[HECnet] Tape drive explosion

[Ian McLaughlin]

On 2013-01-24, at 2:06 AM, Kari Uusim  ki <uusimaki at exdecfinland.org> wrote:

Is the takeup leader (the plastic ribbon which is fastened to the internal reel) intact? Its outer end which grabs the tape from the cassette is arrow-shaped. Is the "arrow" quite in order? If not, the takeup leader should be replaced.

Tape leader is fine on this drive.   The problem with this cartridge is the spool inside the cartridge jammed and wouldn't rotate causing the drive to not rewind.

You can also read a TK50 tape with a newer DLT drive like TZ85, TZ86 and TZ87.

Is this true?   According to Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digital_Linear_Tape a CompacTape I can only be read by a TK50 and a TK70.

Can anyone confirm or deny this?   I have some newer generation DLT drives, but none of them admit to being backwards compatible that far.

Ian