Desperate...Help...HP 9-track drive...

Disconnect the interface cables and see if she'll load up standalone. Also, Mark Green has a Very Good bit of advice as well. (hint: is there a BOT reflector on the tape? I had to take apart my Cipher 880 and dredge the tape out by hand because the BOT marker had fallen off and the drive became disoriented...) Computer Collector Rant Follows: One of the things I like the least about my collection of Olde Iron, is the amount of time I seem to have to spend diagnosing/repairing vs. enjoying the system. I am a BSEE, and have spent a good deal of my career fixing broken things, and I've paid some dues as a programmer and systems analyst, too... but it's seldom I turn on a system that it doesn't woof it's cookies and go casters up on me. Now: don't get me wrong, I accept the responsibility of being my own Field Droid, and I certainly appreciate the quantum measures of understanding I get when I finally track down and solve the latest failure, but Slippery Slivers of Silicon, Batman!!! can't we just turn the thing on and *play* with it, sans frequent crises????? Question: Do those of you with large functioning DEC systems go thru this crap as much as I seem to? Maybe I'm just Overly Whiny.... Sigh. But I *do* love these big old whirring racks o' Stuff! Cheers John