About TapeAlert

TapeAlert is a tape drive status monitor and message utility. The TapeAlert utility can detect tape quality problems, defects in tape drive hardware, and the need to clean drives. For the tape drives that support TapeAlert, the TapeAlert firmware monitors the drive hardware and the media. Error, warning, and informational states are logged on a TapeAlert log page.

For the drives that do not support TapeAlert, configure and use frequency-based cleaning.