Patent ID: 8000052

Claim:
A method, comprising: receiving an instruction to perform a verification operation on a media cartridge having a tape wrapped around a spool; unwrapping at least some of the tape from the spool of the media cartridge; after the unwrapping, wrapping at least some of the tape back onto the spool; during at least one of the unwrapping and wrapping, performing a verification operation; applying a time limit, wherein the verification operation is terminated if the time limit is reached; generating a quality metric based on the verification operation, wherein the quality metric is indicative of a quality of the media cartridge; and outputting the quality metric or derivative thereof, wherein the quality metric is generated based at least in part on a number of error events found during at least one of a servo verify and a data verify, wherein the quality metric or derivative thereof is a value in a range having at least three values, wherein at least some data on the tape is overwritten with new data while the media cartridge is mounted in a drive, and the verification operation is performed using the new data.