>One thing, the drive never really seems to *look* for the BOT marker. I
>mean, pressing load causes the drive to immediately rewind a good 8"-1' of
>tape and then stops there. Nothing else.
It's possible that the optical sensors in the tape path are out of
adjustment or simply just dusty. Most tape drives have at least
two sensors, one for the BOT and one for the EOT marker, and some have
a third sensor for "tape present in tape path". If these are giving
nonsensical combinations, (for example, both BOT and EOT at the same time)
the machine is likely to do weird things or fail its self-test.
In some cases, bright light (i.e. direct sunlight) shining into the
tape drive will temporarily screw up these sensors, leading to the classic
stories of "tape drive works in the morning but not in the afternoon"!
--
Tim Shoppa Email: shoppa_at_trailing-edge.com
Trailing Edge Technology WWW: http://www.trailing-edge.com/
7328 Bradley Blvd Voice: 301-767-5917
Bethesda, MD, USA 20817 Fax: 301-767-5927
Received on Thu Oct 14 1999 - 09:20:16 BST