--- Tony Duell <ard_at_p850ug1.demon.co.uk> wrote:
> > I am not certain if the VIP uses a header or not, but given how simple
> > the monitor is, and the fact that unlike, say, the PET, there is no
> > file name (and no redundant copy), I would expect that the first file
> > on the tape is completely hosed.
>
>
> Can you not hack it so that it will read all it can of the file (say by
> ignoring checksums, at least on the first block, or something). Then you
> can move the data around in memory, and type in the missing bytes. It
> will be a lot less work than retyping the whole file (and less prone to
> errors!).
The amount of time it would take to reverse-engineer the tape loading
subroutines and hack it up would be substantially longer than typing
in a few kbytes into a hex keypad.
If I had a box of tapes in this state, it might be worth it. I do not. If
I did not have the original listings to retype from, it also might be
worth it, but I do.
> > > I have repaired cassette pressure pads in the past...
>
> > If it had screws, I'd have done that already...
>
> You cna open up welded cassettes too... There used to be a tool sold in
> the UK for doing this (amazingly), but a knife, small screwdriver and
> pliers will generally do it.
I'm surprised to learn of a tool, but yes, I have done it also. I have
a collection of Doctor Demento tapes I made between 1978 and 1982 and
on many of them, the adhesive that binds the clear leader to the beginning
of the audio tape has failed. Before I discovered a workaround (there's
enough adhesion to handle manual manipulation, but not the shock
of mechanical rewind nor the pressure of the pinch roller) I had a
few tapes detach the leader from the audio tape.
> However I learnt _very_ early on to only buy screwed cassettes unless
> there was a very good reason not to
I was 13 the last time I bought any quantity of audio cassettes. I
switched to floppies by 15 (and I _still_ have "disk 1" - BASF 5.25"
formatted for a 1541)
> I'd do both. For some reason I feel that good old analogue tape is going
> to be a lot easier to understand in he future than some of these modern
> compressed digital formats....
True. But paper listings are the most durable of all. In the distant
future, we'll still have eyes and fingers even if we migrate away from
pushing electrons through semiconductors for fun/profit.
-ethan
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Received on Thu Aug 22 2002 - 08:50:01 BST