27 Mar
2023
27 Mar
'23
8:27 a.m.
On 2023-03-27 03:03, Steve Lewis via cctalk wrote:
I've come across three original QIC tapes for the
IBM 5100. DC300 I
think,
original IBM labels.
They are in fair condition (the tape material itself seems fine, they
are
all on their reels), but the "rubbers" used to actually actuate the
reels
is degraded. I came across an article once on how to restore those
(I
think it involved gluing the rubber band directly to the ends of the
media?)
QIC media is not glued to the bands. The band is a fixed loop that
runs off the driven wheel in the cartridge, and via friction (with the
media side of the tape!) operates each wheel (source and take up) and
the appropriate proportional speed (based on the amount of tape on the
wheels) to maintain tape tension. These bands shrink, dry out, or
completely deteriorate with age (3M fairs better generally). You can
take some hot water (possibly even boiling (but I haven't tried that
hot)), and drop the removed band into the hot water. You will see it
shrink. Then reinstall the band. The process sucks, and it can be
difficult to avoid having the tape tension be too loose or too tight.
If the tape was not rewound, then the magnetic surface where the band
was sitting for years may likely be ruined and non recoverable. If the
tape was rewound, then the spots where the band was sitting do not
contain recorded material, and you have a good chance of data recovery
(I use tape copy software under Linux to make an image of a tape I can
write back out... used do the same on Suns years ago).
I went through most of my QIC tapes and imaged them. Most tapes I
recovered, some tapes I partially recovered, and only one tape was I
unable to recover anything worthwhile. Having a good drive with a non
deteriorated drive roller is a must. These rollers turn to goo with
time.
-- Curt
The three tapes are labeled as follows:
5721-XM3
THE IBM 5100 PROBLEM SOLVER LIBRARY
TAPE PART NO. 1608361
E.C. NO 829643 DATE 7/29/76
(this one is in a form fitted sealed ziploc-like bag, which I
haven't
opened; the early magazine ads for the 5100 reference this solver
library
-- I assume it is a mix of BASIC and APL)
5721-EAB
THE IBM 5100 BASIC COMPUTER AIDED INSTRUCTION
TAPE PART NO. 1608376
E.C. NO 829482 DATE 11/13/75
VERSION 1 MOD 0 FEAT 9021
PROGRAM NO. 5721-EAB CARTRIDGE 3 OF 3
(what does FEAT mean? and sadly, I don't have cartridge 1 or 2, but I
assume this is probably some BASIC code that runs some kind of
tutorial
about the system)
TAPE PART NO. 1608705
E.C. NO 829637 DATE 1/10/77
DIAGNOSTIC CARTRIDGE. DO NOT ALTER THE
CONTENTS OF THIS TAPE.
(I believe when accessing the built in DCP, it has options to load
and run
additional diagnostics that would be contained on this tape -- I
think
"IMF" stuff, so it would be in native PALM machine code)
Anyone interested in a restoration or any contacts to folks who have
worked
on QIC tape before? I have a working IBM 5100 (with working internal
tape
and external 5106), but I absolutely haven't tried to insert or use
these
tapes, and I have 0 experience in trying to extract data from raw
media.
I don't mind shipping them off to an expert - such as anyone who
maybe can
copy the data content to a new tape? (which I know is probably some
specialized equipment - I probably can't self fund that, but I am
interested to know what the options here might be)
-Steve / v*