US-12620414-B2 - Tape drive error recovery procedure selection based on humidity

US12620414B2US 12620414 B2US12620414 B2US 12620414B2US-12620414-B2

Abstract

In one general embodiment, an apparatus includes a magnetic head, and a controller coupled to the magnetic head, the controller being configured to perform a method that includes measuring humidity in a vicinity of the apparatus in response to detection of an error while performing a data operation on a magnetic recording tape. An error recovery procedure to remove debris on the tape is executed in response to detection of an error and the measured humidity exceeding a predefined upper limit value. An error recovery procedure to remove debris adhering to the magnetic head is executed in response to detection of an error and the measured humidity being below a predefined lower limit value.

Inventors

Tsuyoshi Miyamura
Setsuko Masuda
Tatsuki Sawada

Assignees

INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MACHINES CORPORATION

Dates

Publication Date: 20260505
Application Date: 20230120

Claims (20)

1 . An apparatus, comprising: a magnetic head; and a controller coupled to the magnetic head, the controller being configured to perform a method comprising: measuring humidity in a vicinity of the apparatus in response to detection of an error while performing a data operation on a magnetic recording tape; executing an error recovery procedure to remove debris on the tape in response to detection of an error and the measured humidity exceeding a predefined upper limit value; and executing an error recovery procedure to remove debris adhering to the magnetic head in response to detection of an error and the measured humidity being below a predefined lower limit value.
2 . An apparatus as recited in claim 1 , wherein the predefined upper limit value is greater than 75% humidity, wherein the predefined lower limit value is less than 25% humidity.
3 . An apparatus as recited in claim 1 , wherein the error recovery procedure to remove debris adhering to the magnetic head includes brushing the magnetic head.
4 . An apparatus as recited in claim 3 , wherein the apparatus is configured to brush the magnetic head without winding the tape.
5 . An apparatus as recited in claim 1 , comprising executing a default error recovery procedure sequence in response to detection of an error and the measured humidity is between the limit values.
6 . An apparatus as recited in claim 1 , wherein the error recovery procedure to remove debris on the tape is the first error recovery procedure performed, at least for an area of the tape corresponding to a location of the error, in response to detecting the error and the measured humidity exceeding the predefined upper limit value; and wherein a default sequence of other error recovery procedures is performed in response to determining that the error recovery procedure to remove debris on the tape did not resolve the error.
7 . An apparatus as recited in claim 1 , wherein the error recovery procedure to remove debris from the magnetic head is the first error recovery procedure performed in response to detecting the error and the measured humidity being below the predefined upper limit value; and wherein a default sequence of other error recovery procedures is performed in response to determining that the error recovery procedure to remove debris from the magnetic head did not resolve the error.
8 . A method, comprising: measuring humidity in a vicinity of a tape drive in response to occurrence of an error while performing a data operation on a magnetic recording tape; executing an error recovery procedure to remove debris on the tape in response to the measured humidity exceeding a predefined upper limit value; and executing an error recovery procedure to remove debris adhering to a magnetic head of the tape drive in response to the measured humidity being below a predefined lower limit value.
9 . A method as recited in claim 8 , wherein the predefined upper limit value is greater than 75% humidity, wherein the predefined lower limit value is less than 25% humidity.
10 . A method as recited in claim 8 , wherein the error recovery procedure to remove debris adhering to the magnetic head includes brushing the magnetic head.
11 . A method as recited in claim 10 , wherein the tape drive is configured to brush the magnetic head without winding the tape.
12 . A method as recited in claim 8 , comprising executing a default error recovery procedure sequence in response to detection of an error and the measured humidity is between the limit values.
13 . A method as recited in claim 8 , wherein the error recovery procedure to remove debris on the tape is the first error recovery procedure performed, at least for an area of the tape corresponding to a location of the error, in response to detecting the error and the measured humidity exceeding the predefined upper limit value; and wherein a default sequence of other error recovery procedures is performed in response to determining that the error recovery procedure to remove debris on the tape did not resolve the error.
14 . A method as recited in claim 8 , wherein the error recovery procedure to remove debris from the magnetic head is the first error recovery procedure performed in response to detecting the error and the measured humidity being below the predefined upper limit value; and wherein a default sequence of other error recovery procedures is performed in response to determining that the error recovery procedure to remove debris from the magnetic head did not resolve the error.
15 . A computer program product for selecting an error recovery procedure, the computer program product comprising: one or more computer readable storage media, and program instructions collectively stored on the one or more computer readable storage media, the program instructions comprising: program instructions to measure humidity in a vicinity of a tape drive in response to occurrence of an error while performing a data operation on a magnetic recording tape; program instructions to execute an error recovery procedure to remove debris on the tape in response to the measured humidity exceeding a predefined upper limit value; and program instructions to execute an error recovery procedure to remove debris adhering to a magnetic head of the tape drive in response to the measured humidity being below a predefined lower limit value.
16 . A computer program product as recited in claim 15 , wherein the predefined upper limit value is greater than 75% humidity, wherein the predefined lower limit value is less than 25% humidity.
17 . A computer program product as recited in claim 15 , wherein the error recovery procedure to remove debris adhering to the magnetic head includes brushing the magnetic head.
18 . A computer program product as recited in claim 17 , wherein the tape drive is configured to brush the magnetic head without winding the tape.
19 . A computer program product as recited in claim 15 , comprising program instructions to execute a default error recovery procedure sequence in response to detection of an error and the measured humidity is between the limit values.
20 . A computer program product as recited in claim 15 , wherein the error recovery procedure to remove debris on the tape is the first error recovery procedure performed, at least for an area of the tape corresponding to a location of the error, in response to detecting the error and the measured humidity exceeding the predefined upper limit value; and wherein a default sequence of other error recovery procedures is performed in response to determining that the error recovery procedure to remove debris on the tape did not resolve the error, wherein the error recovery procedure to remove debris from the magnetic head is the first error recovery procedure performed in response to detecting the error and the measured humidity being below the predefined upper limit value; and wherein a default sequence of other error recovery procedures is performed in response to determining that the error recovery procedure to remove debris from the magnetic head did not resolve the error.

Description

BACKGROUND The present invention relates to data storage systems, and more particularly, this invention relates to selecting error recovery procedure(s) based on humidity. In magnetic storage systems, magnetic transducers read data from and write data onto magnetic recording media. Data is written on the magnetic recording media by moving a magnetic recording transducer to a position over the media where the data is to be stored. The magnetic recording transducer then generates a magnetic field, which encodes the data into the magnetic media. Data is read from the media by similarly positioning the magnetic read transducer and then sensing the magnetic field of the magnetic media. Read and write operations may be independently synchronized with the movement of the media to ensure that the data can be read from and written to the desired location on the media. An important and continuing goal in the data storage industry is that of increasing the density of data stored on a medium. For tape storage systems, that goal has led to increasing the track and linear bit density on recording tape, and decreasing the thickness of the magnetic tape medium. However, the development of small footprint, higher performance tape drive systems has created various challenges ranging from the design of tape head assemblies for use in such systems to dealing with tape dimensional instability and debris. SUMMARY An apparatus, in accordance with one embodiment, includes a magnetic head, and a controller coupled to the magnetic head, the controller being configured to perform a method that includes measuring humidity in a vicinity of the apparatus in response to detection of an error while performing a data operation on a magnetic recording tape. An error recovery procedure to remove debris on the tape is executed in response to detection of an error and the measured humidity exceeding a predefined upper limit value. An error recovery procedure to remove debris adhering to the magnetic head is executed in response to detection of an error and the measured humidity being below a predefined lower limit value. A method, in accordance with one embodiment, includes measuring humidity in a vicinity of a tape drive in response to occurrence of an error while performing a data operation on a magnetic recording tape. An error recovery procedure to remove debris on the tape is executed in response to detection of an error and the measured humidity exceeding a predefined upper limit value. An error recovery procedure to remove debris adhering to the magnetic head is executed in response to detection of an error and the measured humidity being below a predefined lower limit value. A computer program product for selecting an error recovery procedure, in accordance with one embodiment, includes one or more computer readable storage media, and program instructions collectively stored on the one or more computer readable storage media. The program instructions include program instructions to measure humidity in a vicinity of a tape drive in response to occurrence of an error while performing a data operation on a magnetic recording tape, program instructions to execute an error recovery procedure to remove debris on the tape in response to the measured humidity exceeding a predefined upper limit value, and program instructions to execute an error recovery procedure to remove debris adhering to a magnetic head of the tape drive in response to the measured humidity being below a predefined lower limit value. Any of these embodiments may be implemented in a magnetic data storage system such as a tape drive system, which may include a magnetic head, a drive mechanism for passing a magnetic medium (e.g., recording tape) over the magnetic head, and a controller electrically coupled to the magnetic head. Other aspects and embodiments of the present invention will become apparent from the following detailed description, which, when taken in conjunction with the drawings, illustrate by way of example the principles of the invention. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a diagram of a computing environment, in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2A is a schematic diagram of a simplified tape drive system, in accordance with one embodiment. FIG. 2B is a schematic diagram of a tape cartridge, in accordance with one embodiment. FIG. 2C illustrates a side view of a flat-lapped, bi-directional, two-module magnetic tape head, in accordance with one embodiment. FIG. 2D is a tape bearing surface view taken from Line 2D of FIG. 2C. FIG. 2E is a detailed view taken from Circle 2E of FIG. 2D. FIG. 2F is a detailed view of a partial tape bearing surface of a pair of modules. FIG. 3 is a partial tape bearing surface view of a magnetic head having a write-read-write configuration, in accordance with one embodiment. FIG. 4 is a partial tape bearing surface view of a magnetic head having a read-write-read configuration, in accordance with