30 Sep
2004
30 Sep
'04
6:10 a.m.
----- Original Message -----
From: "Doc Shipley" <doc(a)mdrconsult.com>
To: <General(a)mdrconsult.com>om>; "Discussion(a)mdrconsult.com :On-Topic and
Off-Topic Posts" <cctalk(a)classiccmp.org>
Sent: Thursday, September 30, 2004 7:15 PM
Subject: Re: Need to know DDS drive used to write backup tapes
that we
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Zane H. Healy wrote:
>>I am trying to figure out what tape drive was used to write some DDS
tapes
>>that I'd like to read. The only clues I
have are that they were written
>>on a VAX of some sort under VAX OpenVMS 5.5-2.
>>
>>Any ideas?
>
>
> On a related note, I have a LOT of 4mm tapes sitting around that were
> written on a Unix system in the 1992 timeframe. I have no idea what
type
drive the
tapes were written on. Anyone have any idea how to go about
figuring this one out?
If the cartridges (note correct USian spelling) have a tape length
printed on them that will tell you whether they're 1GB, 2GB, etc. Most
DDS drives will read, if not write, older formats. IOW a DDS3 drive
should rad a DDS1 tape.
The bigger problem is whether hardware compression was used, and what
Unix tools were used to create the tape - tar, cpio, dump - and those
are just the common ones.... All the Unix standards allow TOC listing
of an archive, which should tell you if you're using the right tool.
DDS tapes have a write-protect as well, so if the tapes are in good
shape, you ought to be able to do that non-destructively.
> My recommendation has been to send them to the data recovery service use (same with
the stash of 8mm's).
I'd be inclined to do some futzing around with them first. A DDS1-3
drive will just spit the tape if it can't ID the media, and depending on
the Unix in question, it's an odds-on bet that the archives were made
with either tar or cpio.
I'd much rather have to retrieve data from a
TK50 than a 4mm or a 8mm!
True, but the time-frame for these narrows the field considerably.
Doc