tk70? what's normal?

I have little/no experience with tk50/tk70 and I transplanted a tk70 into a mv4000 and I'm curious about 'normal operation' When it powers up the 3 leds all come on and then the write prot goes out, the "in use" starts flashing and the 'handle' led (green) stays on. I notice that if the i/o connector is in backward all 3 leds will flash and the handle led will never come on. When the cable is in properly (I presume), the green led is on and the 'in use' just keeps flashing. Occationally it makes little scraping noises like it's trying to load the tape. I did try and load a tape and found it sucked the tape in but refused to unload it. The in-use light just flashed and flashed. I found I had to angle the tape it a bit to get the interlock to release so I could insert the cart. Is this drive dead/broken perhaps? -brad