I've had a bit of a play. Nice.
We had a similar thing many years ago when i worked at the university. One of the students wrote it for a laugh. He had an Ultrix client for it too.
My handle, by the way, is the utterly unimaginatve "tonyblews".
Tony.
On Fri, Jan 25, 2013 at 7:20 PM, <sampsa at mac.com> wrote:
Oh yes, add me as well, my handle is 'djinn'.
The HIMUSERLIST script will show all registered handles, btw.
sampsa
On 25 Jan 2013, at 21:18, Ian McLaughlin <ian at platinum.net> wrote:
> Once you're live, add me to your buddy list - the handle is 'ian'.
>
> Ian
>
> On 2013-01-25, at 11:16 AM, sampsa at mac.com wrote:
>
>> Guys,
>>
>> Me and some chaps on the DECtek mailing list have been testing HIM and it's at least mostly functional at this stage.
>>
>> Grab a copy from RHESUS::[.MEDIALIB.HIM]HIM.ZIP or check out http://rhesus.sampsa.com/him/
>>
>> sampsa
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> ---
>> Filter service subscribers can train this email as spam or not-spam here: http://my.email-as.net/spamham/cgi-bin/learn.pl?messageid=CFEF0126672311E2B…
>
It works!
After much fooling around, I figured out what was going wrong. I hate to admit the largest of the problems, but I guess I should come clean...
After writing and reading DLTIII tapes to make sure the hardware was working just fine, I moved over to using TK50 tapes to see if I could read them from Linux. No matter what I did, I was not getting a VMS-style tape. In fact, I was getting back the same data that I had written to the DLTIII tape for testing???? Was there some buffer somewhere? No, the machine I was testing from has a DLTIII tape drive installed internally, as well as the external tape library I was playing with. All my testing was actually being done to a tpe installed in the internal drive - I was using the wrong device name.
Oh well, after wasting a few hours on that, I figured out the correct device name, and performed the tests again. Everything started working! I have now grabbed about 20 tapes and archived them. One tape got stuck in the drive, and a couple of tapes are coming up with read errors, but I am able to read a surprising number of them.
I'm starting to post the tapes up on my archive page here:
http://www.vaxhaven.com/index.php?title=TK50_Image_Archive
You should start seeing more appear as the evening progresses. The images are in SIMH format, which is documented on the SIMH site. A better programmer than I should be able to write a VMS program to read SIMH tap files and write them to real tapes. This would close the loop.
I'd appreciate feedback if anyone has the opportunity to test some of these images.
Ian
On 26 Jan 2013, at 06:29, Ian McLaughlin wrote:
Does anyone have the document EK-TZ875-OM in their digital collections anywhere? I am unable to find it anywhere, and I'm trying to decypher the front panel controls for this device.
I had a good search, I found everything but the user manual. Is there any chance of removing the tape drive deck from it? I thing the TZ875 (from the pictures) just has 5 drives in a 4U box at the back. It might be faster to extract a drive from it and use that! If you do it carefully you can put it back afterwards. :)
I can read and write DLTIII tapes without a problem. Reading TK50 tapes seems to work, but I'm getting random garbage. There appears to be a method to override the density on the front panel, but I can't quite figure it out.
The individual drives have 2 buttons, one unloads the cartridge, the other selects the density of the media manually. Obviously, on a jukebox this will all be connected to a micro-controller that does it via the panel, which you don't have am manual for. If it were me I'd just futz with the panel (with no tapes in) and see if there was a density override option but I'm *guessing* you tried that.
--
Mark Benson
http://DECtec.info
Twitter: @DECtecInfo
HECnet: STAR69::MARK
Online Resource & Mailing List for DEC Enthusiasts.
Does anyone have the document EK-TZ875-OM in their digital collections anywhere? I am unable to find it anywhere, and I'm trying to decypher the front panel controls for this device. I can read and write DLTIII tapes without a problem. Reading TK50 tapes seems to work, but I'm getting random garbage. There appears to be a method to override the density on the front panel, but I can't quite figure it out.
There's a manual for the TZ877 around, but the front panel is completely different.
Ian
On 2013-01-25, at 8:51 PM, Ian McLaughlin <ian at platinum.net> wrote:
Digging around in my junk tonight, I come across a DEC TZ875-TA 5-slot tape changer. Some googling shows it can *read* TK50 tapes!
I'm playing around with it on a Linux box using native DLT IIIXT tapes on it to make sure it's operating correctly, then I'll give it a try reading a TK50. I hope it works!
Ian
Digging around in my junk tonight, I come across a DEC TZ875-TA 5-slot tape changer. Some googling shows it can *read* TK50 tapes!
I'm playing around with it on a Linux box using native DLT IIIXT tapes on it to make sure it's operating correctly, then I'll give it a try reading a TK50. I hope it works!
Ian
On 2013-01-25, at 10:17 AM, "Rob Jarratt" <robert.jarratt at ntlworld.com> wrote:
I have been trying to find TF-series drives for a while, wouldn't mind a 9-track either but not sure I have room for one of those.
Regards
Rob
-----Original Message-----
From: owner-hecnet at Update.UU.SE [mailto:owner-hecnet at Update.UU.SE]
On Behalf Of Kari Uusim ki
Sent: 25 January 2013 10:41
To: hecnet at Update.UU.SE
Subject: Re: [HECnet] Tape drive explosion
TK50Z is a SCSI version as the TZ30 is as well.
I have never seen a TK70 drive with another interface than the QBUS
controller TQK70 or the BI bus controller TBK70.
The two generation of DLT drives after TK70 has had either SCSI or DSSI
interfaces e.g. TZ85/TF85, TZ86/TF86.
Then the DSSI interface was abandoned and all the rest of the DEC branded
DLT drives had a SCSI interface only i.e. TZ87, TZ88, TZ89, TZ90.
I don't know why the DSSI interface was dropped, but I guess the SCSI drives
sold better especially to the Alpha customers.
Regards,
Kari
On 25.1.2013 9:27, Ian McLaughlin wrote:
We're any of the other DEC drives released in a scsi version?
Ian
Sent from my iPad
On 2013-01-24, at 8:33 PM, Kari Uusim ki <uusimaki at exdecfinland.org>
wrote:
On 25.1.2013 0:26, Ian McLaughlin wrote:
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.
Ok. Cartridge failure, then. Could it have been accidentally dropped? I've
seen several times DLT cartriges fail after been dropped on the floor.
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
.
I'm not sure if others than DEC branded DLT drives (TZ85,TZ86,TZ87) can
read TK50 tapes, but DEC drives sure do.
Even the front of the drive has leds which indicate which formats the
drive can handle.
Like Johnny said, Wikipedia articles aren't always the complete truth of
the topic.
Regards,
Kari
---
Filter service subscribers can train this email as spam or not-spam here:
http://my.email-as.net/spamham/cgi-
bin/learn.pl?messageid=720AED2066A811E29BF1919693ED0201
.
---
Filter service subscribers can train this email as spam or not-spam here: http://my.email-as.net/spamham/cgi-bin/learn.pl?messageid=8DB6C8F0671B11E2B…
Oh yes, add me as well, my handle is 'djinn'.
The HIMUSERLIST script will show all registered handles, btw.
sampsa
On 25 Jan 2013, at 21:18, Ian McLaughlin <ian at platinum.net> wrote:
Once you're live, add me to your buddy list - the handle is 'ian'.
Ian
On 2013-01-25, at 11:16 AM, sampsa at mac.com wrote:
Guys,
Me and some chaps on the DECtek mailing list have been testing HIM and it's at least mostly functional at this stage.
Grab a copy from RHESUS::[.MEDIALIB.HIM]HIM.ZIP or check out http://rhesus.sampsa.com/him/
sampsa
---
Filter service subscribers can train this email as spam or not-spam here: http://my.email-as.net/spamham/cgi-bin/learn.pl?messageid=CFEF0126672311E2B…
Once you're live, add me to your buddy list - the handle is 'ian'.
Ian
On 2013-01-25, at 11:16 AM, sampsa at mac.com wrote:
Guys,
Me and some chaps on the DECtek mailing list have been testing HIM and it's at least mostly functional at this stage.
Grab a copy from RHESUS::[.MEDIALIB.HIM]HIM.ZIP or check out http://rhesus.sampsa.com/him/
sampsa
---
Filter service subscribers can train this email as spam or not-spam here: http://my.email-as.net/spamham/cgi-bin/learn.pl?messageid=CFEF0126672311E2B…
Guys,
Me and some chaps on the DECtek mailing list have been testing HIM and it's at least mostly functional at this stage.
Grab a copy from RHESUS::[.MEDIALIB.HIM]HIM.ZIP or check out http://rhesus.sampsa.com/him/
sampsa
I have been trying to find TF-series drives for a while, wouldn't mind a 9-track either but not sure I have room for one of those.
Regards
Rob
-----Original Message-----
From: owner-hecnet at Update.UU.SE [mailto:owner-hecnet at Update.UU.SE]
On Behalf Of Kari Uusim ki
Sent: 25 January 2013 10:41
To: hecnet at Update.UU.SE
Subject: Re: [HECnet] Tape drive explosion
TK50Z is a SCSI version as the TZ30 is as well.
I have never seen a TK70 drive with another interface than the QBUS
controller TQK70 or the BI bus controller TBK70.
The two generation of DLT drives after TK70 has had either SCSI or DSSI
interfaces e.g. TZ85/TF85, TZ86/TF86.
Then the DSSI interface was abandoned and all the rest of the DEC branded
DLT drives had a SCSI interface only i.e. TZ87, TZ88, TZ89, TZ90.
I don't know why the DSSI interface was dropped, but I guess the SCSI drives
sold better especially to the Alpha customers.
Regards,
Kari
On 25.1.2013 9:27, Ian McLaughlin wrote:
We're any of the other DEC drives released in a scsi version?
Ian
Sent from my iPad
On 2013-01-24, at 8:33 PM, Kari Uusim ki <uusimaki at exdecfinland.org>
wrote:
On 25.1.2013 0:26, Ian McLaughlin wrote:
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.
Ok. Cartridge failure, then. Could it have been accidentally dropped? I've
seen several times DLT cartriges fail after been dropped on the floor.
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
.
I'm not sure if others than DEC branded DLT drives (TZ85,TZ86,TZ87) can
read TK50 tapes, but DEC drives sure do.
Even the front of the drive has leds which indicate which formats the
drive can handle.
Like Johnny said, Wikipedia articles aren't always the complete truth of
the topic.
Regards,
Kari
---
Filter service subscribers can train this email as spam or not-spam here:
http://my.email-as.net/spamham/cgi-
bin/learn.pl?messageid=720AED2066A811E29BF1919693ED0201
.
Hang on it. It's great drive and very good a reading old tapes.
A couple of years back, I had the last known copy of the UNIX Circuit Design System (aka UCSD) - we cleaned the tape. Shinned up the head. We figured we had one shot at read it. The had to retry a bunch, but we let it go. Damned if we got the entire tape with out any loss.
Dennis declared them as a "very late delivery" to part of UNIX V7 and Warren now has those bits in TUHS archives.
On Fri, Jan 25, 2013 at 8:09 AM, John H. Reinhardt <johnhreinhardt at yahoo.com> wrote:
I picked up a TSZ08 on Ebay a couple years ago. I haven't used it lately, but it still loads tapes successfully. It's a horizontal 9-track drive like the TSZ07.
John H. Reinhardt
On 1/25/2013 8:00 AM, Clem Cole wrote:
TS08 - great drive, I'd love to find one used.
On Fri, Jan 25, 2013 at 2:27 AM, Ian McLaughlin <ian at platinum.net <mailto:ian at platinum.net>> wrote:
We're any of the other DEC drives released in a scsi version?
Ian
Sent from my iPad
On 2013-01-24, at 8:33 PM, Kari Uusim ki
<uusimaki at exdecfinland.org <mailto:uusimaki at exdecfinland.org>> wrote:
> On 25.1.2013 0:26, Ian McLaughlin wrote:
>>
>> On 2013-01-24, at 2:06 AM, Kari Uusim ki
<uusimaki at exdecfinland.org <mailto: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.
> Ok. Cartridge failure, then. Could it have been accidentally
dropped? I've seen several times DLT cartriges fail after been
dropped on the floor.
>
>>> 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
>>
>>
>> .
>
> I'm not sure if others than DEC branded DLT drives
(TZ85,TZ86,TZ87) can read TK50 tapes, but DEC drives sure do.
> Even the front of the drive has leds which indicate which
formats the drive can handle.
>
> Like Johnny said, Wikipedia articles aren't always the complete
truth of the topic.
>
>
> Regards,
>
> Kari
>
>
>
> ---
> Filter service subscribers can train this email as spam or
not-spam here:
http://my.email-as.net/spamham/cgi-bin/learn.pl?messageid=720AED2066A811E29…
