--- Eric Smith <eric_at_brouhaha.com> wrote:
> >>> I have a 4951. It uses the same tapes as the HP-85, HP 9825, etc.
> >>> IIRC they're DC-100 tapes...
>
> >>> You can also reformat and use DECTapes.
> >>
> >>Right. That's what my boss used to do. I have plenty of
> >>4951-formatted DECtapes to last me a while (5-10, IIRC).
>
> I've got quite a few reels of DECtape, and I can't imagine how you
> could possibly jam them into a cartridge tape slot, nor how they could
> be expected to do anything useful if you di.
>
> Presumably the tapes in question are TU58 tapes, which are unfortunately
> known as "DECtape II".
Yes. You are correct. Original DECtapes were open reel and ran on
TU-55 and TU-56 drives. I wonder what fills the evolutionary tree
as a TU-57 (engineering prototype? unreleased transport? skipped
for marketing reasons?)
> Anyhow, the big problem with reformatting them for use on other systems
> is that there is no known way to format them back into TU58 tapes if
> you ever need any. :-(
True.
> And I could definitely use some TU58 tapes, but not if they've been
> formatted into something else.
I myself have never done it, but I have used ones that other people
reformatted. Better to use a DC-100 in your HP 4951, clearly, but
14 years ago, faced with two cases of DECtapes (yes, we did have
a bunch bought new from DEC, so not just diagnostic and distro tapes),
my boss chose to sacrifice half-a-dozen tapes. It was his company.
They were his tapes. Now they are mine. :-)
-ethan
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Received on Fri Sep 13 2002 - 09:04:00 BST