[HECnet] Tape drive explosion

[Kari Uusim ki]

On 24.1.2013 8:55, Mark Wickens wrote:
On 24/01/2013 06:35, Ian McLaughlin wrote:

On 2013-01-23, at 9:28 PM, Cory Smelosky <b4 at gewt.net
<mailto:b4 at gewt.net>> wrote:

Eeeeeep!   Was it an important tape?

AQ-JP22D-BE VMS V5.2 BIN TK50 1/2

I think I have another copy somewhere.   I'm suspecting that the TK50
drive in this external SCSI chassis might be bad...

Ian

Ian,
This is usually down to the tape rather than the drive.

It is recommended that you 'bake' old tapes before reading them - over
time they become 'sticky'. IIRC a couple of hours at around 50 degC.
I have a load of tapes that I need to read off but I've currently got no
way of baking. I suspect that a standard oven, even on it's lowest
setting, will be too hot - you need something like an incubating oven. I
know someone who used to do this on a regular occasion and had very few
failures using this method.

Regards, Mark.


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.

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

As Mark said, the tapes tend to deteriorate even when stored in good conditions. It is recommended to retension the tapes at least once a year by winding it completely in and out. That recommendation is written in the tape manufacturers' preserving guide.
It will also prevent edge deterioration.


Regards,

Kari