Patent ID: 6931578

Claim:
In a multichannel tape drive for reading data from a tape, wherein the data is recorded on the tape in a plurality of data blocks, each data block having a plurality of tracks and each track having the same number of data bytes, a method for determining degradation of the tape drive and the tape, the method comprising: reading data blocks on the tape; determining if more than a predetermined threshold of data bytes are in error for each data block; generating an error data block count signal indicative of the number of data blocks having more than the predetermined threshold of data bytes being in error; determining if more than a predetermined number of data bytes along a single track are in error for each data block; and generating a tape drive degradation signal indicative of the tape drive being degraded if the ratio of data blocks having more than the predetermined number of data bytes along a single track being in error versus the total number of data blocks read from the tape is above a predetermined ratio.