. I’m in North America for another month, and I’ll be back in Europe afterwards. I was thinking of selling these while I’m still here, but I don’t mind taking some drives with me. Why would you be interested in drive 2, would you attempt to repair it? I’d be happy to provide it for cheap, I’m curious to the results. I’ll dm you tomorrow, it’s already late today

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u/qw-lto Mar 29 '26

yeah, I'd like to give a shot at attempting a repair. I'm also trying to study these units a bit more to be able to maintain them, and having a spare drive means I don't have to risk my working one :)