Hoping someone here has seen this similar issue and can offer soem advise...

I have an HP DAT72x6 auto loader tape backup unit. The external kind, here is a link to an owner's manual I found of it.

http://www.dectrader.com/docs/set2/emr_na-c00070400-1.pdf

I purchased the unit used about 6 months ago. The unit stopped working after 3-4 back-ups, it's used one day a month to do a monthly backup of another system. Suffice it to say the unit gets very little usage.

There is an amber light on the front of the unit called the OAR (Operator Attention Required). The manual states to call for service when this light comes on and stays on.

I've tried a few things to resolve but none are working. I've tried power cycling, re-securing the SCSI cables at both ends.

Unit was used so I didn't pay much ($500) and so I don't want to spend a lot to have it fixed; might as well buy something new one if fixing this is going to cost more than $100-$150 bucks.

I'm curious to see if anyone here has been around these devices or possibly is an HP repair person that can give me some things to try to resolve. The manual states that a solid amber OAR light indicates a hardware failure.

When I power cycle the unit I see one of two scenarios so far.

1. The unit powers up, shows self test in the LCD, then LCD changes to show all possible images and the OAR light comes on.

2. The unit powers up, LCD is completely blank, the green lights go through some sort of process of going on and off and later the amber OAR light comes on and stays on.

If it's a simple misalignment issue, I may be able to fix myself but not knowing what could cause the OAR light to come on gives me no where to even start. Google around gave no help either.

I hoping someone here has experience with this and can help or point me in the right direction.

Also, I don't have the HP Diagnostic tools mentioned in many manuals. The unit is connected to a Linux box. The 3-4 backups I've done with it so far have had no issues. We run amanda backup. Before this incident the unit was backing up and reading tapes fine.

Thanks for any help or suggestions.